I've just put the finishing touches on my February poem. I hope you enjoy it.
In all of my years spent in search of the truth
Some questions still linger from back in my youth
I've never seen evidence God is out there,
No loving creator to answer my prayer
I got disillusioned with churches and such
Religion and I have since grown out of touch
Yet theists still ask me each time I draw near
How would I react if God were to appear?
Now first of all, don't you start hedging your bets
No gods have seen fit to appear to me yet
A god who's invisible, silent, concealed
Is no better off than a god who's not real
But just for the sake of this argument, say
That I were to meet such a being one day
Whose power exceeds anything that we know--
It isn't a god unless we make it so!
How arrogant people are, thinking that she
Conforms to religion or mythology
The gods cultures worship in prayer and song,
Perhaps no one's right and they all got it wrong
For starters, I wouldn't get down on my knees
In thinking this entity must be appeased
I'd say that the faithful are out of their mind
In planting their lips on this being's behind
I'd greet her with dignity, walk up and stand,
Look her in the eyes and start shaking her hand
I won't call her "God" since I don't know her name
I wouldn't assume that this creature's the same
As the jealous, vindictive, and petulant Lord
Beloved by some, but by others abhorred
If I met this being, my biggest concern
Is what she can teach us, and what I can learn;
The writers of scripture from centuries past
There's no way they got all the answers that fast
A prayer won't yield the wisdom I seek
We must have a dialogue, both sides must speak
I want to know how, also what, when, and why
I'd ask her a question and let her reply
I'd value the knowledge that we could obtain
From powerful beings prepared to explain
I'd hope that this knowledge would help us survive
And build a bright future where all of us thrive
To help those in need, be they sickly or poor
To give them a chance, where they had none before
I wouldn't be selfish and ask when I die
To go to some heavenly home in the sky
Or ask her to burn certain people with fire
To punish their sins on the day they expire
I don't have a soul to demand that she save
We're teacher and student, not master and slave
If something is out there, as theists contend
It wouldn't be God; I would call it a friend
What about you? If you ever met a powerful being out there in the farthest reaches of the universe, what would you do? What would you say? I think it would be wise not to let our cultural prejudices get in the way. God is a flawed social construct, and it wouldn't be fair to judge other beings based on the myths we've invented to serve our wants and needs.
In all of my years spent in search of the truth
Some questions still linger from back in my youth
I've never seen evidence God is out there,
No loving creator to answer my prayer
I got disillusioned with churches and such
Religion and I have since grown out of touch
Yet theists still ask me each time I draw near
How would I react if God were to appear?
Now first of all, don't you start hedging your bets
No gods have seen fit to appear to me yet
A god who's invisible, silent, concealed
Is no better off than a god who's not real
But just for the sake of this argument, say
That I were to meet such a being one day
Whose power exceeds anything that we know--
It isn't a god unless we make it so!
How arrogant people are, thinking that she
Conforms to religion or mythology
The gods cultures worship in prayer and song,
Perhaps no one's right and they all got it wrong
For starters, I wouldn't get down on my knees
In thinking this entity must be appeased
I'd say that the faithful are out of their mind
In planting their lips on this being's behind
I'd greet her with dignity, walk up and stand,
Look her in the eyes and start shaking her hand
I won't call her "God" since I don't know her name
I wouldn't assume that this creature's the same
As the jealous, vindictive, and petulant Lord
Beloved by some, but by others abhorred
If I met this being, my biggest concern
Is what she can teach us, and what I can learn;
The writers of scripture from centuries past
There's no way they got all the answers that fast
A prayer won't yield the wisdom I seek
We must have a dialogue, both sides must speak
I want to know how, also what, when, and why
I'd ask her a question and let her reply
I'd value the knowledge that we could obtain
From powerful beings prepared to explain
I'd hope that this knowledge would help us survive
And build a bright future where all of us thrive
To help those in need, be they sickly or poor
To give them a chance, where they had none before
I wouldn't be selfish and ask when I die
To go to some heavenly home in the sky
Or ask her to burn certain people with fire
To punish their sins on the day they expire
I don't have a soul to demand that she save
We're teacher and student, not master and slave
If something is out there, as theists contend
It wouldn't be God; I would call it a friend
What about you? If you ever met a powerful being out there in the farthest reaches of the universe, what would you do? What would you say? I think it would be wise not to let our cultural prejudices get in the way. God is a flawed social construct, and it wouldn't be fair to judge other beings based on the myths we've invented to serve our wants and needs.
via International Skeptics Forum http://ift.tt/1BcC5lO
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