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About Torch of reason. (Silverton, Oregon) 1896-1903 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 17, 1899)
T H E TORCH OF REASON, S IL V E R T O N , OREGON , AUG UST 17, 1899. 1 i orch of Reason The O nly P ap er of Its Kind. P ublished W eekly by th e Liberal U ni versity C om pany, in the In terests of C onstructive, Moral Secularism . J. E. H o s m e r,....................... E d ito r P. W . G e e r,....................... M an ag er E n tered at th e poetoffice at Silverton, Oregon, as second-class mail m atter. SU B SC R IPTIO N K A TES. One year, in a d v an c e ..........................$1 (X) Six m onths in a d v a n c e .................... 50 T hree m onths, in a d v a n c e ................ 25 In clubs of five or m ore, one year, in a d v an c e .......................................... "6 Money should be sent by registered le tte r or m oney order. Notice! A h a n d p ointing to th is notice denotes th a t your su b scrip tio n has e x p ire d . You are e arn estly requested to r e new so th a t you m ay receive th e p a per w ithout in te rru p tio n . We have de cided th a t it is liest for all concerned th a t we do not semi papers longer th a n th e tim e paid for unless so ordered. T his will prevent any loss and we will know ju st w here we sta n d . We request you to send us th e nam es of Secularists who m ight become sub- ncriliers and we will m ail sam ple copies. THURSDAY, AUG. 17, E. M. 299- A PIO US L IA R . In speaking of Robert G. Inger soll, T. De W itt Talm age, a very fair representative of orthodoxy, in his ‘‘C hristian H erald” , says: “Once in his life he was induced, while at K alam azoo, Mich., to look into the life of a church there, and when he saw’ how it was seeking to help men to a better life, he ex claim ed, ‘It is the grandest thing in the country. I would join such a church as th a t if its members would perm it me.’ ” He also says: ‘ He never had more than a sup erficial knowledge of the Bible, and even th a t was acquired through jaundiced vision. This was proved by the fact th a t the qualities of love and generosity and kindness and ch arity , which he most lauded, are the very qualities inculcated by the hook, whose influence he did his utm ost to underm ine. U n h ap pily he succeeded in prejudicing m any shallow m inded young "men against religion, by leading them to believe th a t his conception of it was the tru e oue.” Mr. Talm age in tentionally lies, or writes about things he is grossly ignorant of, and ought to he ash am ed of himself. The church in K al amazoo, to which Ingersoll referred, was not a C hristian church, hut a Church of H um anity. It was a church th a t any moral Infidel could join if he would promise to do all the good he could. M any known Infidels were members, and when our cham pion went to ‘‘look into the life a church there” he knew it was not a C hristian in sti tution. It makes our F reethought blood boil when we realize th a t we cannot reach the m any thousand C hristian readers of the H erald and explain to them Col. Ingersoll’s true position in this m atter and their hum bug preacher’s dam nable rascality in m isrepresenting our dead brother’s endorsem ent of a non-sectarian, secular church. The next falsehood th a t Rev. Talm age perm its his evil pen to re- cord, th at Christ m ay abound, is this: “ He never had more than a sup- erficial knowledge o f the Bible.” Every interested person, w hether C hristian or Infidel (and this in- eludes our reverend enem y), knows th a t R obert G. Ingersoll had a knowledge of the Bible th a t very few men possess, and th a t it was acquired by honest stu d y ; and we Infidels know th a t after honest study no scientific m ind can agree that it is a hook of love, generosity, kindness and charity. We also know’ th a t he happily succeeded in opening the eyes of m illions to the beauties and benefits of m ental freedom and the a b su rd ities of the idiotic doctrines of such shallow m inded religious fanatics as the great(?) De W itt Talm age, who, we believe, holds bis present high position am ong the saints on account of his willingness to play the hypocrite and com bat the heroes of T ruth. own satisfaction. He hesitates not a second. \\ ith a superior sm ile he answers, “ I have gone over the same ground as the youth you men- tion. I know just how it is. There is only one way—leave it all with Jesus. Don’t try to pry into things you should not know. If we knew everything, my dear brother, d o n ’t you see we would know as much as God him self.” T hat is all. Strange isn’t it? But we are not satisfied, T his looks to us like m ental suicide, and we believe th a t death would be alm ost preferable to the rem edy ad- vised by our preacher, who is cer- tain ly dead in his superstition, \V e consult an other, and find th a t he believes in “ predestination.” He believes a great God above m ade each living thing on earth for a cer- tain special purpose. O ur life has been fore-ordained, and we cannot change it one h a ir’s breadth. W hat is to be will be. T he assassin works out the mission God has given him , just as surely as the saint and all work for the glory of God. We tu rn aw ay disheartened, and m u rm u r “ M oral suicide!” We are saved from despair at last by the philosopher. He teach es us th a t all things are a product of evolution. All good and all evil in the world are sim ply effects brought about by certain causes. In order to bring about reforms we m ust seek the cause of evil and les sen it; seek the cause of good and m ultiply it. S tudying along this line, we find th a t life indeed is good and beautiful. We find ourselves growing m entally and m orally stronger; existence is m ade not only bearable, but enjoyable. Verily, all things are possible to m an. O, youth! O, preacher! O, friends! Here, with the philosopher, we find our answer: E volution I in nor practice good governm ent nor home building cannot succeed in such an undertaking. The experience of Liberals who have tried hard to organize an d thus rapidly convert the world to Ereethought, have alw ays been d e feated by this im pudent elem ent in our ranks, who care more for th eir own little, nasty creeds th a n for the m ain issue. As we have said before, there are F reeth in k ers and F reethinkers, and we m ust learn to classify and work accordingly, or our work will move at a snail's pace. W e m ust educate! C H R IS T IA N E N D E A V O R E R S. There is a vast arm y of C hristian E ndeavorers. In fact, all C h rist ian s who are honest, and not in the church as a business proposition, are only endeavorers. They are trying h ard to believe th a t which is unreasonable, because they have been tau g h t th a t to even doubt the m iracles and doctrines of th eir su p posed savior is a sin. They th ere fore try hard to stop up their m inds against every argum ent; pray th eir G od’s forgiveness if a stray ray of light happens to come upon them unaw ares, and prom ptly drop, as they would a red-hot iron, every hook or paper th a t com bats the old theories of th eir holy directory. This leaves the young, active m inds of the brightest endeavorers in a m ost pitiable condition, and the only refuge is found in sm othering all aggressive thought and su b sti L IF E ’S PUZZLE. tuting, therefore, only light, friv olous gossip, repartee, and silly a t As soon as the little child is old tem pts a t happiness, instead of that enough to th in k , he is puzzled a t the tree, n atu ra l happiness th a t comes wonderful new sights and sounds to those whose m inds are unfettered by superstition. th a t are being continually conveyed As a society, the C hristian En- to him through his senses. His deavor, and other kindred societies eyes open wide with wonder, and he such as the Epw orth League, the stretches forth his tiny fist to grasp Y. M. C. A. and the Y. W. C. A., the bright toy. He soon begins to are great factors in building up the C hristian churches. The obliga ask the questions of “ W h a t?” tions are ju st enough to keep the C A U SE OF R U S K IN COLONY’S “ W here?” and “ W hy?” young men and the young women F A IL U R E . The youth is continually th irst from asserting any ideas of their ing for more knowledge. He has own, thus preventing them from solved the sim pler problems of his The 1 ruthseeker of the 12th inst. doing any very valuable work, or childhood days, but still he is not C0Inments on the failure of the Rus- m aking any valuable discoveries for satisfied. His eves sparkle, his kin Co-operative Colony in such a Science, the true savior of m an. In nearly every S tate school cheeks glow, and his heart beats n ,a n n er as to convey the idea to us throughout our land, the C hristian faster as he leans forward to catch th a t the M acdonalds have but little societies are not only allowed but the words of an eloquent speaker, objection to free love and an arch y encouraged, advertized, an d aided He is still unconsciously trying to while they belittle the idea of co with public money. N on-C hristian answer the questions of his baby- operation. We believe the failure people are in the m ajority, or, at hood days, “ W h a t? ” “ W here?” and of the colony has been w hat the least, th ere is a very respectable m inority, and why should we be “ W hy?” W ill there ever come a T ruthseeker states oue of its ex- forced to help support these in s titu time in his life when he will be m embers declares it to be: tions, which are not only absurd to “ The failure was not com m ercial. us but absolutely of a very p e r fully satisfied; when he can take The association was perfectly sol nicious character? F reethinkers the good and had the “gods” pro vent. It had alw ays discounted all m ust organize sim ilar societies in vide, ask no questi >ns, and feel no its bills, an d was rated A1 at Brad- the nam e of Secularism , and then curiosity to know? Can he hope streets. The cause of the trouble we m ust force the schools to recog for rest this side of the grave, or was the dissatisfaction of less than nize us. If we pay taxes to support These people schools, we should see to it th a t our will this phantom of unrest follow a dozen members. attem pted to dissem inate him , rem orselessly dogging his foot- . . . . , , the , doc- ideas have a fair chance with those . , . 0 , . trines of A narchy and hreelove, who th in k th a t “ Jesus is the way.” steps by day, and hovering over Ins but were pl.evented by tbe rem ain- Y ou n g m en’s and young wom en’s couch by night, until his m ind and ing two hundred, who stood firmly E reethought associations have ju st body is racked with a consum ing for law, order, and m orality.” as much right to be recognized in fever, and he longs to “ die and end W hen free lovers and an arch ists our S tate schools as have the Young it a ll? ” begin to show them selves, people M en’s and Y’oung W om en’s C h rist Let us ask that gray-haired who believe in homes and good gov- ian Associations, but people will uever have their rights u n til they preacher. He has had experience em inent begin to move out, and are bold enough and united enough and looks as though be had solved finally the society falls of its own to dem and them . We m ust edu the problem of life, at least to his , weight, for those who do not believe , cate!