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•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