Every Religion Has Blood on Its Hands

April 12, 2017

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. The twin themes for this week are Passover, the first night of which falls on April 10, and Easter, which falls on April 16.

Today’s poem is a poem for both Easter and Passover about what all religions have in common and what they should do about it.

I welcome comments on my poems at http://nicholasgordon.blogspot.com.

Yours,

Nick Gordon

Every religion has blood on its hands

As hatred and greed, dressed in righteous commands,

Sanctify purely demotic demands

To rape, loot, and plunder less virtuous lands.

Every religion has love at its heart,

Radiant love in its wisdom and art,

Permanent love, of the whole for each part,

A grace none can grasp nor theology chart.

So might all faiths sing a common refrain,

Singing together in the much-abused name

Of divinity, singing of blessing and blame,

Verses quite different, the chorus the same.

Every religion should know that its truth

Relies on its goodness and beauty for proof.

© by Nicholas Gordon

Hear or watch me recite this poem and listen to the music I chose for it at http://www.poemsforfree.com/everyr.html. For more poems about religion, go to http://www.poemsforfree.com/religiouspoems.html .

This week’s theme: Easter and Passover

April 10: Religions Live in a Crowded Neighborhood

April 11: Easter and Pesach, Eternally Linked

April 12: Every Religion Has Blood on Its Hands