By Alexander Williams
Alexander is a writer, teacher and singer from Watford. This is the title poem of his whole collection 'Secular Verses'.
Secular Verses
Release us O Earth, O Frailty
From the scourge of religious charities
Who collect tithes and tributes in the name of their god
And claim back the taxes.
In the name of Sense, release us.
Release us O Earth, O Frailty
From the hypocrisy of those who preach
About sacrifice and humanity
Whilst hoarding land, wealth and property
Sufficient to rid the world of poverty.
In the name of Sense, release us.
Release us O Earth, O Frailty
From collective worship in schools
And religious educations
Which indoctrinate the next generation
With their superstitious poison.
In the name of Sense, release us.
Release us O Earth, O Frailty
From the requirement to give special concessions
To those worshipping an imaginary friend
But not those visiting a real friend
As they lie alone, sick and desperate.
In the name of Sense, release us.
Release us O Earth, O Frailty
From the tyranny of an established church
Which compels heads of state to lead
And prime ministers to administrate
A faith most of their citizens disavow.
In the name of Sense, release us.
Release us O Earth, O Frailty
From religious symbols in our national life
From anointing the monarch
And singing the national anthem
To the official celebration of patron saints.
Bring an end to divisive parliamentary prayers
That advantage any politician
Willing to sit through them
And release the twenty-six lord bishops
From the burden of their automatic seats.
In the name of Sense, release us.
Release us O Earth, O Frailty
From our nervous respect for religions
Which censors discussion and debate
And silences critical tongues.
Give us the courage to love the people
And challenge the institutions,
To expose their hypocrisies
Ridicule their false promises
And dismantle their privilege.
Release us from religious exemptions in law
That eschew sound ethics
In favour of ancient tradition.
Make animal slaughter humane, not holy.
In the name of Sense, release us.
Release us O Earth, O Frailty
From the disease of religious hypocrisy,
Whereby saintly bishops protected paedophile priests
Righteous nuns stole babies from their mothers
Pious preachers supported slavery
And countless faithful hordes
Deny women agency over their own bodies
Deny same sex couples the right to love and marry
And fail to see the humanity of fellow human beings
While claiming the moral high ground.
In the name of Sense, release us.
Release us O Earth, O Frailty
From those who use violence
To silence blaspheming tongues
And murder to erase dishonour.
Release us from beatific titles
Distributed by committees of fantasists.
Release us from meddling.
Let us die when we are ready to die.
Don’t keep us in suffering and pain
Because a stranger’s god prefers it.
Their god means nothing to us.
Their god has no authority over us.
Their traditions are theirs, not ours.
In the name of Sense, release us.
Alexander Williams is a writer, teacher and singer from Watford. His collection of poems Secular Verses is published and available on Amazon. Click the link and help support his great work. Details of his previous books can be found at www.thedialup.blogspot.com
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