Torch of reason., April 17, 1902, Image 1

IN THE SEARCH FOR
VOL. 6.
T W T n .''-L u c re tiu s-
SILVERTON, OREGON, THURSDAY, APRIL 17, E. M. 302 (1902.)
NO. 15.
SOCIOLOGY 111.
who believe that it is the fountain vealed and established for all m an- ;
of law, justice and mercy, and th at kind.
BY CHARLOTTE PERKINS GILMAN,
Laws, the Adjustment of Natural Social
to its wise and benign teachings
At th at time these w anderers had
Forces.
T ta k e s g re a t strength to live w here the world is indebted for its liberty, no commerce with other nations—
you belong
wealth and civilization— m illions they had no w ritten language—
W hen o th e r p eople th in k th a t you are
BY PR O F. LESTER F . W A R D .
who imagine that this book is a they could neither read nor write.
w rong:
P eople you love, a n d who love you an d revelation from the wisdom and They had no m eans by which they
H E individual teleology h ith ­
w hose
|
A pproval is a p le a su re you w ould love of God to the brain and heart could make this revelation known
erto considered may be re­
choose.
of
m
an—
millions
who
regard
this
to
other
nations,
and
so
it
rem
ained
To b ear th is p re s su re a n d succeed at
garded as unconscious. The
book as a torch that conquers the buried in the jargon of a few ignor­
le n g th
In living y o u r b e lie f—well it ta k e s darkness of death, and pours its ant, im poverished and unknown social benefits th at it achieves are
s tre n g th !
not thought of They are as much
radiance on another world—a world tribes for more than 2000 years.
accidental and unintended as are
A nd courage to o . B u t w hat does c o u r ­ w ithout a tear.
Many centuries after Moses, the
age m ean
those th a t result from purely gen­
They forget its ignorance and leader, was dead— many centuries etic or spontaneous activity. On
Save s tre n g th to h e lp you face a p ain
foreseen?
savagery, its hatred of liberty, its after all his followers had passed
C ourage to u n d e rta k e th is lif e lo n g !
the other hand, the social teleology
religious persecution; they rem em ­ aw ay—the Pentateuch was w ritten, now under consideration—the action
s tra in
Of s e ttin g y o u rs a g a in st y o u r g ran d - ber heaven, but they forget the the work of m any writers, and to
of the central body which society
sire ’s b ra in ;
give it force and au th o rity it was creates to look after its in terests—
D an g ero u s risk of w alk in g lo n e a n d free dungeons of eternal pain.
O u t of th e easy p a th s t h a t u sed to be,
They forget th at it im prisons the claim ed th at Moses was the au th o r. is conscious in the sense th a t, as a
A nd th e tierce p a in of h u r tin g th o se
brain and corrupts the heart. They We now know th at the P entateuch body, it alw ays aim s to benefit so­
we love
W hen love m eets t r u th , a n d t r u t h m u s t forget that it is the enemy of in tel­ was not w ritten by Moses.
low ns ciety, which is a conscious good.
rid e above?
B u t th e best c o u ra g e m an h as ever lectual freedom. Liberty is my re­ are m entioned that were not in ex­ Most such action, it is true, involves
show n
ligion. Liberty of hand and brain istence when Moses lived. Money, very little exercise of the higher
Is d a rin g to c u t lose a n d th in k alone.
not coined until centuries after his powers of the mind. The decrees
—of thought and labor.
It ta k e s g re a t love to s tir a h u m a n
Liberty is a word hated by kings death, is m entioned. So, m any of of a m onarch are always for some
h e a rt
— loathed by popes. It is a word the laws were not applicable to w an­ purpose, hut they rarely aim to
To live beyond th e o th e rs and a p a rt.
A love th a t is n o t shallow , is n o t sm all; th a t shatters thrones and a lta rs — derers on the desert— laws about
accomplish that purpose indirectly.
Is n o t fo r one, o r tw o, b u t fo r th em all.
L ove t h a t can w ound love, fo r its h ig h er th at leaves the crowned w ithout agriculture, about the sacrifice of Thev are usually not only m an d a­
n eed;
subjects, and the outstretched hand oxen, sheep and doves, about the tory—thou sh a lt— hut negatively
L ove th a t can leave love th o ’ th e h e a rt
of superstition w ithout alm s. L ib ­ weaving of cloth, about ornam ents so— thou sh alt not. Little more
m ay bleed;
L ove th a t c a n lose love, fam ily an d erty is the blossom and fruit of of gold and silver, al>out the c u lti­
can he said for the great body of
*
*
•
frie n d ;
vation
of
land,
about
harvest,
about
justice—
the
perfume
of
mercy.
Lib­
Yet s te a d fa s tly live, lov in g to th e en d .
laws enacted by the legislatures of
A love th a t a sk s no an sw er, th a t can live erty is the seed and soil, the air and the threshing of grain, about houses
representative governm ents. T h at is,
M oved by one b u rn in g , d e a th le s s force
and
temples,
about
cities
of
refuge,
light,
the
dew
and
rain
of
progress,
—to give.
legislators usually employ the direct
L ove, s tre n g th , a n d c o u ra g e :
and about m any other subjects of m ethod. This is more or less suc­
love and joy.
C ourage, s tre n g th , a n d love !
no possible application to a few cessful, but alw ays requires a phys­
T he hero es of all tim e are b u ilt th ere o f.
T H E O R IG IN OF T H E B IB L E .
starving w anderers over the sands ical power behind it. It is the
A few’ w andering fam ilies—poor, and rocks.
A B O U T T H E H O LY* B IB L E *
purely em pirical Htage of govern­
wretched; w ithout education, art or
It is now not only adm itted by ment. As governm ent is an ap p li­
power; deseendants of those who
And the Foundations of Faith.
intelligent and honest theologians cation of what society knows about
had been enslaved for four hundred
th at Moses was not the au th o r of the nature of the social forces, it is
years; ignorant as the in h ab itan ts
BY R O B ER T G. IN G E R SO LL.
the P entateuch, but they ail adm it a true a rt, but the condition in
of Central A frica—had just escaped
th a t no one knows who the authors which we now find this art corre­
I.
from their m asters to the desert of
OM EBODY ought to tell the Sinai. T heir leader was Moses, a were, or who wrote any one of these sponds to th a t in which all other
tru th about the Bible. The man who had been raised in the books, or a chapter or a line. We arts are prior to the application to
preachers d are not, because family of P haroah, and had been know th at the books were not w rit­ them of the wider principles of sys­
they would be driven from their taught the law and m ythology of ten in the sam e generation; th a t tem atic science, and society may be
pulpits. Professors in colleges dare E gypt. For the purpose of con­ they were not all w ritten by one considered t,o occupy the place, rel­
not, because they would lose their trolling his followers he pretended person; th a t they are filled with atively to what it will ultim ately
a tta in , th a t art generally occupied
salaries. Politicians dare not, they th a t he was instructed and assisted m istakes and contradictions.
It is also adm itted th a t Jo sh u a before the era of science.
would be defeated. E ditors dare by Jehovah, the god of these wan­
did not write the book th at bears
not, they would lose subscribers. derers.
This brings us to the kernel of our
his name, because it refers to events subject. It may he called the social
M erchants dare not, because they
E verything th a t happened was
m ight lose custom ers. Men of fash ­ attributed to the interference of th a t did not happen until long art . T he science of society m ust
ion dare not, fearing th a t they this god. Moses declared th a t he after his death.
produce the a rt of society, true
No one knows, or pretends to legislation is invention . G overn­
would lose caste. Even clerks dare met this god face to face; th a t on
not, because they m ight be dis­ S inai’s lop from the hands of this know, the author of Judges; all we m ent is the art th a t results from
charged. And so I thought I would god he had received the tables of know is th a t it was w ritten cen tu ­ the science of society th rough the
do it myself.
stone on which, by the finger of ries alter all the judges had ceased legislative application of sociolog­
There are m any m illions of peo­ this god, the Ten C om m andm ents to exist. No one knows the au th o r ical principles. In every dom aiu
ple who believe the Bible to be the had been w ritten, and th a t, in ad­ of R u th , nor of F irst and Second of n atu ra l forces there are the four
inspired word of God— m illions dition to this, Jehovah had made Sam uel; all we know’ is that Sam uel steps; F irst, the discovery of the
who think th a t this book is staff known the sacrifices and ceremo­ did not w rite the books th a t hear laws governing phenom ena; second,
and guide, counselor and consoler; nies th a t were pleasing to him and his nam e. In the 25th chapter of perception of the utilities (modes
th at it fills the present with peace the laws by which the people should F irst Sam uel is an account of S am ­ in which the phenom ena can be
and the future with hope—m illions be governed. In this way the Jew­ uel’s death, and in the 27th chapter modified to serve m an) ; th ird , the
•Thw»p w onderful discourepp of I
>11 ar»- ish religion and the Mosaic Code is an account of the raising of Sam ­ necessary adjustm ents to secure the
not to be bad except in the T h ird and Fourth
useful end ; and, fourth, the ap p li­
uel by the W itch of E ndor.
volume* of th e D resden h d itio n . We will p rin t
them in p a rte —each part reads a- a whole. W e were established.
No one knows the author of F irst cation of all this in producing th e
do th is becanae u n til th e i>eople are em ancipated
It is now claim ed th a t this relig-
from the I at holic C hurch. the P ro te sta n t Bible,
i result. The first of these steps is
an d the belief in “ th e Buperna‘u ra l," th ere is no | ion and these laws were and are re­
Continued on page 3.
hope for th is w orld.—E d . TORCH.
C ourage, S tr e n g th an d Love.
I