I H E TORCH OE REASON, SILV ER TO N , OREGON, A P R IL 13, 159«.
Some Weak Points.
E ditor T orch of R eason :
I think all who have read you
carelullv understood already th at
vou have no belief in a “suprem e
being", nor in any other supernal-
uralFem. S till, you are too gentle
in dealing with the discrepancies oi
The Age of Secularism.
T .lk in , «.me time »go with «
ro w n ’s
u ff . .
P ly m o u th
Rocks . .
B
C H A M P IO N S
OF T H E
NORTHW EST
Bred for S iz e , B eau ty
and Egg Production
gentlem an over the luture nl Seen-
Eggs from m y P rem iu m Stock, $ 2 .0 0 per 13.
lariam , I waa asked by him how old
J. W. BROWN
-
.
Silverton, Ore.
Secularism is. 1 r e p lie d th at t e
answ er to th a t question would en-
tirely depend upon w hether he re­
T h e G re a t
ferred to Secularism a» an orgama-
ation or as a set of principles. If
Mr. W ettstein ’s criticism .
You are not, in my opinion, an the former, it would be confined to
Agnostic. In your late criticism of our own century; hut if hn, query
No Need to Suffer from A ny Disease.
tin- T rnthseeki'r’s position as to Ihe had reference to th e existence ol a
,o u l and im m ortality, you laid set of principles th a t are now recog-
E lix ir
1 _ o—
in».., then
n i ’ 'i its aye
B a c t e r ia c id e
down a rule of reason and ju d g ­ m z e u a>
E
u c a ly p tu s O il
would he synonym ous with th at of
V IT Æ -O R E '
m ent which will not perm it you to
O re - O lin e
M e d ic a te d S o a p
be an Agnostic. In that ariich* hum anity. Go hack as far as is
possible, we can see two forces in
you said:
Agent
PEARL W. GEER
“ Denial of the existence of heav­ active opposition: the one directing
en and hell m ust he based on the m an ’s attention to some fancied
S il v e r t o x , O r e g o n .
absence of evidence, the u tter in ­ world beyond the grave, bidding
cap ab ility of all proofs offered; and him kneel at the shrine of some
to be consistent we must apply the fear-fashioned deity and prostitute
sam e line of reasoning to the dog­ his intelligence in the service of
senseless superstition; the other
ma of the soul and im m o rta lity .’1
Must we not apply th is rule seeking to direct hum an thought
throughout the list of supernatur- to the essential conditions of lift*,
alism s? If we deny the existence and to the development of knowl­
of a god on this ground, we are edge as the sole m eans of th eir im ­
H istory shows th se
Atheists, pure and simple. It is provem ent.
To sell property
true we do not know, of our own two forces in never-ending c o n f lic t
To buy •/ a hom e
personal knowledge, th at there is —a conflict th a t can only he ter-
not a god somewhere; and a denial | m inated by the com plete exclusion
To go into business
of such an existence is not an a sser-1 of the supernatural from hum an
To exchange real or personal property
lion of such knowledge. We are affairs.
It is in the sense of Secularism !
led to the denial by the absence of
To work, or to hire w orkers
representing
the
constant
opposi­
evidence in favor of the supposition
A N Y TH IN G
and by its absurdity and in h ar­ tion of hum an knowledge to super­
n atural beliefs th a t we m ay speak
m ony with w hat we do know.
W R IT E T O U S .
W E C A N H E L P YOU
Mr. W ettstein adm its this point of its being as old as history. For
when lie says, “Of course we do not Secularism is not so much a series,
Address, IN FORM A TION B U R EA I
absolutely know th a t a devil does of propositions, or a code of rules,
not exist,” etc., notw ithstanding as it is a way
of looking at . the
Silverton, Oregon.
.
..
W a t e r S t r e e t ,
his insistence on your declaring world, m easuring the value of life opposite L ib e ra l Hail,
th a t you “ do know” . This is evi­ in term s of present and future pos­
d en tly inconsistent. It is not nec­ sibilities of hum an happiness, to be
essary
assert w hat is not true in . realized this side of the grave, and
„„w— j to
---------------------------
\
H o w to M a k e
*
Vitæ=Ore Remedies
N F O R M A T IO N
BU REA R
DO
VOU
WANT
order to deny th a t which is absurd | not in some problem atical future
Q qq J T ilT IC S fO T ¿ ill T i f l l C
an d unsupported by evidence. This existence. Nor does Secularism aim
overreaching assertiveness is a m at­ so much at creating new forces as
T h e Government nationalized the Postal System, why not also
the
Money System? A plan is told by C. ELTON BLANCHARD
it
does
at
developing
latent,
anil
ter of tem peram ent in the individ­
in his book e n title d ..............................
ual, and not any p art of the p h i­ directing attention to neglected,
ones. Ju st as the laws o f heat,
losophy of Atheism.
But Mr. W ettstein ’s weakest sound and light were in existence
point is found in his opening p ara­ long before their mode of operation
Postpaid for 25 Cents.
g rap h . li e says ‘‘we know ’ th a t was reduced to recognizable form u­
All profits on thie liook will be given to the Liberal University.
m atter acting on m atter is the las; just as m orality is im plicit in It should he in the hands of every thinking person. Address all orders to
cause of all phenom ena, “ sim ply action before it is explicit in ethic-
The TORCH OF REASON, Silverton, Oregon.
because we know nothing to the al regulations, so the forces th at
c o n tra ry ” . T his is g ran tin g know l­ m ake for progress have been al­
t T h is O u t—
edge hv virtue of ignorance. P rim ­ ways with us, though dwarfed by W ho D oes Y our
Fill it up, and forward with
—
itive m an knew his gods existed su p ern atu ral pressure, and when
$1.00 to the
because he knew nothing to the active, disguised by a su p ern a tu ral
co n trary , although every fact in ¡covering. It is the prim ary object
>
•
L ib e r a l U n iv e r s ity C o .,
Silverton, Ore ^«n.
n atu re is directly to the contrary, of Secularism to win recognition for
This is the essence of assum ption th e tru th , th a t hum an life, consid- if you require any
and bigotry.
The godist always ered with reference to this woild
C a rd s or C irc u la rs ,
To the P u b lish e rs a f the Torch
dem ands th a t you prove him wrong alone, m ay contain a sufficient in-
B ill H e a d s ,
o f Reason:
_he “ knows nothing c o n tra ry ” to centive to right action and an ade-
N o te or L e t t e r H e a d s ,
Please send the T orch of R eason to
his theory. It is never his place, q uate rew ard for its realization.—
my address for one year, for which I en­
S ta te m e n ts ,
as he sees it, to support his asser- [C. Cohen, in F reethinker,
close $1.00.
T ic k e t s , P ro g ra m s ,
tion with evidence. All th a t we
-------------------
know, we know by observation and
Rem em ber, if you send us the
I n v ita tio n s ,
Nam e.
experience.
1 nam es and addresses of 25 of
B a e k s or P a m p h le ts ,
It is to he hoped th at Mr. W ett- your Liberal friends and acquaint
Post office,
E n v e lo p e s
... .
___ *_l „r Lf- "
.»i
» - ________
stein will he more careful of his ancces, we will make you a present
statem ents to the class in A theistic of a copy of the Torch of Reason Or any other Printing, you will serve
your own interest and help support
Philosophy when he becomes pro- Song Book No. 1. This will only
the Liberal University by send­
lessor of th a t d ep artm en t in the
1
cost
you
a
few
minutes’
work
and
a
ing your orders to us. We
L iberal U niversity.
UNCLE S A M ’S
H O M ILIE S ON FINANCE
PR IN TIN G ?
J. H. M orris .
1 two-cent stamp.
will execute them promptly, tastefully. S tate.