Torch of reason., January 01, 1903, Page 2, Image 2

TH E TORCH OF REASON, SILVERTON, OREGON, JANUARY 1, E. M. 303 ,1903.)
10 the pages of the Brel,on lawn. Slave „ere originally tribally or-
FAITH OF THE FUTURE.
B enefits of T kibal F eudalism , gsniiod peoples which, by growth
Secularism Not a Religion ?
Rude and brutal as it was, tribal iconfederation, and consolidation’
feudalism was a distinct advance in <developed into national states.
’
______
social evolution.
W hen patronym ic tribes confed- (Extract fo m
London “F
reethinker
_________
iaOTVUluw
of December 7, l a e y ' “ *“ “”*
It gave play to n atu ral selection erate and form the ethnic nation,
in th e d ev e lo p m e n t of le ad ersh ip , th e a g n a tic p rin c ip le and a n c e sto r
staternenT^oL“ 6
M ”n ’ ’ w“
O8e
»lioee
KHn
Any man of sufficient fore« coaid worship, oombined with n o litic ,i
M r- c
c ohen give«
:o„, a,,., , ra d „ i , ; ' ; ;
^ M o w in g
policyOf re lig io n teachers to ignore
i ,*?* a u tb ro Polf»g'®»l »8P«c‘ of re-
Hgion may succeed and their social
(influence may keep these subjects
from full and fair discussion. But
7 wuicn
th '8 i s a a ^ P'>l'cy
which is bound to
i • I • .
,onS W , because h i t
Uti ver” in ip ô rta u t.-[E n . Tôsca.
g -at au th o rity upon the chief of
Now I do not think I a,u -too end tim e wins. And as a larger
organization, and make himself an be confederation. He becomes a I anxious to quibble,” but first of num ber realize th a t the whole of
independent leader of men. U n d er m ilit a r y leader, a re lig io u s leader a ll in - ». rb
religion
is ultim ately ua»eu
based upon
°
***
upoi
such conditions, the men endowed or priest, aod a suprem e judge all scientific th
°t • e 8trict y i tbia blundering of prim itive m an,
"
° bl “ ‘'° " a b >® a ° d th a t what ignorance began, ig-
by n ature with the qualities of lead­ in one. The chief io a word be- use 0 0 ,’
’
“
' ,‘h“ 9 ~ - b®Rg>ng word, norance and cruelty and vested in-
ership were sure to come to the com e, a king.
front.
W ith the achievement of confed- jo rilv ^ o f ne.» l" ' "
" l a ’ t«reet has m aintained, they are
,, Pr*‘’*:nl
likelT t0 d ro P th ®‘b ' “ g. and
It introduced in hum an society eration and the establishm ent of the t o r d haU -ertT ii,
Ü ’X
£ ' W" h the
what Mr. Mallock calls the struggle completed ” A ° K- U
f<»r d o m in a tio n a s d is tin g u is h e d from
the struggle for existence. In the
O -SESTA B U SH M EN T.
struggle for existence men and ani-
i» n o t a r r e s t e d I T r h i U ' u . r ' ’ 1".'.1" ' 1 *
“ bei"g rel'gious means this “ WiH Nut Advance Freethought or
m ais are engaged in the effort to is not arrested at this point, carries
E m otionalists may
Secular Education.
o b tain subsistence, to overcome ene it in to the new conditions of civili­ or nothing.
prefer to call their notions on m or­
mies, to ad ap t themselves to clim ate zation.
als, or social or cosmic m atters, re­
by chilperic .
and other n atu ral conditions of ex­
ligion, and while this may he a l­
ROOSEVELT ANO PAINE.
istence. In the struggle for dom in­
lowed to pass muster as a figure 01 (E x tra c ts from L o n d o n “ F r e e th in k e r ”
ation, men of superior powers are
of D ecem b er 7, 1902.)
speech, it certainly does not indi­
Another Indignant.
engaged in the effort to lead and
T hirty years ago the Church of
cate exact thinking. E ith er we be
organize their less com petent fellows
E ditor T orch of R eason :
lieve in the creation and govern Ireland was disestablished; but the
in those activities th at grow out of
result of th at m easure has been
^
Mr. Roosevelt is the first H isto­ m ent of the world by an in te llig e n t) ouly
and constitute the struggle for ex­
e increase of the power and influ-
istence. In the later stages of hu­ rian I have found to describe power, and we are religious, or we
Thom as Paine as a “ filthy little do not so believe, and we cease to 1 ence of the Roman Catholic Church.
man evolution, successful leader­
Roman Catholicism is no longer a
be religious.
ship has been the most im portant a th e ist.” Every intelligent person
knows th at our “ A uthor-H ero” was
Mr. Wells does not, apparently, secondary, unrecognized, hole-and-
single factor in the struggle for ex­
corner, semi-illegal religion in Ire ­
istence. It is, therefore, impossible one of the greatest Deistic Philoso­ believe in this intelligent directive land; it is practically the only faith
to overestim ate the im portance of a phers of his time, and there were force, aod is confident th at the fu- of the country th a t is worth con­
stage in the developm ent of hum an m any. Moreover, it is well known lure will cease to believe in it. Why, sidering. Society, politics and edu-
g* bOC,ety’ Polltics
edu-
th at Thomas Paine was neither Ihen, retain the nam e? The belief
society which introduced and once
in the pontubility of force« trans- “
dom inated by it; and it
for all established the struggle for “ little ” nor “ filthy” in mind • or
..... ig the hum an mind as „ J ' 13'1* ™ ‘ t a e r ,0°li» 8 ,h an “
body. Mr. Roosevelt m ight with
do ruination.
as man transcends the amoeba is a
d,“ •
° re- S° far from “ >®
In tribal feudalism, finally, a p ­ as much propriety have described not religion, and we have no right dl8e8' al>'“h " 1®"1 of tb ® Iriab C hurch
Benjam in F ranklin, the close friend
peared the beginnings of social o r­
to call it so. The possibilities of , l P" ‘S ? r W a , rd eed <’ m ° f <> pinio ,‘-
ganization on the basis of m ental of Thom as Paine, as a filthy little
idiot.
N ature are infinite; hut it is also C ’’''’
“ “ ‘° PB f° r F reethouSbt
and m oral resemblance, irrespective
possible
th
a
t
we
ale
otistaken
"
t’ ",
W“ 9
Every intelligent and tru th -re ­
of kinship.
Although clan and
specting student of American His- ih ism a tte r, and th at hum an iutelli- P ¡, 8 ' in [ac‘> tb ® «“ “ » ‘r? b a®
tribe Continued to be organized on
ory must regret to know that after gence is the highest expression th a t f * K . T t “ ‘heolog'cal K in g
the gentile principle, the retainers
r , . B “rk ,
a century of advanced civilization a force ever will reach. Aod religion
of the chieftains, or the followers of
J” ,™
la " d8 T*1" 6 " ,ere is " °
United Slates official and an as­ does not require a force superior in
retainers, m ighk.them selves be men
sumed author and professor of his­ kind to hum an in teilig eo ce.it d e X " *
Church w® d ° “ ° ‘ b " d
of any tribe. No question of rela­
F\®®tb o »*b ‘ opinions are there-
tory could so flagrantly rnisrepre- m ands a force of the same species
tionship was asked; it was only
name e once we
„ „ have
t . » „ J - by reDd«'®d
‘b® ™ore
rent the character, and seek to be- W hy keep the nam
ren^ red/ n-v the
more flourish-
necessary th at they should be loyal
.'Hle the memory of one who did throw n over the th in g ?—e s p e c i a l l y 'g‘
he A ustral,an Colonies have
adherents, faithful in their allegi­
so much for America and H um ani-
has sueh
ani when
when the
the name
name has
such m isleading ° ° ^ a b li s h m e n t , and
and with
with the
the
ance to their chosen leader and pro­
associations to
to those
those who
who hear
h e a r it.
i,
° f . NeW S ° Uth W a l®8.
ty as did Thom as Paine.
associations
tector. | he developm ent of tribal
> The letter of T. B. Harned of Mr. Wells is not quite so em anci­ there is no endowm ent. But a t the
feudalism was the first step tow ards
Philadelphia to Jam es B. Elliott of pated from “ the self-contradictory same time there is very little Free-
th a t m om entous change which was
All the N onconform ist
the sam e city, a contribution for absurdities of au obstinately a n ­ thought.
finally to break down tribal org an ­
the Paine Centennial Celebration, thropom orphic theology” as he im ­ sects are well represented; and if
ization and substitute for it the
they are not influential they are
and which I find printed in the agines himself to be.
civil organization of society on the
noisy.
Even in \ ictoria, where
I orch of R eason of the Nov. 27,
basis of in d u strial and political as­
And consider what the retention Mr. Symes has worked so stre n u ­
would enlighten Mr. Roosevelt, or
of belief in the su p ern a tu ral— the
sociation, irrespective of the lim ita­
ously for the last tw enty years,
any other one in such sad darkness
tions of blood relationship.
raw
m
aterial
of
religion—
by
the
as to the useful and honored life’
there is no coherent Secular body.
T he E thnic N ation .—Confeder­ record of Thomas Paine. H as it men of the future involves. It means H undreds of settlers in the “ back
hat all anthropology has taught blocks” adm ire Mr. Symes and read
ations of patronym ic tribes of the been sent to the Piesident ?
T ruly yours,
us concerning the origin and nature his paper; but they are too much
sam e racial stock were formed, as
C. A mory S tevens .
of religious beliefs must be either
confederations of m etronym ic tribes
scattered to make any valid im ­
•>< Broad St., New York City.
ignored or disproved. E ither it pression.
had been formed, under the pressure
ù es, sent, and this letter too.__ m ust be shown th at the belief in
of a common danger or the in sp ira­
Ju s t as, in the eighteenth cen­
[ E d . T orch .
gods and a future life did not orig­
tion of a common am bition. They
tury, the Anglican Church was ra p ­
inate
in
prim
itive
m
an’s
m
istaken
have alw ays been more coherent,
Secularists would you not like to interpretation of perfectly n atu ral idly becoming Deistic, so we see a
more form idable, and more stable
have some letterheads printed with occurrences, an apparently impos­ sim ilar process of enlightenm ent
th an the strongest of m etronym ic
going on today; and the reason is
Secular sentim ents and W ettstein’s
confederations.
Only patronym ic F reethought badge, to use in corre­ sible task, and one that all com pe­ the same, nam ely, its superior cul­
confederations have developed into spondence with your friends? We tent thinkers are gradually giving ture. Eulogists of the Church of
great states or nations. The E gypt­ will furnish them to you with vour up attem pting, or these teachings England claim its chief recom m en­
ians, the C haldeans, the Hebrews,
printed on mem
them m ust be ignored. We cannot do dation to he th at it has placed an
------- r name
a - am i address
---
r*
the Greeks, the Romans, the Saxons
T , 7
b u " d r®d > *1.50 per the first, and we are not likely to educated English geutlem an in
keep on doing the second
th® Franks, the Germans, and th è ¡
I t S
every parish; and this very largely
-ta n a .
For a time, the apparently s e ti true. We have only to com pare
thaTo^ „