This is a poem which is a parody in the original sense of the word, namely a work based on another work . The other work is a poem by militant atheist Robert Ingersoll; and to make clear the sense of what I am replying to, given that this poet is not greatly known nowadays, I present his work beneath my own.
That is to say I go first. Had I done it otherwise some might think I was advocating his thought, and as you will see from my poetic response this is far from the case
THE JOY OF FREEDOM
When I became convinced that the Universe is natural -- that all the ghosts and gods are
myths
There entered into my brain, into my soul, into every drop of my blood, the sense, the
feeling, the terror of
Slavery
The walls of my prison rose higher and thicker
Such light as lit my dungeon extinguished, and the bolts bars and manacles became steel
where erstwhile iron had sufficed
I was no longer a person, a child or a son
There was for me no purpose in all the wide world - not even in infinite space. I was
bound
Devoid of meaning, my expression and thought worthless
Devoid of ideal, mine or others’
Devoid of life, and love thereby rendered vacuous
Devoid of purpose, my faculties twisting in the wind
Devoid of fuel for imagination, save nightmares of emptiness
Devoid of reason, no purpose to guess, dream or hope
Devoid of a standard for determination that stood as valid
Devoid of a reason to reject any ignorance and evil, a gull
for all the “rational” books murderers have produced
and all the barbarous legends of the present.
A dupe of politicians and journalists
A dupe of the “humanist” and the “activist”
A dupe for crimes denied and unholy lies of secular men
Enslaved to fear of worldly pain without respite save death
Enslaved to the winged monsters of propaganda
Enslaved to theories, causes and movements
For the first time I truly knew my imprisonment.
There was no space in all my realms of thought,
no realms even - no heaven, no earth neither under the earth
wherein dead fancy could spread her tattered wings.
No purpose for my limbs - therefore self made chains.
No rest for my back
No warmth for heart nor body
No companions, only frown and threat
No road nor footsteps, nor means to chose them
No inner liberty from tyrants’ demand that I bow, cringe, crawl and flatter
I was enslaved. I cringed in terror, in despair rejecting the only world I would conceive of
And my heart was filled with bitterness, with resentment, and
went out in condemnation to all the fools and fighters
who threw away an empty life for an empty liberty
of futile hand and spinning brain
for restless work and groundless thought
to those who lived as wild dogs, fighting like them
dying like them
being murdered by them
or tortured by them
vain martyrs
to all the naive, who rejected every knowledge that they were evil like the rest of us
denying any true freedom by their logic if not intent, who lived and died for nothing,
enslaving us to emptiness
I threw down the torch they had, brand of darkness,
it was but their burning flesh, a tyranny they would impose in face of that they
opposed
for a light that had never existed was no enemy to all powerful darkness
Stephen Meikle (1958 - )
THE JOY OF FREEDOM
When I became convinced that the Universe is natural -- that all the ghosts and gods are
myths
There entered into my brain, into my soul, into every drop of my blood, the sense, the
feeling, the joy of
Freedom.
The walls of my prison crumbled and fell.
The dungeon was flooded with light and all the bolts, bars and the manacles became dust.
I was no longer a servant, a serf, or a slave.
There was for me no master in all the wide world -- not even in infinite space. I was Free.
Free to think, to express my thoughts
Free to live to my own ideal
Free to live for myself, and those I loved
Free to use my faculties, all my senses
Free to spread imaginations wings
Free to investigate, to guess and dream, and hope
Free to judge and determine for myself
Free to reject all ignorant and cruel creeds, all the "inspired"
books that savages have produced, and all
the barbarous legends of the past.
Free from popes and priests
Free from all the "called" and the "set apart"
Free from sanctified mistakes and holy lies
Free from the fear of eternal pain
Free from the winged monsters of the night
Free from devils, ghosts and gods
For the first time I was free. There were no prohibited places in all
the realms of my thought -- no air,
no space, where fancy could not spread her painted wings.
No chains for my limbs
No lashes for my back
No fires for my flesh
No masters frown or threat
No following another's steps
No need to bow, or cringe, or crawl, or utter lying words.
I was free. I stood erect and fearlessly, joyously, faced all worlds.
And my heart was filled with gratitude, with thankfulness, and
went out in love to all the heroes,
and the thinkers who gave their lives for the Liberty of hand
and brain,
For the freedom of labor and thought
To those who fell on the fierce fields of war, to those who died in
dungeons with chains
To those who proudly mounted scaffolds stairs
To those whose bones were crushed, whose flesh was scarred and torn
To those by fire consumed
To all the wise, the good, the brave of every land, whose thoughts and
deeds have given freedom to the sons (and daughters ) of men (and women ).
And I vowed to grasp the torch that they held, and hold it high,
that light might conquer darkness still."
Robert G. Ingersoll (1833 --1899)
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You can disagree with me, even spiritedly. But keep it civil as I am the one hurt by cruelty. I must protect myself from nastiness and will block or ban users if I must. And it would help if you offered reasons for your disagreements. If they are good I may respect you. If they are sound I may even change my mind