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About Torch of reason. (Silverton, Oregon) 1896-1903 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 18, 1900)
SLIGHT r Jf- t OECH ,Uj •TRUTH BEARS THE TORCH IN THE SEARCH FOR TRUTH.” - £ M cre<i M s. VOL. 4. Is the World a Dreary Place? S IL V ER T O N , O REGON , T H U R SD A Y , OCTOBER 18, E. M. 300 (1900.) NO. 41. it the continued existence of such societies is impossible. A lthough at a latter period, in the case of m an, these moral foundations of society came to he much more highly developed, th eir oldest pre historic source, as Darwin has shown, is to he sought in the so cial instinct of anim als. Among the higher V ertebrates (dogs, horses, elephants, etc.), as am ong the higher A rticulates (an ts, bees, it is fitted to underm ine existing I he change of a creed should not civilization, and especially th a t it be forced upon a church from w ith BY ELIZA COOK. encourages the subversive aim s of out b y the progress of unchurched om e call th e world a d re a ry place, social democracy. This reproach thinkers, hut it should result from And tell long titles of sin and woe; is wholly unjustified. The a p p li the growth and expanse of its own As if th e re were no blessed trace cation of philosophical principles life. The church, as the m oral in Of su n sh in e to lie found below. to the practical conditions of life, structor of m ankind, should not be They p o in t, w hen A u tu m n ’s w inds are sighing. and in p articu lar to social and po dragged along behind the triu m p h To falling leaves and w ith ered flowers; litical questions, oan be m ade in a n t m arch of hum anity, hut should But shall we only m ourn th em dying, A nd never note th e ir b rillia n t hours? the most various ways. Political deploy in front with the vanguard “ free-thinking,” so called, has of sciencel They m ark th e ra in b o w ’s fading light, And say it is th e type of m an ; nothing w hatever to do with the The eternal dam nation of noble “ So passeth h e ” —but, O h ! how b rig h t t e r m ite s a I tk .. j i The tranacient glory of the span. | s m i t e s , etc.) also, the develop- “ freedom of th o u g h t” of our m onis minded heathen and of the tender ruent of social relations and duties tic n atu ral religion Morever, I soulnd infants who happen to die They liken Life u n to th e stream is the indispensable condition of T hat, sw ift an d shallow , pours along; am convinced th a t the rational unbaptized, was sternly believed in But beauty m ark s th e rip p lin g gleam , th eir living together in orderly so m orality of m onistic religion, th a t by the ancestors of our P resb y ter And m usic tills th e bubb lin g &ong. cieties. Such societies have for unifying conception of nature as a ian friends. They declared, w ith \\ h v should th e p rea ch e r ever rave m an also been the m ost im portant whole which we designate in a out giving any reasonable a rg u Of sorrow , d e ath and “ d u st to d u s t? ” W e know th a t we shall fill a grave,— in stru m en t of intellectual and m or single word as Monoism, is in no m ent for their opinion, this is p a rt B ut why be sad before we m u st? al progress. way contrary to the good and tru ly of the devine order of things, an d Look round th e world an d we shall see, Beyond all doubt the present de valuable elem ents of the C hristian whosoever does not believe it, will D espite th e cynic sn a rlin g groan, Much to aw aken th an k fu l glee, gree of hum an culture owes in great ethic, but is destined in conjunc be dam ned for all e te rn ity , together As well as w ring th e hopeless m oan. p art its perfection to the propaga tion with these to promote the with the wise Socrates and the vir P erch an ce the laden tree we shake tion of the Christian system of m orals true progress of hum anity in the tuous Confucius. May have a re p tile a t its ro o t; and its ennobling influence although future. B ut sh all we only see th e snake, W ho m ade Calvin the councillor And q u ite forget th e gratefu l fru it? th e great value o f this has been W ith C hristian m ythology and of divine providence and who gave Shall we forget each su n n y m orn, im paired,often in the most deplora the special form of theistic belief him the right of electing or reject And tell of one dire lig h tn in g stroke? ble m anner, by its association with associated with it the ease is differ Of all th e su its th a t we have w orn, ing the souls of men? On w hat untenable m yths and so-called rev ent. In so far as th a t belief in Shall we bu t keep th e funeral cloak? ground could his narrow view, ex O h ! why should o u r own h an d s lie elations. How little these last con volves the notion of a “ personal cusable in his time, be incorporated tw ining trib u te to the perfection of the god,” it has been rendered quite into the creed of a church? The Dark ch ap lets from th e cypress tree? first, can be seen from the acknow untenable by the recent advances W hy sta n d in gloomy sp o ts, repining, argum ent on which C alvin’s view W hen fu rth e r on sw eet buds m ay be? ledged historical fact th at it is just of m onistic science. But, more rests, was very weak, but the found and the hierarchical th an this, it was shown more than ers of the Presbyterian church be Tis tru e th a t n ig h tsh a d e oft will hind us orthodoxy T h a t eves, th e b rig h te st, will he d im ; system based on it (especially th at two thousand years ago, by em i ing convinced of its tru th , th o u g h t Old w rinkled C are too oft will find us, of the P apacy) th a t has least of nent exponents of the m onistic B ut why sho.uld we go seeking h im ? to strengthen it by incorporating all striven to fulfill the precepts of philosophy, th a t the conception of the doctrine into their Confession. C hristian m orality: the more a personal god, creator and ruler of A Rational View of the World. An idea, once sanctified by tra d i loudly they preach it in theory, the world, does not give the slig h t tion, has a tenacious life. R ever the less do they them selves fulfill est help toward a tru ly rational ence for the founders of a church BY ER N ST H A E C K E L . its com m ands and practice. view of the world.— Monism. will keep their errors sacred and It is, moreover, to he borne in ove rem ains the supreme will not allow an im p artial inves m ind th at another and very con The Revision of a Creed. m oral law of ratio n al relig tigation of th eir opinions. ion, the love, th a t is to say, siderable portion of our modern Reverence is a good thing; but th a t holds the balance betw’een ego cu ltu re and m orality has been de BY DR. P A L L C A RLS. all reverence toward men, be they veloped quite independently of ism and altru ism , between self-love ever so venerable, m ust be con troll and love of others. “ Do to others, C h ristian ity , m ainly through the E have a t present the ed by the reverence of tru th . And as you would they should do to continual study of the highly elab strange spectacle th a t in this is the worst p art cf the change orated m ental treasures of classi you.” This n atu ra l and highest one of our churches the of the Confession. The change, it cal an tiq u ity . The thorough study com m and had been ta u g h t and fol proposition is discussed to change appears, is not made because th e of Greek and Roman classics has lowed thousands of years before some grave p articu lars of creed. objectional doctrines are recogniz a t least contributed much more to C hrist eaid: “ Thou sh alt love The old doctrines have become “ un- ed as errors; but sim ply because it than th a t of the C hristian church thy neighbor as th y self.’’ preachable,” as it is expressed, they are at the present tim e too re fathers. To this we m ust now add In the hum an fam ily this m ax eith er because the m inisters no pulsive for popular acceptance. in our own century (rightly called im h as alw ays been accepted as W hy are the doctrines of eternal longer believe them , or because the “century of the natural self-evident; as ethical in stin ct it ent not openly and ---- con- people are loath to listen to ideas punishm - r ---- was an in h eritan ce derived from sciences”), the im m ense advance in which now' appear as m onstrosities fessedly branded ss errors? W hy our anim al ancestors. I t had a l the higher culture which we owe and absurdities. can it not be acknowledged th a t to a purified knowledge of nature ready found a place am ong the W e n a tu ra lly hail the progress tenets which our fathers consider and to the monistic philosophy herds of Apes and o ther social of a church and its developm ent ed as tru th s of divine revelation, founded upon this. T hat these M am m als; in a sim ilar m anner, into broader views of religious were after all their personal and m ust also exercice an advancing ...... , v . . .. .. but with a wider scope, it was a l . . , tru th . Yet a t the sam e time we private opinions o n ly ? influence cannot be t i .i. , ready present in the most prim i and . ennobling W e ask why, but receive no e x , , . , , , feel the littleness of the advance. doubted, and has already been , - tive com m unities and am ong the , planation. xv» et m there is a reason , , '* bat is the progress of a few steps, r*— w o jh b o rd s o f the least advanced eav- shown >y m any em inent authors, jf a m an hag t0 tra v el hundred« of th at lu rk s behind; although it seems S c m L ages. B ro th erly love— m utual • ' "¡ l - ”* *' r >‘ ll 1 " m llesl Moreover, w hat is any pro- support, succour, protection and . * ir gress, if it is done under pressure the like— had alread y m ade its Against this m onistic ethic of circum stances only and not from appearance am ong - - gregarious ani- founded on a ratio n al knowledge , „ ------------- deaire tQ ------ advance aud keep abrea9t - ----- principle would m als as a social d u ty ; for without of n ature, it has been objected th a t with the true sp irit of the times! as if the men who are most con- eeri.ed were not conscious of it. If the error were acknowledged, a be pronounced which opens the door to a greater