Torch of reason., March 19, 1903, Page 5, Image 5

T H E TORCH OF REASON. KANSAS CITY, M ISSO U R I, MARCH 19, E. M. 303 (1903.
of the result, the extracts printed,
and these will clearly •r show.
1. Lavignac’s “Music and Dramas
of Richard W agner.” the l>est one
book on W agner (Dodd, Mead A
Co., N. Y., 1898), p. 280, reads thus:
past was all an eternal now? Of
course we will not!
But here comes a persistent
reader of the T orch with a ques­
tion supremely important : “Is
your soul out of fashion?”
1 He says:
)
O
walled in and blinded is one of the worked out, in and by the future
most delicate of all duties Liberals efforts of the human race.
have to encounter. And yet it
T he recent suggestion of the
must be encountered in tactful and "Spiritualist Scientist,” Alfred B.
in the most harmless ways possi­ W allace, that all the visible u n i­
ble. Mr. Spencer recognizes this verse, with its endless space and
fact when he made his ' con- p e rh a p s c o u n iie s s 'sfar-m • i i >■ ■
“ Tt i<4 bt'rp hptwpRp t ho \J iis jn io r»
Irib u tion to"our ‘‘IhgersoTT-Chair was made or exists for our proto­
P o e t, th a t th e P h ilo so p h e r in te rv e n e s,
T
orch
is
to
preserve
its
id
e
n
tity
an
d
a n d th is is how he reso lv es th e q u e s ­
Fund" as appears in the list on plasmic activities on the surface of
tio n : ‘E v e ry th in g in a d ra m a tic s u b ­ n o t becom e ta n g le d o v erm u ch w ith our 8th page.
this planet, which we have no
je c t w hich a p p e a ls to th e reason alone local in s titu tio n s . May it o n ly go on
The
readiest
cure
for
the
harsh­
means of leaving, is the last expir­
c a n o n ly be e x p re ssed by w ords; b u t, as well as in th e p ast, to say n o th in g of
in p ro p o rtio n as th e e m o tio n in creases, any p o ssib le im p ro v em en t! F o r no o th e r ness and iconoclasm of Liberalism ing gasp of Theology. It is only
th e need of a n o th e r m ode of ex p ressio n p e rio d ica l as m eaty has a p p ea re d , to is to be found often in its com­ necessary to refer to the Bible’s
m ak es its e if fe lt m ore a n d m ore, and my know ledge. 1 have been w an tin g pleted HUMAN sentiment. When
“four-cornered" Earth, with its
th e re com es a m o m en t when th e la n ­ to te ll you, th a t, in m y ju d g m e n t, th e we reach the bottom of all religions
“firmament ’ creator's residence, to
g u age of m u sic is th e o nly one c ap ab le issu e of J a n u a r y 22 is th e best of th e
we
find
this
fellow
feeling
an
ele­
see that this absurd extravaganza
of a d e q u a te e x p re ssio n . T h is p erem p t- la s t one h u n d re d on a c c o u n t of: “ W h at
ment
in
them,
ami
when
it
is
seen
A
re
You
A
nyw
ay?”
on
p.
7,
an
d
“
P
e
r
­
o ria lly d ecid es th e c la ss of su b je c ts
of the imagination is but a sense­
so
n
a
l
I
d
e
n
tity
”
on
p.
2.
S
u
ch
th
in
g
s
that
Liberalism
is
the
fulfillment
s u ita b le to th e P o et-M u sician , w hich
less travesty of the sublime dis­
are su b je c ts of a p u re ly human order , th e c o m m u n ity is s ta rv in g for. B ut of what the old faiths had only in
coveries of Science. It defies and
freed from all c o n v e n tio n s, an d from th e y d o n ’t know it. Yet th e re is som e creedal lim itations—those creeds
ends “revelation.”
ev ery e le m e n t hav in g no sig n ific atio n progress. I read som ew here lately.:
are felt and seen to be proper limits
e x c e p t as an h isto ric fo rm .’ ” (R ich ard “S o u ls are g e ttin g o u t of th e fash io n .”
The result is, that M an is now
W ag n er, 1858.) “ W h a t W ag n e r call P re tty good ! T orch will, I hope, keep and “bonds” to be removed. W ith preparing the Earth as if his only
‘p u re ly h u m a n basis* is th a t which tu g g in g away to p u ll folk s from th e the old. ignorant, and infirm, L ib­
Heaven. \\ hen poets sing of what
also c o n s titu te s th e e ssen ce of h u m a n ­ m eta p h y sic a l stag e to th e p o sitiv e an d erals
are often unsuspectedly is to be in Heaven, it must be here,
ity : th a t w hich so a rs above all s u p e r­ sc ien tific .”
thrown up against, this is the com-
ficial d ifferen ces of tim e , place, and
Indeed ! W hat are we to think moil element to be enlarged upon, or not at all. The poem on our
c lim a te , above all h isto ric a l a n d o th e r of a person, or what is a person to
first page, therefore, raises the
if
discussion
cannot
be
turned
c o n d itio n s ,—in one word all th a t d i­
think of him or her self who with aside without seeming to abandon deep question of “money, price or
re c tly p ro ceed s from th e d iv in e [ n a t­
not” in the human future; and
u ra l] s o u rc e .”
(H. S. C h a m b e rla in , feathers, flowers and flumery be­ the truth.
it sings the human instinct of ad­
D as D ram a, R. W., 1892. F re n c h T ran s. decks and so hides a soul, out of
The next useful cure for the
1894.)
date, “out of fashion, ’—the scare­ wounds of “Infidelity” is symbol ­ vanced H um anity by deciding it in
the negative, when it will be more
The information easiest of ac­ crow relict of a former Age and ism . The creeds are stages that
“blessed to give than to receive.”
cess about the religious, social and Era? W hat falsehood, what hypoc­ nearly all religions have grown
For even this blessing, “to receive,”
political convictions o f W agner is risy can equal that ?
through, and their sim ilarity is seems to vanish when all needed
As our correspondent says, the always a m atter of intellectual curi­
to be found in the “Open Court,”
supplies are made as abundant as
Dr. PaulC arus, Editor,Chicago, 111. highest service the T orch can do osity. \\ hen all of the stages of
are the air, water and sunshine
Send 10 cents for the November is to throw light upon this supreme “comparative religion” lead up to
now? Nor is that abundance im­
N o., 1902, and say that the T orch question—for each has to settle it the fact that “The infinite All”
not another for you. There is may stand for “God,” all H um an­ possible. How trivial the extra
told you to do so.
w’ork Now would be to put every
The creed that made most of no proxy in this business. The ity for “C hrist,” the “Son of Man,”
civilized human being within reach
that music was this: (See p. 663 old fashioned soul of theology was and all human life and love for the
a “ghost." The new fashioned soul “Holy G host”; the new triune God­ of the necessities and comforts of
of that O. C.)
of Science is “ process.” Thus up head is in a fair way to take the life? There and then the only
“ H is stro n g a n d c h e e rfu l o p tim ism
price for any needed thing will
as to th e g lo rio u s p ro sp e c ts of m a n ­ to date Scientists put it.
place of the old. And when it is simply be the need of it, and the
It is a question of fact , as to seen that the Liberal accepts the
k in d h ere p re v e n te d him from lo o k in g
“Heavenly” human supply will
b e y o n d and seek in g c o n so la tio n in th e which, will, wish, habit and “oth­
Bible
for
all
it
can
possibly
be
m agnified lo o m in g of h u m a n hopes on ers" count nothing. As Carlyle
cancel all real needs as they appear.
worth,
and
that
every
day
is
a
th e b rig h t sk y of th e h e re a fte r. T he
W hen poets dream, then, let
says: “Choose well: Your choice “Judgm ent Day” with its issue
e x p re ssio n of th is feeling com es o u t
them realize the Christian Utopia
very fo rcib ly in his essa y s an d e sp e c ­ is brief yet endless”—in conse­ into “H eaven” or “H ell” on Earth
in the true Earthly Heaven to be.
ially in his p e rso n a l c o rre sp o n d e n c e . quences.
the disputant finds that he has
“T he f u tu r e g e n e ra tio n s ,” he w rites,
Human aim and effort will be then
to
go
to
school
to
the
“Infidel”
to
“ will have no lo n g er an y need of God
THE TRUE LIBERAL
needed and expended for higher
learn religion.
an d im m o rta lity , sin ce th is life will
and spiritual m atters and motives.
The last “cure”, we now notice,
sa tis fy all o u r hopes, so th a t we sh all
Not Always the Iconoclast.
For in so doing, this is the poet’s
n o t have to d ire c t o u r th o u g h ts beyond
is the sacredness of S cientific
and C hristian's excuse and reason;
th e e a rth to an im a g in a ry h e av e n .”
T ruth. Assure your opponent that
In
his
last
book,
“Facts
and
Com­
H e c h a ra c te ris e s all su c h “relig io u s
the Copernican Astronomy is the No one h as ever vet been able to
ments.
the
great
Scientific
P
h
il­
p re s u m p tio n s ” as “a n th ro m o rp h is tic
great fact in Science and Human find or cypher out any real and
s p e c u la tio n s, w hich are in ju rio u s an d osopher, H erbert
Spencer, an­ History, which you fear he has not ultimate equity in any individual’s
im m o ra l, b ecau se th e y p lac e th e final nounces distinctly that he is a appreciated. Then show how it
money, values, prices, costs, wages,
p u rp o se of m an o u tsid e of h im se lf,”
Liberal; for he expressly includes led to all other Science; how it rents, interest or profits whatsoever
w hereas he is o n ly th e su p re m e and
abolished the old cosmology with
When the
cro w n in g p ro d u c t of cosm ic e v o lu tio n himself with those “ who have its “firmament” of Heaven and beyond his needs.
broken
with
the
creed
of
C
hristen­
an d can “ serve no o th e r p u rp o se s th a n
Hell, and entirely reversed the old “God” Mammon, with all his prop­
This is about the best theology and creeds from A to Z. erties and their economics, politi­
th o se of n a tu r e , w hich has p ro d u ce d dom.”
him c o m fo rm a b le to c e rta in c o n d itio n s definition of a “Liberal” that we
Unless your disputant is utterly cal, financial and other, gets Ixffore
of n e c e ssity .”
know of. But like unto it is the impervious to Truth, a “jum per” God, or Man, or the Ideal, Chris­
one the T orch has l>een in the or a victim of “religious lunacy,” tian or other, he immediately drops
will end the story of the creeds
A SOUL OUT OF FASHION.
way of using; the “freed” or “eman­ this
into the lowest Hell ( “The least
for him.
cipated”—those who have “out­
erect of all the angels who fell.”
This lovely sunshine is a proph­ grown,” and thus become freed
See M ilton’s “ Paradise L ost” ),
PRICES IN H EAVEN 1
ecy of the soon coming Easter, and and clear of the superstitions,
with all h is belongings, falsehoods,
of all that it implies. New gar­ forms and creeds of the past.
The Price of Everything the Need of It ? and gilded extortions: “It shall be
ments and hats, feathers and flow­
But Mr. Spencer improves the
easier for a camel to pass through
ers and ALL must tell, w hether in occasion to charge his Liberal
Ever since the absolute proof of the eye of a needle than for a rich
church or not. that the new season friends not to use their liberty so the Copernican Astronomy, and of
man to enter the kingdom of Heav­
of the New Era has come in our as to be a stum bling block or hurt the M onistic Psychology, every
en.”—The Ideal “C hrist.”
hearts. How ugly and awful to to others. Many evolution has not sensible,scientific,or well-informed
“Your money will close Heaven's
appear before the universe of the raised aloft so as to enable them jierson knows perfectly well that
gate.”—The Confessional.
“All Seeing S un,” and our fellows to see their way out of the lim ita­ the only possible Heaven of M an­
“It is a disgrace for a man to die
in outer decking old and out of sea­ tions of their mental prisons. kind will lx? on the surface of this
rich.”—Andrew’ Carnegie.
son, age or era, just as though the When and how to help those thus celestial planet, the Earth, and be
Practical Sociology can only find