The God Machine

Watched BBC's Beautiful Minds: Richard Dawkins, and was driven, this morning, to pen the following. To my religious friends, of all faiths, this is not meant to denigrate your beliefs, simply to clarify mine. Enjoy, and be open.

The God Machine

There dwells, deep within our minds,
a thought that, in many ways,
we share with our ancestors,
way back in caveman days.

Our lives were short and brutal then,
as we struggled to survive:
we grasped at anything that might
just help us stay alive.

Our elders wove fables
of supernatural beings,
who directed our fragile lives,
all-knowing and all-seeing.

We took all of our wise men,
prophets and visionaries,
and lifted them to godhood,
with the zeal of missionaries.

Gautama was the first to go,
with his gentle ways and thought:
his acolytes worshipped the man,
not the wisdom he had brought.

Sweet Jesus, with his love for all,
and message of personal peace,
was elevated to the godhead
by greedy Nicaea’s priests.

Muhammad, the great unifier,
and social engineer,
was glorified by united tribes,
who listened but did not hear.

Thus it goes, on and on,
passed down through the ages:
we disregard the message,
but deify the sages.

We possess a mighty intellect
but are condemned to perdition,
by disdaining common sense,
and embracing superstition.

~James Douglas Fanning, 23 May, 2012 at Greyhavens