T H E TORCH OF REASON, S IL V E R T O N , OREGON, D E C E M B E R , 8. 1898.
every avenue of life and stolen, a p
propriated, bulldozed and forced.
The most secret, fratern al orders,
and those which were originally
organized for fra tern ity only, have
been satu rated with th e blood of
the lam b or scented with the gas
from the holy spirit. O ur govern
m ent, which was intended as a
purely secular one, has been w ork
ed and is being worked in the in
terest of this d astard ly , C hristian
trust. O ur public schools are, in
spite of secular laws to the con
trary , still largely m an ipulated in
th e interests of this wolf in sheep's
clothing to such a degree th a t the
young stu d en t in his research is
met at every tu rn by a god, a devil
or an angel, to frighten him from
his path. C h ristian ity , thief th a t
it is, claim s ev ery th in g in sight
th a t is of any value, and disowns
its own children when they begin
to reap the harvest of degradation
from the sowing of C hristian p rin
ciples. The saloon system , the to
bacco habit, the filling of the lu n a
tic asylum s an d prisons, th e polit
ical corruption and social ro tte n
ness can all be traced to the igno
rance caused by the superstitions
of the C hristian churches.
Let the world once rid itself of
this dry rot which is destroying the
roots of the tree of knowledge, and
let Secularism take its place for a
few’ short years and a greater
change will take place th an we now
realize has taken place since the
dark ages. It is coming! L et those
who are selfishly try in g to m onopo
lize the F reeth o u g h t cause an d run
it into channels of their own unpro
gressive way of th in k in g ; let them
scoff at our educational m ovem ent;
let those whose help would m ean so
m uch, w ithhold it on account of
jealousy or fear of loss of p atro n
age; let those who have never made
a progressive move them selves,
wallow in th eir stag n an t pool of in
difference; but wheels of progres
sive, m oral Secularism are begin
ning to move, and though a few of
us may be crushed and broken—
though our lives be given to th a n k
less toil— though we are m isrepre
sented, m isjudged and neglected,
yet we dare sacrifice all for what
we know will be harvested from the
seeds of tru th we now sow.
The Book of Judges.
My Fellow M an:— Can you take
the Holy Bible for your m oral
guide? Can you conscientiously
read the Bible to y o u r little ones
and tell them th a t it is the word of
your H eavenly F ath er? H ave you
tried to trace the origin of this
w o n d ertu l(?) book?
H ave you
read the book of Judges? If you
have, how would you like to read
and explain the tw enty-one c h a p
ters to a large Sunday school class?
N o w , my friend, you m ay answ er
the above questions out loud, or, if
you prefer, no doubt the editor of
the Torch of Reason will give vou
space in his paper for a short re
ply.
I have just been reading Judges,
and I find th a t God m ust have
been a wonderful being. There
were some wonderful people, too, in
those days. For instance, in ch ap
ter 3, the left handed fellow, who
said unto Eglon, king of Moab, “ I
have a message from God unto
thee,’’ and, as the king arose, the
left handed m an drew a two edged
dagger and th ru st it into Eglon, the
king; and the other fellow who
slew six hundred P hilistines w ith
an ox goad. Then th ere was the
cap tain who had nine hundred
chariots of iron, who, after his
racket with th e prophetess, De
borah, B arak and the Lord, had to
abandon his chariot and flee aw ay
on his feet. W ho was it th a t went
out and said unto the captain,
‘‘Come in, my lord, fear n o t’’; but
after the cap tain had been given a
bottle of m ilk, and lay on the floor
covered with a m antle and sound
asleep, those sam e hands, th a t had
m inistered so k in d ly to him , seized
a ham m er and sent a nail through
his tem ples, m aking him fast to the
floor, and p u ttin g an end to his
life (ch ap ter 4)?
T here are m any more noted p er
sons in the book of Judges, but
please look them up and give the
public your opinion.
D r . C hapin (a friend of tru th ).
Union and Federation.
The following resolutions were
adopted at the an n u al Congress of
th e A m erican Secular Union and
F reeth o u g h t F ederation ju st held
in Chicago:
Believing th a t the N ine Demands
express fully the reforms which are
near and dear to Liberalism , it is
therefore
Resolved, T h at this body indorse
and reaffirm w ith em phasis these
dem ands as they stan d on our rec
ords.
Resolved, In the light of passing
events we can not fail to recognize
wherein the influence of orthodoxy
comes in conflict w ith these de
m ands. To enum erate notable ex
am ples, of this we
Resolve (a ), T h a t th e action of
the W ar D epartm ent in granting
th e privilege of erecting and m ain
tain in g chapels on governm ent
grounds is a direct violation of the
C onstitution p ro h ib itin g Congress,
and thereby the governm ent, from
establishing a religion or a church.
(b) T h at we condem n th e action
of those Congressmen who voted for
the paym ent of $288,000 to the
M ethodist Book Concern of N ash
ville, T enn., inasm uch as this pay
m ent was for a claim wholly un
ju st, several tim es rejected by Con
gress and would never have been
considered had the lobbyist uot
used religion as a cloak to cover a
shrew d and dishonest action.
(c) T h at the governm ent of the
islands, which will soon become a
p a rt of the U nited S tates under the
tre a ty of peace with Spain, shall
enjoy the fullest religious freedom,
and th a t these Dem ands be applied
to new territo ry to the fullest sepa
ration of church and state, and
sh all be so unflinchingly applied
th at no concession w hatever shall
be made to the church authorities
who are now in actual possession
in these islands.
Believing th e future of Free-
thought in America as a positive
force depends upon the policy of o r
ganized Liberals as regards ethical
work or constructive endeavor, and
th a t th is work can be promoted
only by active organizers of orig
inal tact and ability, a r d in suffi
cient num ber to influence every
portion of the country, it is there
fore,
Resolved, T h at the Am erican
Secular Union and F reethought
F ederation call for volunteers in
this work, and to give greater sure
ty for the success of this endeavor,
a d ep artm en t organized under this
resolution is instructed to make
necessary requirem ents of can d i
dates for certificates of au th o riza
tion to satisfy the organization of
th eir special fitness for the work
atid probability of success in it.
To effectually put into operation
this resolution it is at the same
time moved th a t a' D epartm ent of
E xtension be organized, with pow
er to fix these stan d ard s and carry
on the work as best it can with
m eans at hand or ability and funds
it can a ttra c t to it.
Again, it is Resolved, T h at, since
it is the purpose of F reethought or
ganization and propaganda to over
throw superstition and im prove
social conditions by reforms as rep
resented by the Nine Dem ands, and
it is our aim to help in m aking the
present life more w orthy because of
greater effort to make the m ost of
it through obedience to n atu ra l
law, in d u stry in business, social
and ethical activity, good will, and
cheer am ong men— for these rea
sons it is again
Resolved, T h a t this organization
refuse to indorse any special school
of thought. It is the expressed
purpose of this body not to interfere
with the p riv ate opinions of any
individual m ember, each being en
tirely free to think and believe as
he or she pleases. We do insist,
however, th a t our work be lifted
above all creed and specialism , let
it be religious, political or o th er
wise.
5
present constitution of the U nion
and Federation it is inoperative
and has no place in the proceedings
of the organization.
The tim e has
not yet come for it, however strong
ly we m ay wish otherwise.
T he w riter does not agree with
the T ruthseeker on th is subject.
The time has come for ethical work
and we should have been at it long
ago. The Oregon S tate Secular
U nion is w orking along this line
and is succeeding.
It m ay uot be the policy of th e
Union and F ederation, an d we
would not desire to dictate w hat
th a t organization should do, but
we do know from actual experience
th a t it is tim e for Secularists to or
ganize along an ethical line.
The
Union and F ederation has a work
of its own to perform , and construc
tive work along the line proposed
by Mr. B lan ch ard will have to be
separate from th a t organization.
P. W. G.
The Church Opposed to Progress.
“ T he church has opposed every
reform and, until quite recently,
alm ost every useful invention. In
the E ngland of E lizabeth it was
declared from the pulpit th a t th e
introduction of forks would dem or
alize the people and provoke th e
divine w rath .”
(M artyrdom of
Man, p. 38.)
In th e year 1444 C axton p u b lish
ed the first book ever printed in
E ngland. In 1474 the then bishop
of London, in a convocation of his
clergy, said, “ If we do not destroy
this dangerous invention it will one
day destroy us.” T h at bishop was
a prophet.
H um e says: “ It was rem ark a
ble th a t no physician in Europe,
who had reached the age of forty
years, ever to the end of his life
adopted H arv ey ’s doctrine of the
circulation of the blood, and th a t
his practice in London dim inished
extrem ely, from the reproach draw n
The resolution in regard to form on him by th a t great and signal
ing ethical societies is in line with discovery. So slow is the progress
the work in Oregon and was u n in every science even when not op
doubtedly originated by C. Elton posed by factitious and su p e rsti
B lanchard, of Cleveland, Ohio, one tious prejudices.”
(H u m e’s H is
of the com m itte on resolutions. A tory of E ngland.)
motion was made to keep Mr. B lan
W hen Buffon published N atu ral
chard in the field organizing local H istory, in which was included his
societies, but we are sorry to learn Theory of the E a rth , he was offic
th a t it did not prevail.
ially inform td by the faculty of
The editor of the T ruthseeker re theology in Paris th at several of his
fers to the resolutions in the follow- propositions were “ reprehensible
and co n trary to the creed of the
ing words:
c h u rch .”
The resolutions of the Congress,]
so far as they relate to the practic- ! And wh*»n Columbus asserted the
al work of the U nion and F edera rotundity of th e earth , he was rid i
tion, were instigated* by the editor culed by the clergy, who m a in ta in
of the T ruthseeker. The one d eal ed th a t “everything would roll off
ing with the ethical m atter was the on the other side and be cousuuied
only one, aside from the reaffirm a
tion of the Nine Dem ands, brought in th e fires of hell, if the world
in o riginally by the com m ittee. should turn over.”
The long one on form ing ethical so
Benjam in F ra n k lin ’s experim ent
cieties was passed partly as a com-1 with the lightning was condem ned,
plim ent to its draw er and p artly as because he was only invoking upon
expressing the ideal of the Liberals
to see churches replaced by socie him-»elf the w rath of an angry God.
Professor Morse was freelv ridi-
ties teaching m orals.
U nder the,