The ethereal crutch

Bit of a rant about my views on religion.

Religion
The ethereal crutch
Held close for comfort
It's uses few not much

For every hundred saved by it
a thousand more will die
All the while thinking they were safe inside gods eye

Spirituality is not something to ignore and shirk
But there's a tribal undertone that makes me very nervous

Christian soldiers laugh and burn Korans.
While the Taliban attach bombs to vans

Admittedly they are all right wing fools
I'd love to say they're all exceptions to the rules

I know not everyone is a zealot in disguise
But they ruin it for the rest of you, with their self justified lies
Thou shall not kill, I wish people would remember that
The west celebrates themselves
As innocents erupt in a bloody splat

To vivid?
Why sorry ill turn off the news
It's not you I hate, just your pig ignorant views
No justice for any humans
In the end we all lose

Just remember Hate goes in a circle
Alternating attacker and defender
Towards a dark future we hurtle

We won't destroy the planet
Just our own environment
The insects will wake one day and wonder at the silence

Maybe they'll make religions
And reasons to hate each other
Or maybe they'll evolve beyond the need
For an invisible Big brother

I hope I don't offend
But I'm not going to pretend
Those books are nothing more
than well written fiction
Just comfort to hold close
And hold you up
The ethereal crutch
Religion

Author's Note

Sorry about the rant like nature of this, but it's something I feel passionate about. I'm not sure this poem was a success, but I was sick of dancing round it.

Reviews

[J.L. Devices]

There's so much passion in your words and you write with such certainty! I do like your views, very interesting and well thought out. Poetry isn't my cup of tea but this is great. You're right, stop dancing around it and set your mind free!

Grammar-wise: You should capitalize the "I" in I'll. It threw me off a bit

[Samuel Jack]

Thanks for the great review, glad to know people appreciate it. Well spotted on the grammer.

[Samuel Jack]

Grammar I mean lol

[Shweta Singh]

Yeah sometimes even I feel that religion/cult/sect should die so that mankind could live...The irony is that it was created to guide man to peace & harmony but it's painted hooligans with their destructive courses have distorted it's face...& it's all too powerful to resist...It's a brave & honest expression to the core...

[Frieda P]

You didn't dance around it, you did the stomp right on it, much food for thought here Samuel, love 'invisible Big Brother & well written fiction'....how apropos. Muchly enjoyed your rant. I concur.

[Samuel Jack]

Thanks Frieda, i was a bit worried about posting this, especially as most writers on here are American, and I have this image of America as this Impenetrable christian fortress, but i suppose North America is huge and filled with many different people.

[Parsimony]

I agree with your sentiments, religion shouldn't be a shield or a weapon used against others. The great commandments dictate "Thou shalt not kill" yet so many has fallen on religious premises.

It's interesting how you brought up insects. They have their own structural system, very organized. Whether they believe in religion or not is hard to tell but consider how they view humans is akin to how we may view extraterrestrial beings. From a small, singular POV it's hard to see the bigger picture.

[Samuel Jack]

I actually had a Line I was going to use
Religion the ethereal shield and sword, wave them at your enemies and you have the makings of a war, but when the hammers fall, you'll find your shield quite poor.
I thought it was a bit much though lol Great review parsimony, as always

[Parsimony]

It drives the message home eventho it may not fit into your poem.

[Girl Friday (Sarah W.)]

You have touched upon a lot of great thoughts in this one, as well as given a lot of thought provocation to the reader. I have to agree with you in many ways; organized religion often becomes tainted with time, as does government. The more control we try to place over a people, the farther out the window the message flys until there is nothing but control and nothing left to fight for or believe in. At least these are my views. A well done piece, my friend.

[Samuel Jack]

Wow cheers! I'm really pleased at the reception this has got, this is one of those pieces that you talked about in your poem "poetic death" it's been sitting their for ages ebbing and flowing, finally thought I'd just shove it out the door! Glad I did. Great review

[Casner P]

Good stuff here Samuel! The tone of this poem is beautiful. My favorite part is "Too vivid? Why sorry ill turn off the news It's not you I hate, just your pig ignorant views No justice for any humans In the end we all lose" I feel like this is the meat of your poem. This is the main point of your poem, although I could be wrong. Here you are saying this the reality of the matter and if you don't like it too bad because we'll all lose in the end. I really can't stress this enough Samuel, your tone of voice is awesome in this. Good work my friend!

[Samuel Jack]

The whole thing is rather meaty haha the sentiment of the poem is something thats often on my mind, since I was young and my grandad told me story's of Protestants and Catholics killing each other in Ireland, and that's the same f*****g religion!, just different versions. Like the Sunni's and Shiite's in Iraq. People are tribal. Great review, your a Gent

[chicagogirlonce]

I loved this--so sad and so true--horrible yet honest-something that needed to be said.Thank you Samuel for your keen insite.

[Samuel Jack]

Thank you very much, I'm surprised at the reception this is receiving, I hoped that other Humans may see that we have evolved beyond the need for religion. Good review. Your a Gent

[chicagogirlonce]

actually, I am a woman,hence the name chicagogirl--but no matter--should say that I don't hate religion just terrible criimes committed in the name of religion,like what the Jihad does ,and so many more zealots all over the world

[Magnolia Liberato]

I'm a 'Cradle Catholic', but I absolutely LOVED this poem! You're right, it doesn't dance around the issues, and it tells people something that they need to hear. This poem seemed to target all of the doubts that I've been having recently and turn them into beautiful words. The way that people go around proffessing their religion and putting up that "holier-than-thou" act drives me CRAZY! Especially when they turn around and put other people down and when they go against everything their religion stands for. I used to hate "modern" poetry with the lack of rhythm and eighteenth century language, but you know how to make it work, and it's really opening my eyes to what poetry CAN be verses what I thought it SHOULD be.

[Samuel Jack]

Wow, thank you very much Madam, I'm glad I posted it now. When my family were in Ireland, my grandparents were persecuted for having a mixed marriage, protestant and catholic, when their first child was born heavily Autistic, everyone (even their own families) said it was Gods punishment! That story taught me that religion is a load of s**t, that people use as a blanket to comfort the selves and hide their bullshit. Thanks for reading and the great review!