4
T H E TORCH OF REASON, SIL V E R T O N , OREGON, NOVEM BER 30, 1899.
never clings to preconceived notions fixing of the day of C h rist’s b irth
hut is always on the lookout for on “ C hristm as”, the w inter solstice,
more light; a n d o n this basis the is sim ply a p a rt of the m ythology
new religion can expand and never of the sun-gods which extends down
act as a dam to stop the rushing, to the A stro latry of Egypt. So the
sparkling waters of hum an thought. “ year of our lo rd ” has really no
For this new em ancipated re­ “ lord” back of it, nor an y date or
ligion of love and tru th the Liberal event whatever. It is purely a fic-
U niversity stands; and the only tion and a papal imposition , and
question in regard to its success is it sums up all of the horrible papal
the question of time. Have enough outrages on hum an n atu re, which
I
people thought them selves out of ought to have ended, hut did not,
the wilderness of deceptive super­ with the burning of G iordano B ru ­
SUBSCRIPTION RATES.
naturalism and its swamp of sel­ no on the 17th of F ebruary, A. I)
F O R MEN OF T H O U G H T A N D M EN
fishness to form a nucleus? W e 1600, E ra of M an 1.
OF A C TIO N .
One year, in ad v an ce..........................$'•
B runo was the M artvr of Science
j believe enough have. Let us now
Six m onths, in ad v an ce..................
T hree m onths, in ad v an ce................
25
The effect of each individual hu­ learn to know, tru st and help each because he first put out decisively
In clubs of five or m ore, one year,
in a d v a n c e .. . . ................................
man thought and action is under­ other, and soon the world will have the modern heliocentric astronom y
Money should l>e sent by registered
of Copernicus and gave as its con­
estim ated.
The su p ern atu ral re­ learned the im portance of every
le tte r or m oney order.
sequences the “ Infinity of Space
ligions are accountable for the utter ' thought and deed, and there will be
lack of com prehension of the conse- no need of a frightful hell to force and of W orlds”. T hus he entirely
N otice!
| qtiences of the little(?) doings of | us, uor a fancy heaven to coax us, upset the old C hristian astronom y
H um anity will of the Bible and the church, with
A h a n d pointing to this notic denotes ¡every m an, woman and child. By into doing right.
th a t your subscription lias e x p ired .
then create man in its own image its “ firm am ent’', “ heav en ” and ro­
You are e arn estly requested to re ­ having the em phasis placed on a
For this he
new so th a t you m ay receive th e pa- i future state awav from this earth, w ithout repenting, and can forever tatin g suri and stars.
per w ithout in te rru p tio n . We have de­
was duly roasted alive by th e C hris­
say, “ behold it was very good.”
cided th a t it is best for all concerned . instead of upon the future of our
tian s of Anno Domini 1600, and
th a t we do n o t send papers longer th an ; race, and by being taught, drilled,
tiie tim e paid for unless so ordered.
th a t era ought to be recorded as
T his will p revent any loss and we will coaxed and forced for m any gener­ E r a o f M an a n d E r a of S cien ce 2 S 9
ending at th a t date: because it did
know just w here we stan d .
ations into tru stin g in a crucified
vs. “ A n n o D o m in i 1 8 9 9 . ’
We request y o u to s e n d u s th e nam es
end then , and all C hristian s ought
of Secularists who m ight becom e sub- savior and a god’s mercy for the
scriliers and we will m ail sam ple copies. enjoym ent of th a t fai aw ay heaven,
Said a C hristian to a Liberal to be m ade to know it. It ended
because the new Era of Science and
( m e n have g radually learned to be- friend, “ You can’t live w ithout be­
T H U R SD A Y , NOV. 30, E . M. 299- 1 little the effects of their thoughts ing a confessed C hristisn, for every of Man then took its place. The
and actions— their work here, and tim e you date a letter or look at new astronom y of Copernicus, B ru ­
N earer The T ru th .
have become like their anthropo- the alm anack, you subscribe to the no and Galileo, then proved, com ­
, m orphic god, careless of their crea- ‘ year of our Lord, Jesus C hrist, pletely knocked out the old C hris­
N earer, the T ru th , to thee,
i tions. We must learn th at repent­ 1899’.” “ T h a t’s where you are not tian heaven and hell and its Cos­
N earer to th e e ;
ing, as God was supposed to do up to d ate,” replied the L iberal. m ogony generally, and m ade no
E ’en though the tim e is long
E ’e r m an is free;
after m aking m an in his own “ I cau ’t help what is printed on C hristian heaven possible—only an
Still all our songs shall be
image, does not curt* an evil.
your alm anacks, but when I date “ E a rth ly P arad ise” in the future of
N earer, th e T ru th , to th e e ;
N earer, tin* T ru th , to thee,
How im portant to the future of letters or an y th in g for myself it the H um an Race on this E arth ,
N earer to thee.
our race is our every thought and reads, ‘Era of Man 299,’ and d o n ’t which all Liberals are living in
th eir hopes and efforts to realize.
Though hu m an w anderers
action! Even when we are alone you forget it.”
of hou«e cleaning, com pany is a n ­
nounced. Rut house cleaning does
not last fort v**r, an d onietirae in
T h e O n ly P a p e r of I ts K in d .
the r e a r f u t u r e on;' buildings and
P u b lish ed W eekly by th e L iberal U n i­ grounds will present a very fine
versity C om pany, in the in te re s ts of
appearance
Much work is y e t to
C onstructive. Moral Secularism .
be done and c tisiderable money
J. E. H o sm e r,........................E d ito r m ust be expended, b u t we now have
P. W . G e e r,........................M an a g er a place on which to stand, and
having learned to believe the motto,
E ntered at the postoffice at S ilverton, “ Labor omnia vincit,” we will en­
O regon, as Ke<'ond-class mail m a tte r.
deavor to prove it.
Torch of Reason
Have been kept down,
D arkness held over them
By Priest and crown ;
Y e t: in th e ir dream s th e y ’d lx*
N earer, the T ru th , to th e e ;
N earer, t h e T ru th , to thee,
N earer to thee.
an evil thought does its work
Liberals who wish to he consist­
against the happiness of the future ent, independent, and stand on their
children of H um anity, for it affects own bottom, will do well to think
the thinker. It m akes him weaker, over in what E ra of the world they
and when he next comes in contact are really living, so as to be able
T hen, with our waking thought
with others he affects them for evil tru th fu lly to m ake the reply of our
B right w ith thy praise,
in just the proportion to the evil in Liberal friend as given above. No
Out of th e love of right
the thought. Every good thought Liberal is now really living in the
Science w e’ll raise.
So, by our works, to lx*
has its effect also, and goes forth in C hristian E ra at all, and it is a
N earer, th e T ru th , to th e e ;
ever-w idening waves until the circle good time to realize the tru th and
N earer, the T ru th , to d ice,
N earer to thee.
of influence is utterly beyond o u r' to begin to tell it. Now ju st see
com prehension.
If, on the wings of th o u g h t,
how the m atter stands:
We search tin* sky,
We, the people of this generation, The Greek era was dated by O lym ­
* Sun, moon and -»tars will bring
in order to form a more perfect piads of four years, commencing
E a r th ’s heaven nigh.
T hen, all our songs shall be
; union, establish justice, insure do- 776 B. C. The Romans dated their
N earer th e T ru th , to th e e ;
raestic tran q u ility , provide for the era from the founding . f the city,
N earer, tl e T ru th , to thee,
cd 11 um anitv.
common defense, prom ote the gen­ 752 B. C. N o th in g va- Known or
eral welfare and secure the bless­ is known about the b irih of Jesus
ings of liberty for ourselves and C hrist, or rath e r of “ Jesus the
L A B O R CON QUERS A L L .
our posterity, should ordain and C h rist”. The nam e stands for a
The growth of the Liberal U ni­ establish a religion of H um anity, m yth which grew into shape and
versity is sim ply wonderful. Many which, instead of inculcating into “ personality” years after his sup­
of our most e n th u s ia s tic w orkers the m inds of men, as the old re­ posed birth. I t was not until A.
were afraid th at.stu d en ts would he ligious have done, the selfish idea D. 572 th at Dionysius Exiguus
very slow in coming, and that it of an exclusive heaven far away (th a t is, “ the L ittle ”), a Syrian
would take years to have an y th in g and a lake of fire (or som ething m onk, first devised the plan of run­
of a university as far as num bers like it) for the wicked, will teach ning a new era from the time of
are concerned; but we are steadily us of a univeisal, a Cosmopolitan C h rist’s supposed birth. It then
increasing and even now begin to h* avt n th a t is being builded, not helped C hristian papal power, and
think of what to do for more school by spooks eternal in the heavens, so it was g radually introduced as
room, seats, sleeping rooms, etc. but by th e m inds and hands of men “ Anno Dom ini”, “ Y ear of Our
This week several new students and women here and now. This L ord” ; but its first use in E ngland
entered, and letters from E astern new religion m ust contain all the begau only in 680, and it did not
states tiring the news th at others good of all religions hut m ust be become general in E u ro p e until
are making arrangem ents to be free to improve. It can not be 1450.
(See “ C hristian E ra ” in
with us soon. W e often feel like built on anything but the broadest Jo h n so n ’s New Encyclopaedia, or
the housewife, when, in the midst base of scientific truth.
Science any other E ncyclopaedia)
The
Yes, then began the Era of Free-
thought, of Science and of Man.
Queen E lizabeth and the E nglish
check-m ated popery in E n g lan d ,
E urope and Am erica, and th u s gave
L iberty the first chance to get on
her feet. Then America was settled,
then India and the E ast was open­
ed up, and the Sanscrit led the way
to the precious science of the la n ­
guages; then Shakespeare found­
ed the new secular th e a te r and thus
placed a new joy in the “ H eart of
M an” which has “ set all aspiration
free” ; then Bacon gave out the new
philosophy of Science; then G rotius
founded In tern atio n a l Law: then
Lord H erbert composed the little
book, “ T ru th ” , the first of Free-
thought w ritings, then m any thing-
happened to magnify the glory and
happiness of m ankind so th a t more
progress has been made in the last
three hundred years (our Era of
M an) than in the countless ages
before.
And they all m ean and
prove what5? W hy, th a t the old
nightm are of a firm am ent and a
C hristian heaven-astronom y is «»ft
of us forever; th at we are really
“ out in the clear” , and th a t n >
church,pope,bible,B runo and Servc-
tus-burning, St Bartholom ew m as­
sacre Theology car: ever curse the
hum an species with its hell on
e a rth again.
H ow can any L iberal , th at is,