Torch of reason., April 03, 1902, Image 1

“ T R U T H B E A R S T H E TORCH IN T H E SEARCH FOR T R U T H .” — £ u c r e £ i US.
NO. 13.
S IL V E R T O N . OREGON , T H U R SD A Y , A PR IL 3, E. M. 302 (1902.)
VOL. 6.
SOCIOLOGY.
Has the Bible m ade the people of m atter w ithout force— no force
Georgia kind and merciful? W ould without m atter.
BY ERNEST CROSBY.
Its Collective Telesis.
The fourth stone is th a t th a t
the lynchers be more ferocious if
O he died fo r his fa ith . T h a t is flue— they worshipped gods of wood and which cannot he destroyed could
BY PRO F. LETTER F. W ARD.
M ore th a n m ost of us do.
not have been created; th at the in ­
stone ?
B ut say, can you ad d to th a t lin e
Religion has been tried and in all destructible is the uucreatable.
HE more we study the facts,,
T h a t he lived fo r it to o ?
If
these
corner-stones
are
facts,
countries, and in all times, it has
phenomena, and laws of the
In his d e a th he bore w itn ess a t la st
it follows as a necessity th at m atter
failed.
A s a m a rty r to tr u th .
Hentient world, the more
Did his life do th e sam e in th e p a st
Religion has never made a m an »nd force are from and to e te rn ity ; thoroughly do we find them per-
F ro m th e d a y s of h is y o u th ?
- -
- —
—
m erciful.
th a tth e y -c a n neither he increased I meated _ with
the
idea
of
utility.
It is easy to die. Men have d ied
Remember
the
Inquisition.
nor
dim
inished.
F o r a wish o r a w him —
M etaphysics asks the question,
F ro m b rav a d o o r p a ssio n or p rid e .
W hat effect did religion have on
It follows th a t nothing has been W hy? P u re Science asks the ques-
W as it h a rd e r fo r him ?
slavery?
>r can be created; th at there never tjon, How? Applied Science asks
B ut to live—every d ay to live o u t
W hat effect upon Libby, S auls­ has been or can he a creator.
the question, W hat for? The first
A ll th e t r u t h th a t he d re a m t,
bury
and
A
ndersonville?
It
follows
th
at
there
could
not
W h ile his frien d s m eet his c o n d u c t
inquires after the causes of things,
w ith d o u b t,
Religion has alw ays been the en­ lave
ive been any intelligence, ai
any de- tjle 8econij inquires after their laws,
A n d th e w orld w ith c o n te m p t,
emy of Science, of investigation and , sion hack of m ater and force.
the third inquires after their uses.
W as it th u s th a t he p lo d d ed ah ead ,
thought.
There is no intelligence w ithout The last of these is the standpoint of
N ever tu r n in g asid e ?
T h en well ta lk of th e life th a t he led ;
Religion has never made man force. There is no force w ithout all feeling beings, while the others
N ev er m in d how he died.
m atter. Consequently there could are confined to beings endowed with
free.
—[C o n se rv ato r.
It has never made m an m oral, not hy any possibility have been high r**a«oning or snepnlntive pow­
tem perate, industrious and honest. anv intelligence, any force, back of ers. The nature of utility as the
W h a t Is R eligio n ? *
Are C hristians more tem perate, m atter.
term is used in both economics and
nearer
virtuous,
nearer
honest
than
It
therefore
follows
th
a
t
the
su­
BY R O B ER T G. IN G E R SO LL.
sociology shows th at these sciences
savages ?
pernatural does not and cannot are u tilitaria n in their character,
Among savages do we not find exist. If these four corner-stones and, indeed, th a t all science is nec­
PART IV.
AKE our own dear, merciful th a t th eir vices and cruelties are are facts, N ature has no m aster. essarily so. It is true th at pure
P u ritan F a th e rs? W hat did fruits of their su p erstitio n s?
If m atter and force are from ami to science takes no account of this fact
To those who believe in the u n i­ eternity, it follows as a necessity and pursues tru th for its own sake,
C h ristian ity do for them ?
They hated pleasure. On the door form ity of N ature, religion is im ­ th at no God created or governs the but as also shown, the chief de­
universe; th at no God exists who fence of this method has alw ays
of life hung the crape of death. possible.
Can we affect the n atu re and answers prayer; no God who succors rested on the essential utility of all
They muffled all the hnlls of glad­
ness. They made cradles hy putting qualities of substance hy prayer ? the oppressed; no God who pities the tru th . T hus although the sciences
rockers on coffins. In the P uritan Can we hasten or delay the tides sufferings of innocence; no God differ widely in this respect, still it
year there were twelve Decembers. by worship? Can we change winds who cares for the slaves with scarred is true th a t every pure science has
They tried to do away with infancy hy sacrifice? W ill kneelings give Hesh, the m others robbed of their or may have its applied stage, and
and youth, with the prattle of bahes us w ealth? Can we cure disease by babes; no God who rescues the tor­ although sociology can perhaps
supplication ? Can we add to our tured, and no God th at saves a m ar­ afford to wait a long tim e, yet be­
and the song of the m orning.
T he religion of the P uritan was knowledge hy cerem ony? Can we tyr from the flames. In other words fore it attem pts to justify its exis­
receive virtue or honor as alm s? it proves th a t man has never re­ tence by showing what it exists for,
an un ad u lterated curse.
Are not the facts in the m ental ceived any help from heaven; that still, sooner or later,will this attem p t
The P u ritan believed th a t the
Bible was the word of God, and world just as stubborn—ju s t as nec­ 11 sacrifices have been in vain, and
m a,je j n view of the fact that while
essarily
produced—
as
the
facts
in
this belief has alw ays made those
hat all prayers Dave died unan- ¡t8 clajm to the qualities of a true
who held it cruel and wretched. the m aterial world? Is not what wered in the heedless air. I do gcjence fiafl been widely disputed,
W ould the P u ritan have been worse we call mind ju s t as n atu ra l as mt pretend to know. I say w hat Hiere is the more reason for it to
if he had adopted the religion of w hat we call body?
think.
| justify th a t claim as early a9 possi-
Religion
rests
on
the
idea
th
at
the North American In d ia n s?
If m atter and force have existed
and the true test of a science is
Let me refer to ju st one fact N ature has a m aster and th a t this rom eternity, it then follows that the application of its principles to
showing the influence of the Bible m aster will listen to prayer; th a t this ill th a t has been possible has hap- some useful purpose.
m aster punishes and rew ards; that jened, all th a t is possible is h ap ­
on hum an beings.
The subdivision of system atic
“ On the day of the coronation of he loves praise and flattery and pening, and all that is possible will
knowledge into a p lurality of sci­
Queen Elizabeth she was presented hates the brave and free.
lappen. In the universe there is no ences is based on the existence of
H as m an obtained any help from ihance, no caprice. Every event
with a Geneva Bible by an old man
as m any so-called forces, i. e., so
representing Time, with T ru th heaven ?
las parents.
m any som ewhat distinct modes of
If we have a theory, we m ust have
standing hy his side as a child. The
T h at which has not happeued m anifestation of the universal
queen received the Bible, kissed it, facts for the foundation. We must jould not. The present is the nec- activity. Each sciencedeal s with a
and pledged herself to diligently have corner-stones. We m ust not ssary product of all the past, the
particular one of these forces, or at
read therein In the dedication of build on guesses, fancies, analogies lecessary cause of all the future.
least, with a group or class of more
th is blessed Bible the Queen was or inferences. The stru ctu re must
In the infinite chain there is, there or less sim ilar ones. Sociology, as
exhorted to put all P apists to the have a basem ent. If we build, we :an he, no broken, no m issing link. I understand it, differs in no essen­
m ust begin at the bottom.
sw ord.”
Ihe form and motion of every star, tial respect from other sciences, ex­
I have a theory and I have four he clim ate of every world, all forms
In this incident we see the real
cept th a t it deals with the social
sp irit of P ro testan t lovers of the corner-stones.
>f vegetable and anim al life, all in- forces. The telic progress of society,
The first »tone is th a t m atter— 'tinct, intelligence, and conscience,
Bible. In other words, it was just
as reviewed in their last changes.
as fiendish, just as infam ous as the substance—cannot be destroyed, ill assertions and denials, all vices
does not to any m arked ex ten t in-
cannot he an n ih ilated .
Catholic spirit.
off virtues, thoughts and dream s, vo| ve the control of the social forces.
The second stone is th a t force II hopes and (ears, are neceasitiee.
♦ T h is was C olonel In g erso ll’s last public ad­
g(> fgr ag u doe|) rs|ate tQ them
dress. delivered before the A m erican Free Re­
cannot
he
destroyed,
cannot
be
a
n
­
ligious A ssociation, in H ollis S treet T heatre,
lot one of the count less,thi oga and j( .g o ( . f(wn the 9U ndpoint 0(
B oston. June 2. 1**9. I t is in te restin g to know
nihilated.
Nations in the universe cauld have | . . . . . . . .
,
what his latHst views were, a n d so we will p rin t
the
individual
who
seeks
to subject
th e w hole of th is address in parts. N ote in read ­
The th ird stone is th a t m atter eeu different.
ing. the difference betw een the religion of the
everything to his purposes. It was
p a -t,—of Theolog>. and th e religion of Science,
(To be Continued.)
and force cannot exist a p a rt— no
w ith which th e address ends. - E d . 1 ok < h .
Liie an d D eath.
S
T
l Vk . k 4
T
*
l-k
k »k
» » rfk 1 t
t k Z-k « •
It i >
1 I A
O
¿2 0
4 1
- k a