Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1882-09-09
A FRsE-rHINKINa usIvsss1ry.

the result of imperfect knowledge. men4a,
incapacity, or positive intellectual unsound.
ness. The sober. minded free. thinker has
no disposition to exhibit himself or To mr..
ganize, or to adopt platforms, !" or to read
or write essays or poems, or to pass resolu.
tons. he is contsnt TO keep his opinions
to himself, or at the most to insist onIv
that those who hold different views shall
refrain or be restrained from all measures Of
coercion or tyranny. liberation in fact ia
the alpha and omega of the rational free.
thinkers policy. The National Convention
which assembled at Watkins Glen, how.
ever, was an aggressive and progressive
body, and its energy and enthusiasm i'm.
PEELED it to the sdostion of ysrious wholly
untenable positions. Of course there is
always danger that people who set out with
demands for the largest liberty may end bv
trying to coerce their fellows. just so the
Puritan Fathers, after abandoning their
country to secure freedom for the obsery.
ance OF their religion, no sooner found
themselves independent than they begap
TO Cypress and tyranize over all who held
other creeds than their own. The Wat.
kIns Glen thinkers in the same wav
appear to have among them many persons
who would not hesitate to put down religion
with the sword, in the name of Liberty.
About the only movement in a practical
direction made by them was the appoint.
ment of committee to inquire into the
feasibility of founding a Free. thinking
University. Precisely on what basis this
institution was to rest was not determined
bat it is obvious that the mere proposition
brings forward several interesting aud i'm.
portant questions.
Of course it may be at once admitted
that University founded upon such ultra
and aggressive theories as many of the
Convention entertained, would be only
productive of absurdity, and would ugces.
ssrily fail. But it is by no means to be
assumed therefore that q Free-thipkiup
University could not be established upon
rationa! foundations. We cannot agree
with the Nation when il says that such
an institution "must be an Institution
designed for the education of youth as
well as for the propagation of atbe;rtic
"opinions." We do not zee that the IRON.
agation of a.heistic opinions is AZ all |
necessarily involved in the curriculum of
such an institution. Surprising that the |
University was founded upon The ideas
OF rational Free.thinkers, we can imagine !
that 1t would be sought, not to educste
the students in hostility toward any reli.
gion, but to teach them the exact truth |
about the origin and growth of all reli. |
gions. The instruction on this gubiset |
would be very important, no doubt. II |
would differ radically from anything of the |
kind hitherto attempted, though partaking |
largely of the methods of the Tubipgen |
school. The Nation asserts that one
great object of the University must be |
" the establishment and preservation and |
" medication of a true atheistic morality" |
That is hardly fair way to put It. For |
- atheistic" morality we should substitute |
"sgnostic morality" and there is a |
vital distinction between the two. Now
as regards an agnostic morality, the system
is already in existence, and Mr.. Herbert |
Spencer will, we trust, live to complete |
the most mastery and exhaustive ANALYSIS |
OF it that the human mind has ever nm
dertaken.
A Free.thinking University which taught |
the philosophy of Herbert Spencer would |
not be an object of ridicule, nor can it be
asserted that its system of morality would
be defective. That it would have to teach |
a moral system based upon something else |
than religion is obvious since by its
method of teaching the history of religion
the latter could not become the foundation
of a moral system. In fact the elimina-
ton of the supernatural and the miraculous
at once divests religion of all significance
as basis for morals, and it is possible that |
IN Frse-thinking University the instruc. |
ton might proceed somewhat further, and |
include an examination of the analogies of |
fallacy which underlie all creeds. Whether !
it is at all necessary to establish Free
thinking University is quite another gues-
ton. We think that there is really no |
demand for anything of the kind, and that
If it were attempted it would probably fall |
under the management of the "cranks " in
a short time, and become scandal and
laughing stock. That is the tendency,
just as it is the tendency for all the ex-
tremists in opinion to attend such a Con-
vention as that of Glen Watkins. OF
course it was not in any true sense a rep.
resentative body, or it represented only the
most Eighty and unstable elements of
thought in the country. From such
Convention nothing solid or valuable need
be expected, and we do not. anticipate any
practical results from the appointments of
the University Committee. But we do
think that if the conservative body of
Free thinkers, who were not represented
at Glen Watkins at all, resolved upon such
step, it would certainly be possible for
them to establish University which would
bestow upon its students a more complete
and less faulty education than can be OBJ,
tanned at any existing institution Of the
kind.