Image provided by: Silverton Country Historical Society; Silverton, OR
About Torch of reason. (Silverton, Oregon) 1896-1903 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 25, 1900)
T orch of R eason R- THE torch IN THE SEARCH FOR T R U T H .» _ Z M C w ttM S -------------------- Z ------------- ---------------- ------ XiWUrtJff, S IL V E R T O N , O REG O N , T H U R SD A Y J A N [ 'A R Y 9 , ^ = = = = - - — . ¿ ^ ¿ J A N U A R T 25, E. M. 300 (A. D. 1900.) For the Torch of Reason never m ind w hat. To a m an who has or who knows of no duties, the M lvanon by illusion is like the joy bT intoxication. R is neither last', m otives which prom ise to give him BY ISAAC A. POOL. pleasure will become the strongest- ri'g n o r i s i t wholesome, and when >s gone it will leave ng ead,jer To Hy “Spiritualist Friends” MIND me of a pair, sincere, devout I they 7 will . 1 direct his energies, as it th an before. In stead ol helping it Churches and Out. " ’set o 'it° n the road to Heaven ^ ere’ ,n th e line ° f least resistance. set o u t; will harm . - '■ ■ most complete “ ence rises ‘he so-called n atu ra l Keeping themselves in A m an who, like F au st, can sat- x accord ‘ BY T. B. WAKEMAN. destre for pleasure. B ut this so- With “ book” an d )“ |>rieet,” as servant of J*fy all his desires, is tru ly in the ealled n a tu ra l dslre for pleasure is h e way in which the diecu Bound by the looked-for “ Crown,” and the greatest danger for m an. And hands of S atan , as Goethe in his . fearing “ H ell,” great philosophical allegory dem on 8,on of the subject of S p iritu a " lu le “ inspiration” fills each vacant w herever we investigate the m eth strates. O nly a strong character, ods of progress we sh all find th a t ism has been left a t the Libert They «'‘»t^H iro’ welcome suffering a n d , *i is ia r irom tak in g p lace in the as is F au st, who yearns for a h ig h clubs, the Silverton T hought Ex it is far from tak in g p laCe In the er hfe, can overcome all the tem p change and o th er places, where th, linn 1_ Then Sne’ l t mor^ne“ enKer’.’ appeare- ' De ° Ieast resistance. On the one at morning, one at noon, de- c o n tra ry alm ost every progress tations. He tastes of the pleasures <>bl and new views of the world art “ Up” 10 ‘ n?t S tar™ 8” each fliuing 8pi- leadS in th e iin e o f 8 re a te a t re s is t- of life and finds them shallow. brought into conflict, seems to me ic Ih e re is no satisfaction for the long some respects unsatisfactory. We Forget, no m atter where the “ White “« T - The develoPm ent in the line Throne” shines, of least resistance leads to inevito ing of his soul in any of them. Yet bad hostility instead of adjustm ent- There never^meet in space, divergent ble ruin. tH“ as soon as F au st abandons the N either party have been able to d e i <»i here, jh e^w h irlin g earth disturbs H e n c e it follows th a t the great- stan d p o in t of egotism he finds a rive the benefits th a t each ought to W hose zenith points for ever to another i V ^ ess^ng ^or a m an is to have satisfaction which he had never be able to bestow upon th e o th er. Hs own rofaUon and its orbit wide I ’ hiC.h d ° 8Omp expected. H e forgets the im petu Fach party has come to feel th a t ous desire for pleasures in a great be has a tru th of which the o th er Rich people who, B u Y l o T « MmasrAf,nToP. S - :- in useful work. w ithout becoming exactly crim inal, work th a t he undertakes for h u would deprive him and th e world. space, m anity. He finds th a t satisfaction Can we learn to realize, appreciate, can allow them selves to let their J’ursues forever his unending chase; V heels thro some orbit vast, among actions follow the line of least re lies not in the aim solely, but in and finally reconcile these differ the stars, . 6 the effort to reach the aim ; not in here no “ W hite Throne” nor constel sistance, are in a m ost dangerous liberty, but in a tta in in g and deserv ences? If 8O, instead of being hos tile, m ight we not become friendly lation bars. plight. “ How h ard ly sh all they ing liberty; not in the harm onious and co-operative in furth erin g the What shall we say? W hat duty lies th a t have riches” attain a m oral, enjoym ent of life, but in being the satisfaction and progress of in d i before? not to say a strong developm ent of How stay the shame, and cleanse the their souls’ Those th a t are rich m aster of one’s fate, in building vidual life and th a t of the com m u blood-stained door? \ n* Question n o t! All sacrifice is vain • th a t can live well, th a t can live for one’s own life and m aking it h a r nity, and to some ex ten t th a t of All prayers to “ God,” and all “ Redeem monious: the w orld a t large? the sake of enjoying life, should for ers” slain * These add fresh horrors to the ghastly the sake of th eir own soul-life im “ Yes! To this thought I hold with firm Three hundred years ago the su p scheme, persistence; Fit only for a “ beast” or “ Devil’s ” dream. pose upon them selves heavy duties, Thetru e re8ult ° f wis(loni stamps it ern a tu ra l, i. e., the theological view of the world prevailed over every il schools . Not for credulity’s abuse, as heavy as they can bear. They H W h lyi ? r"’ bisfreedom and existence, thing. G rad u ally the intellect has But giv n to Science and “ Right Rea should educate th eir children so W ho daily conquers them anew .” son’s ” use. worked out S cien ce and made it First bring the “ W reckers:” tear the th a t they feel unhappy unless they F aust has become too old to enjoy have great duties to perform. The the fruits of his labor himself, but the real, i. e., the bottom verifiable i f away, Let all their darkness see the light of day. basis of our life. I n the m ean tim e WiVh^n \ reethl” ker bringa single brick, m oral w orth o f a man does not de he feels e te rn ity b reath in g through the Liberal S p iritu alsts, have large V\ith just enough of T ruth to make it pend upon the am o u n t of pleasure •is soul. H is work will live after stick • ly em ancipated the ideal, religious, I K Y d W ? T«"'I>le filling all the zone be provides for him self and others, bun and be a blessing unto thous em otional, or s pir it u a l n a tu re of An grander far than any “ G reat White hut upon the am o u n t and scope ands: Throne!” man from old unscientific dogm as, - . sure foundations,not w ith“ M yths” and weight of d u ty he is able to ‘ i ne traces cannot of mine earthly being but have not as y e t put a scientific carry and wrongs, In aeons p e ris h ,-th e y are t h e r e ! - But well cemented. Right and Truth In proud forefeeling of such lofty bliss instead of th e old su p e rn a tu ra l _ are stro n g ! now enjoy the highest m o m e n t,-th is !” basis under them . T hus has re ien, over these, let “ Freedom ’s Tem- wu < Fle ri8e> All religions are system s of eth F aust had pledged his life to Me- sulted the m odern antagonism of V\ hose Torch” may well illum inate the ics; an d ethics by the very fact pbistopheles as soon as he should The Real vs. The Ideal? Now the skies. H well! My brothers, yonder “ Luo” h at it teaches m an how to regulate enjoy a m om ent of satisfaction. time has come for each p a rty to T sta n d s! 10 dearest dome on ea rth ; in all her lis conduct is a religion. Every The m om ent is come and F aust understand the other. T he S p irit v lan d s! religion comes, or pretends to come dies. But th a t which gave him this ualist m ust learn to see the world Superstition” mars or moils; I t throw s light satisfaction was none of S a ta n ’s as the objective Scientists see it, ° blood of M artyrs ’ in her fragant as a salvation. v soils; upon the world around us in which gifts. It was none of the pleasures and the objective Scientist m ust The rofliT» * n re to h? ng a “ C hrist” upon, we live and th u s it aids us in our of egotism. It was a higher kind come to see the tru th s and necessi road to Heaven is “ up”—toOregon. Melrose Park, 111., Jan . 3, E . M. 300. endeavors to escape from the m is of pleasure which has nothing in ties o f the ideal, m oral, asp iratio n al, eries caused hy our ignorance and common w ith w hat is generally aesthetic n atu re and p a rt of m an, folly. called pleasure. F or it is a satis which can only be conceived of or The Ethical Test. The religion of science like all faction of th e powerful super-indi discovered subjectively, or as the other religions comes to the rescue vidual y earn in g s of th e soul. And old phrase was, “ sp iritu ally d is BY DR. PAUL CARUS. of m an. It is tru e th a t the tru th s th is is the only happiness th a t man cerned.” of science appear at first sight to be can a t t a i n .- f T h e E tnical Problem. It is only by this exchange of s has a n a tu ra l desire f o r . zney destroy the il- destructive. They destroy the il views th a t the L iberals, and m an 1 • n 9 ° f « a C « h , ldieh fai * ‘ b w b i « b r a t 'V R r bl 9 de 8, re i S 1U8,'O Down forever down, with any re kind generally, can get the benefit living tnaehin be? aU8e m an 18 a ha8 become d ea r to us. B ut tru th , ligion th a t requires upon its ignor of the two elem ents, the real and energy. the d f vital h° WeVer Sad’ “ the onlT m eans ant a lta r the sacrifice of the god the ideal, which are absolutely nec dess Reason; th a t compels her to KT ¡s ever o r e / 6» ? ' e “ eneI" ‘h a ‘ Can CUre tbe ills of " abdicate th e shining throne of the essary to the w orld’s progress does n o t-n e n d h m3n tbSre a " y 8alva‘i°n H roust be soul Strips from her form the im These elem ents are the objective work hi. T m I’ a8efUl g3ined by tru tb and bv boldly fac- perial purple; snatches from her tru th s of Science and the subjective »ill compel h X ac^ i t y , ia K ‘ba ‘™‘b- I f tru th c a n n o /h e .p , band the scepter of thought, and concepts of th o u g h t and feeling in him to do som ething, nothing can, nothing will help. A makes her th e bond-wom an of a dispensable in th e ennoblem ent of senseless faith. Love. Each of these, T ru th and Going Up—To Heaven. I T j za M