T H E TORCH OF REASON, SILV ER TO N , OREGON, JA M ARV b , E. M. 301 (1901.)
2
Hourceof vague theories, abstract
i i I, . g,l, u, as and aib itrarv
an a so e
Dractical life
P,1" C;V r ^ d uali m w ,
in •
gm dim
ern m e a n in g -th e religious mean-
ing—of the word H um anity. I t is
defined as “ the voluntary converg-
- e e of all the sentient L i n g s on
T hus each solves the question, and
it only rem ains to consciously real-
iae i t in fact and enjoy it in t i e
heart. Soon a large literature of
ih
the crew of a little ship floating
about on the Ocean of Time, and
instead of purposeful and useful
navigation, our energies are spent
in quarreling and belaboring each
other, as to w hether our common
ship and fate shall be headed tow­
ards some “ H eaven” in the sky
- ■
«Jill iijiii; ii .11 ; n ; — ••
with” , " order, and ...... planet,“ or, again, as “ the Science and A rt will blossom out
W.'.h, „1 nmaress.
whole of hum an b e in g s -p a s t, pres- and express and impress the retult-
revou lions
. i •
, , nil„ h t ent and future;” or, again, as the ing thoughts and feelings.
- ,
.
■ it ni y j d ............_____________
u a l"
r,i- ’ •
1
r Even
vHit tn
>ii'-
..
............--- --.......
- ...... ..................................
the r « y m ^ ls o i.lh
» old
old faith
f«i s
the
in which the fact» of the world and
g
|j_
“ the Su- new. Take, for instance, the Cross; ly P arad ise” on this P lanet from
of m an ’s nature ai.d then
n
preme Being. ” It is in the latter did it ever mean so much as it which we cannot escape.
ca re fu lly a sc e rta in e d , and ma< e t le
8(,cietieP a „ d does in representing the continuity
Can we not all be silent ju st long
explanation or philosophy M he
regarded as the or- and solidarity of H um anity, thus: enough to take the advise and ex­
world of man and of his conduct—
T, •
•
'
and of which the Religion of Hu- .«»'•«' ,,f "» * G rea'
" avl "* « hat Bora the sew cross m ea n ? am ple of probably the wisest of
their work and duties determ ined
rr« o«n»l men, the one with the stoutest
.
, n V ' The H um an Body may re p re se n t! brain, the most far-seeing eye, and
m anity is in some form the inevit­ .........................
by their relations to it, and finding
.. .
, r
•
the G ram ) M an as the ever-living the tenderest heart of us all? W hy
able result. We believe th at the /
th»*ir welfare, happiness, iife-motive
■
Tr
•*.
1 1 ..
.
. . and growing Cross of H um anity, not? when, as we intim ate in an o th ­
hope of the world rests upon this
and even im m ortalitv, in their
.
.
,
.
,
„ ,
' •
with its C ontinuity growing through
philosophy and its religion.
er article, his life was devoted to
cheerful arid faithful service.
. »
| the Ages, and its S olidarity em- the very departm ents in which this
Mr. Spencer and Mr. Fiske have
Can we Meet our new Environment ?
bracing the earth ; thus it means.
shown that these three phases of
great question m ust be solved, viz,
thought are hut the continuation of
Physics, Biology, H istory, A esthet­
one process— th at is, of ceasing to
ics and Poetry. If we only u n d er­
It may he well said that Science
regard the world as anim ated by has brought us so far, th at whether
"su 5 —
stood it perhaps his solution would
hum an-like wills. H um an progress the hum an race can go further in
X
become ours.
< 5
is, as they say, a constant illus­ its upw ard progress, depends upon
J. - t
G oethe , like all other men who
tration of the law of “ Deanthrop- its ability to adjust its heart to the
ever grow at all, was an epitome of
om orphization”—that is, of ceasing hum an, altruistic, terrestrial Im ­
the growth of our race, and from
to explain the world by the theory m ortality. The plant, anim al, family IhH A rm s (extended)—Solidarity of th e R ace childhood up to 83 years of age,
O ur Present L ife and G eneration.______
of external wills. How this process
grew through the theological, m eta­
it
or race th at cannot meet a new’ en­
begins, how im portant a part it
physical and positive or scientific
- i
vironm ent soon meets its death.
plays in all hum an religion and Science by knocking out absolutely
stages of progress. In his younger
? 3
history, the works of Comte, Spen­ the old Sky-Heaven and Gods, Hell
days, he learned the Heaven im­
cer (especially his Sociology), Fiske, and Devils, has brought the whole
Ï ?
m ortality of the Bible and of the
E B. Tylor and Lubbock faithfully race very suddenly upon a complete
old faiths. In m iddle age he was
•*» i-
x ~
show. But there certainly is no change of its general environm ent
m etaphysical, revolutionary, and
understanding the hum an past an<l its future. The old Egoistic
more or less sp iritu ally transcen­
- x
without this law. The classification hopes and im m ortalities have no
d en tal, and talked of the soul, as
of the sciences is called t he backbone foundation, and if he cannot find
he afterw ard referred to th at of
I U
and this law of the three states may what his new environm ent is, and
W ieland, as inhabiting a star, but
well stand as the breastbone, of the adjust him self to it, he is only to be­
th a t was when talking to people
Z C o £
C
Religion of Science.
an anim al a little higher than the
who would not understand an y th in g
In this aspect of continuity, the brutes, and his growth has reached
else. In his later years he came
1. T he N ew W orld of S cience ; out as clear as a bell, with tones
progress of H um anity since the its limit.
French Revolution has been even
Most fortunately, just as the tel­ based upon the New Astronomy of th a t ought to ring with clearing
greater than in regard to social sol­ escope swept out the old firm am ent Copernicus, proclaim ed bv Bruno, com fort to every ear and on through
idarity. The grand work of Gib­ h-aven and ell its belongings and realized by Galileo, Kepler, Newton, all time.
bon and the tentatives of Condone , hopes, modern science and explor­ and La Place.
He g rad u ally gave his good-bye
2. T he R eligion of H umanity and Lucretius-like banishm ent to
Herder and others led the way to a ation discovered the true world, and
true science of social dynam ics a p ­ the ever converging, growing and based upon th a t New W orld, first the old F aith s, Gods and their
parent in the works of Comte and continuous hum an race as its centre. named by Thom as Paine Crisis heavens, as early as 1787, thus:
Spencer. “ The rational world” has T h at continuity of the hum an race, No. 7, 1778, to be realized by the
MEN SCH ENG EF VEH L.
been discovered, and recognized in inheriting each individual, and Liberals of this “ Age of R eason,”—
( t h e h u m a n f e e l in g .)
its progress through time as an moving on from generation to gen­ hi T he E ra of M an .
Ach ihr G ötter! grosse Götter
“ Immortal In d iv id u al.” 1 he con­ eration, becomes the basis, the fact
3. “T he E arthly P aradise ”—
In dem weiten Himmel droben!
ditions and laws of its development and the inevitable proof of the new The New H eaven—resting upon
Gäbet ihr uns auf der Erde
Festen Sinn und guten Muth;
and growth are being pointed out altruistic im m ortality. Of course “ T he R epublic of M an ,” first pro­
O wir lissen euch, ihr Guten,
with the clearness with which a it cannot at once satisfy all of the posed by Paine, with the United
Euren weiten Himmel droben !
n atu ra list describes an organism in egoistic desires, inflated as they States as its corner stone.
TRANSLATION.
biology, and indeed by sim ilar laws have been by sheer illusions, but it
and methods. 1 here is at last a can place them in the way of rea­
Ah, ye G ods! Great Gods,
G oethe’s Solution of
In the wide heaven an high !
science of history.
sonable and healthy motives and in
“ Im m ortality.”
G rant sound sense and good humor
Both of these aspects— i. e., the harmony with the highest altruism
To us who on earth live and die,
I f we wish to get the solution of
solidarity and continuity of H u­ — when “each is for all, when all
We’ll leave you heavens forever,
a
wonder
or
a
difficulty
in
regard
m anity— are indispensable to the is for each.” Selfishness becomes
And all beyond the sky!
to
the
stars,
we
n
atu
ra
lly
go
to
the
understanding, and much more to itself a duct towards co-operation,
He began to use this clearer view
astronom
ers
for
inform
ation
and
the solution, of any social question sym pathy and altruism . The next
in Der Zahmen Xenien (Tam e X en­
or difficulty. It is the failure to step is to see and feel th at the sol­ advice, and so with any other diffi­ ions) after 1795, thus :
include both views that renders idarity of the race is dependent up­ culty in any other departm ent of
“ Pu hast U nsterblichkeit im Sinn;
fruitless so many thoughtful spec on its continuity. Man differs from the world, we n atu ra lly turn to its
K annst du uns deine Gründe nennen?”
illations and honest efforts at re­ all other anim als in this, th at he experts. B ut in the higher and
Gar wohl! Der H anptgrund liegt darin,
complex
m
atters
of
sociology,
of
Dass wir sie nicht entbehren können.
form. We live in the present, cer- can co-operate industrially and soc
tainly; but for a Future inevitably p a lly , and thus has a solidarity, ethics, of religion and of art, the
Nichts vom Vergänglichen,
based upon and growing out of the The generations inherit the civiliz­ less one knows the more sure he
Wie’s auch geschah!
Past. ’ H um anity is a trin ity — one ation resulting from this so
lid a rity ,1 seems to he th a t he was evoluted to
solidarity,
Uns zu verewigen,
ever composed of these three, and and the im m ortality of the race is go it alone, and settle affairs ju st as
Sind wir ja, da.
must ever be served and worshipped secured. Then the thought strikes he wants. The resu ltan t trouble is
Das Tüchtige, und wenn auch falsch
as such.
us that the im m ortality of the race th a t the Tower of Babel is no longer W irkt Tag für Tag, von Haus zu H aus:
From what has been said, some means the effective im m ortality of a m yth, and no agreem ent, and so
Das Tüchtige, wenn's wahrhaft ist,
W irkt über alle Zeiten hinaus.
notion may now be had of the mod- the individuals which compose it. no co-operation is possible. We are
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