December 28, 2006
A Prayer to the Faith Based
I’m sorry, and I don’t mean to offend you,
And you didn’t even ask for this but
I’m going to put in a plug for your beliefs
So that you won’t get too mad at me as I utter words
With which you or someone you know may not agree,
(No matter how utterly wrong you may happen to be)
It is good that you are religious
And I will personally defend your right to believe
Whatever it is you do in fact believe,
And I affirm that it is OK to put
Phrases regarding your beliefs on my money
And for you to assume that
I will swear to your god
when I am on jury duty
when I am drafted into the army
when I am elected to office
when I am in the witness stand
and whenever else I must affirm
that I am moral and will not lie.
i Will Capitalize Your Word for God
And the Name of Your Holy Book
And Other Entities and Documents
As You Dictate These Rules To me.
I offer this pandering to your particular beliefs,
regardless of what they may happen to be,
despite the fact that your cultural ancestors,
the mavens and leaders of one church or another,
burned at the stake or otherwise humiliated mine,
The early scientists and freethinkers,
I affirm this because I cannot at the moment
Remember where I put my spine.
blog entry/comments: http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2006/12/not_my_prayer_thats_for_sure.php#comments
~If you've the time try this exercise: whenever you hear someone use the word 'god' try to imagine what this particular person's god might look like. How would this person picture god whose name he or she is using? What might be the one big thing for them that makes god, god? Try and put a face on god, give god a form.
God for many people takes on the aspects of a utility drawer or a briefcase containing their lunch, their work, brilliant light and infinite goodness, or a magic ATM favor-dispensing machine, or a password.
You can also try to picture various objects everytime you hear someone use the word god. So 'god' might become a silk tie, or an earring, a lipstick smear, contact lenses, a lapel flag-pin, a painting, statue, flickering candle, furniture, the rug, etc.
Or you can try picturing various media images in place of god. So the word god might invoke the image of the burned naked VietNamese girl running in terror from her village, or President Bush trussed-up as a fighter pilot on that aircraft carrier, or the Grand Canyon, a foaming-mug of beer, Nemo dodging bullets in slow-motion, Britney Spears exiting a limousine; or any one of the thousands of broadcasted and reproduced for mass consumption images each of us carry with us whether we want to or not. God is in the details.
[photo google/ not from above link]