These days I wake up in the dark,
nightmares of people gone mad,
throwing dogs and cats into bonfires,
proclaiming murder the will of God.
When I was a kid I played a game:
“The Mormons are coming, the Mormons are coming!”
My sisters screamed in terror, fled the room.
I wasn’t kidding.
When the Taliban blew up Buddhas
carved into the sides of mountains,
we said they were barbarians.
What about fracking pads in Chaco Canyon?
The ancient forests are falling for chopsticks ,
toilet paper, and tooth picks.
But the litmus test for being Christian is hating gays, lesbians,
transsexuals, immigrants, feminists, and oh yeah, free will.
The ocean is a sewer of plastic bags and candy wrappers.
The poles are melting but the church screams about abortion.
The eternal enemies of God are anyone who isn’t rich, white and
members of the religious right.
Be a man! Be a patriot!
Get an AK-47
Express your second amendment right
to terrify the shit out of everyone you judge inferior.
If Christ were here, we’d lynch him again.
We’d deport the refugees, shoot the blacks, round up the Arabs,
criminalize the women, legalize child abuse and proudly elect
a tyrant to shred the Constitution and give the country to the banks and the bikers.
What image of God sanctions this?
How did Jesus’ love morph into weapons of terror and shame?
When did guilt, blame and ridicule become the ultimate reality show?
How did rapacious greed become the golden calf in the desert?
We can elect progressives, sign petitions, plant trees.
We can hold marches, join rallies, give money to the homeless.
But the ancient Maya said, “I am another yourself.“
Until we love ourselves, we don’t stand a prayer.
