Image provided by: Silverton Country Historical Society; Silverton, OR
About Torch of reason. (Silverton, Oregon) 1896-1903 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 14, 1899)
4 THE TORCH OF REASON, SILVERTON, OREGON, DECEMBER 14, 1899. womanhood very rapidly. The had a dozen lives and millions of Liberal University is organized for money it would be just the same. The Only Paper of Its Kind. the purpose of converting that If this devotion is worth anything to the Liberals of the world it large portion of the world that is should be recognized before the dev P ublished W eekly by th e Lil>eral U n i still in ignorance and superstition otees are forever beyond the reach versity C om pany, in the In te re sts of to the religion <Tf Science and Hu- of appreciation and help. Time is C onstructive, Moral Secularism . inanity, but its work will be long very precious and the world awaits delayed unless it can have the our uniteli action. J. E. H o s m e r,........................E d ito r wherewithal to bring to the minds P. W . G e e r,........................M a n a g e r these years. OUR F R IE N D S . -------------------------------------------- : There is scarcely a man who is of its students, and through them Entered at the postoffice at Silverton, educated enough to be fit to occupy and its paper to the minds of O regon, as second-class m ail m a tte r. There has been very erroneous a position in the state schools or others, the knowledge of cosmology, universities of the United States, biology and sociology—that is nec impressions made upon the minds SUBSCRIPTION RATES. who does not know that science is essary in order to dispel the thick of both Christians and Infidels who know hut little about our Free- O ne year, in a d v an c e ..........................$1 00 diametrically opposed to the re- fogs of mysticism. • S ix m onths in a d v an c e .................... While in Portland last week we thought educational work. This ligiou of .Jesus Christ, hut with few T h re e m o n th s, in a d v a n c e ................ exceptions, only those remain to visited the new public museum and impression is that we have only a I n clubs of five or m ore, one year, in a d v a n c e ...................................., , , 75 day who are willing to “keep saw some of the finest of specimens few friends and that they ate those Money should be sent by reg iste red mum” or lie for the sake of “what of shells, corals, bones of whales, who cannot or will not help us in le tte r or m oney order.. there is in if.” The consequence is tusks and teeth of the mastadon, any material way. This idea is that the schools are filled with in keeping many from casting in their ¿Notice! structors who have been culled as etc., etc. These were all beauti mite towards completing our build it were from the most intelligent(?) fully exhibited; hut what about the ing and suitably beautifying our A h a n d p ointing to th is notice denotes frauds in our country. Is it any interpretation of the wonderful th a t your su b scrip tio n has e x p ire d . wonder that so many college grad speech that they utter to the visi grounds. To remove this false im You are e arn estly requested to re uates turn out badly? Is it any pression is the purpose of this ed new so th a t you m ay .receive th e p a wonder that so much emphasis is tors? A Christian is only filled p er w ith o u t in te rru p tio n . W e have de with awe at the wonderful works of itorial. placed on “appearances” and i-o cided th a t it is best for all concerned There are many who desire this th a t we do n o t send papers longer th a n little on genuine worth? Is it any his God and goes home still cling th e tim e paid for unless so ordered. wonder that so many of our people ing to his crucifix and counting his false impression to be made upon T his will p rev en t any loss and we will are looking for a heaven in some heads. Only a few have had the the minds of those who would be know ju st w here we sta n d . We request you to send us th e nam es other sphere, away from this “vale training necessary and can fully come our helpers, but we have hun of Secularists who m ight becom e su b of tears?” dreds of true, staunch friends here scribers and we will m ail sam ple copies. The whole system, from the pri appreciate and understand the lan in Silverton and thousands of oth mer to the highest college course guage of these great teachers. They ers in other parts of the world. THURSDAY, DEC. 14, E. M. 299. has been dominated by hypocrites. need to be classified and compared Add to this the instructions of the and the great lessons of evolution Robert G. Ingersoll was our friend, Christian church and Sunday taught by competent teachers— and he was a host in himself. He T E A C H E R S. was just about to write an endorse school and we have two of the teachers who dare tell the truth— ment of our work when his hand largest factors in the world’s de “The faculty of the Liberal Uni pravity. O, that educated( ?) men teachers who are not dependent on and mind became stilled forever. versity, Oregon, is the finest look and women would sav what they the church or politics for their po He was to give a lecture and de vote the whole proceeds to the work äitions. ing group of educators in America, », think ! here in Silverton, but his promise We need to have our rooms fin are the kind and complimentary and its influence is all we have ev TIM E IS TOO PR EC IO U S TO ished; we want glass cases; we words of the December number of W A ST E . er received, for, instead of receiving want tables; we want taxidermist’s a letter from our peerless friend, as the Freethought Magazine, publish ed by our friend and co-worker, Time is valuable, and if the Lib materials and a taxidermist; we per agreement, we received the sad H. L. Green, of Chicago; and if our erals expect to liberalize the world want help! Without a fine museum, news of his sudden death. Nearly every old “ wheel horse” desire to make the world better they should bestir themselves. The which can be easily started when of any note in the Liberal ranks is makes us good looking, we are great aristocratic church societies, we have money enough, our school our friend. Men who were the ear not very ugly, but what cau with their millions, are hiring, forc can not possibly do its best work. liest pioneers of the Freethought we say of the thousands of teachers ing and fooling the people of the We are holding the fort, but in work here have done and are doing who are holding their positions be white races into the errors of ortho order to make a charge on the ene all they can. . Henry Allen, Peter Rauch, the Ames brothers, T. D. cause of their hypocritical silence doxy, to say nothing of the mil my we must have more ammuni Allen, Ai Coolidge, Frank DeGuire, or pretentious utterances of a be lions of dollars they are gathering tion. A good collection of geolo Julius Fisher, Adolph Wolf, John lief in the old dogmas? And what j up to trick the blacks and brownies gical, historical and natural history Porter, M. Cooley, H. E. Klein and can we say of the awful Christian into “jumping out of the frying- specimens, scientifically arranged, scores of other “old wheel horses” condition that forces many of the pan” of heathen paganism “into attractively exhibited and properly are our friends and helpers. And interpreted would do our school among the younger workers most intelligent men and women of the fire” of heathen Christianity. and the world untold good. If we then we can count a host right here at our time to thus play the hypo It takes time to convert people to had money we would not hesitate; home, while from abroad the num crite? the religion of Humanity, because we would at once have a fine col ber of our frinds is beyond our Many do not realize that the it is a scientific religion. It re lection, a good microscope and ability to compute. Of course young who come under the instruc quires reason and judgment to teach other much-needed apparatus, with many of these friends are, like our out which much of our labor will selves, very limited financially, and tion of hypocrites are affected for and to understand it; hut to he- have been in vain. the burden rests upon the shoulders evil to the full extent of the hypoc- come a Christian one needs only to The fact is, the salvation that of the few. It takes money to buy lisy. But it is true, and, as Jesus have faith, and the less reason he! saves needs its missionaries and land and build a University, so of is made to say in the fable-story of has and the more ignorant he is, ; financial patronage as well a» do»*s course our w’ork moves slower than religion of Jesus Christ. Give many would like to see it, but we the Bible, “O generation of vipers, the easier it is to simply cling to the us this aid and (the prophet of God must be patient and some Free- who hath warned you to flee from the cross, to have faith as a little to the contrary notwithstanding) thought Rockfeller may yet “strike the wrath to come,’ we are justified child and to believe and believe there will be something “ new under oil” and come to our rescue. in saying, O, generation of hypo- that he is saved by believing rather the sun-” The way our work is There are quite a number of “old now managed, it is impolitic and wheel horses”, we will admit, who erites, who will warn ye to flee than know, and kDow that he is impossible for the work to be done have been fooled into withholding from the damnation of a guilty saved bv knowing. in any other way than strictly “on their support from this the greatest conscience? We will warn you to We are living in an age that is the^ square;” and it looks as though undertaking that Freethinkers the extent of our power, And if yet but the childhood of our race.1 with the education nal aid we now have ever imagined, and these “old this warning should chance Christianity „ and other _ __ supernatural r _______ J iave> that the Lil iberals who are wheel horses” are used m turn to to fall into the hands of one whose religions are the earlv backwoods able t0. a'.d us ,financial|y eould be prevent, others from helping, but salary depends on his hypocrisy, we schools whose crudities and punish as patriotic and generous as Christ- nothing of any importance to the hope he will repent and try the ex ments must give way to better and ians are to their cause. 1 hat we human race was ever done without woefully need help and that we some opposition, and we must not periment of saying just what he higher methods. But how long need it at once is known by all expect to be an exception. We who thinks. He will be very much will it take to convert the world to j wh? understand our gigantic under- understand conditions can only do pleased, for what is money compar- reason and common sense? taking. Those who, are actually all we cau and hope that soon oth- ed with liberty? There is no dan L nder right conditions vouth de engaged in the work are giving era will come to our rescue and help their all to the cause which is as to make the yoke easy and the bur- g e r that we will die of starvation, 1 velops into perfect manhood and dear to them as life itself. If they den light. Torch of Reason or that our loved ones will suffer very much. We can only live and die at best; then why not say what we think and be our honest selves? Think how the world would ad vance if it could once be rid of its hypocrites and the miserable creeds that have been making them all