Ordained Corruption
It’s hardly worth the time it takes to rail against the gross corruption.
It’s gotten so the lack of it is what is classed as interruption.
Pure evil seems to run the world with scalawags who dupe the people.
False prophets fooling idiots who think because they hug a steeple
God has ordained all that they say, forgetting who they hurt or batter.
All they proclaim is what’s believed. The harm they do seems not to matter.
Good churchmen please examine closer what the ones who lead are saying.
The evil that they do is not abolished by the fact they’re praying.
Mean acts against humanity are wrong no matter what you call them.
True holy men are those who find that unkind acts always appall them.
You cannot keep the world you live in safe behind a towering wall.
When the true danger you’re not seeing crouches there inside you all.
The NaPoWriMo prompt was to write a poem whose lines contained seventeen syllables each. Yes. I did it. Can’t resist a challenge. I asked forgottenman to give me a one word prompt yesterday, but his response came too late, so I used it today. His prompt was “Corruption.”
lifelessons - a blog by Judy Dykstra-Brown 
You nailed this one – right on the church house door!
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Good one!! I think corruption is what runs the world. More each day.
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And what is so maddening, Marilyn, is that it is often called piety and religious action–when it is the opposite. I know this is not an original statement, but that doesn’t make it any less true.
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Not against religion. Just against cruelty that calls itself religion.
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Hmmm, interesting. I stopped going to churches a long time ago. If there’s a wedding or funeral there, I’ll go. Yet, to actually swallow the story that it’s “God’s house”. Is a bit too much. Pure dross. If dross can be pure?
I believe in God.But I do not believe in organized religion. My God, lives in my heart. I would not have it any other way. That’s all there is … love. Universal love. Not prayers or pleadings, begging or bleedings. Just love.
Love in the heart and then more love. Am I capable of hatred? Yeah but that hinders the loving feeling. Cheers Jamie.
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I agree. Words are words. Everyone uses different words to describe the same feelings. As important as words are to me, I believe people can hide behind them by thinking it is enough to say and profess but not demonstrate. True religion is a personal thing. The rest is just social interaction.
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I chose 17 syllables per line, too, Judy. Not easy at all. Well done!
These last lines are stunners:
“You cannot keep the world you live in safe behind a towering wall.
When the true danger you’re not seeing crouches there inside you all.”
I am thankful we are part of a church in the Las Vegas (we choose to call it Grace City, instead of Sin City), that literally says “It’s okay to not be okay.” 🙂
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And glad that you recognized that it was not an attack on religion–but rather an attack on hypocrites who do terrible things in the name of religion.
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…should read **the Las Vegas area**
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Your poem brings the thought of paradox. There are people who consider themselves good, who see the need to root out evil and evil people who go about corrupting others. These good people feel the world can never truly be good while these evil ones remain, like a cancer that will only spread. All life is NOT valuable, neither best worth preserving, they say. Those wicked ones are nothing but trash and should be pulled up like garden weeds.
So they —the only really enlightened people — are doing the best thing possible by eliminating the baddies — and they choose violent means to accomplish this. Then the “poor deluded masses” paint them — the only really good people — as evil. They’re just doing what God would do if he were able to do it himself.
No wonder everyone’s confused!
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Yes, Christine. Exactly. Putting an acceptable traditional name to what they profess to believe is more important than actually living up to what they believe .
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You did a great job sharing truth with the “Long Lines” poetry!
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Thanks, Leona. It was hard to get into the rhythm of 17 syllable lines! I had to count out every one. Iambic pentameter it ain’t!!! But, I love the challenge of prescribed forms. It combines puzzle-solving and writing.
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