Poetry
The Religion Show
By Al Staggs, Chaplain and Performing Artist
Sante Fe, NM
We can keep “In God We Trust” on our coins,
Retain “One nation under God” in our pledge,
Place the commandments on every courthouse lawn,
Pray at every class in our schools
And go to church every Sunday
To pray for our troops and pledge allegiance to our nation’s flag
Which stands prominently and proudly in the center
Of our halls of worship,
But it doesn’t change the fact
That we, as a nation, are waging monstrous terror.
It wasn’t God that the 50,000 Iraqi victims
Saw in our impressive campaign of ‘shock and awe.’
It isn’t God that the world sees in our readiness
To spread ‘freedom’ and ‘democracy’ at the end of a gun barrel.
It isn’t God that the poor of the world sees
As we wage war solely for corporate interests
And to prop up our lavish lifestyles.
We can profess Jesus as our Savior
All we want.
Yet profession without practice is empty,
Piosity without peacemaking is meaningless.
Promoting family values without pursuing justice
Is hypocrisy.
It’s all just words, hollow words.
For the greatest evils are those which are committed in the name of God
And for that reason, those who advocate war, those who find security
In their ‘profession’ of faith in God,
Suffer from the most acute delusions.
We go to war and victimize thousands
And say ‘Lord, Lord.’
We send our poorest children to combat
And we say ‘Lord, Lord.’
We demonize Muslims
And say ‘Lord, Lord.’
We build our massive temples of worship
And say ‘Lord, Lord.’
Yet our faith is as empty as those temples are
On Monday morning.
We may have to wait till the judgment
To hear the Lord answer,
“Get away from me, I never knew you.”,,,”2010-12-27 10:00:00
