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Political
The culture tells us every day
that we can’t be political,
so Christians nod and meekly pray,
but if we’re analytical,
when governments stray into what
is truly theological,
then we should tell them they must shut
their mouths if they are logical.
We gave an inch, they took their mile
and now take more voraciously.
We give more ground, then weakly smile
and say we’re acting graciously.
Our government affirmatively
is an evil entity
that murders kids, while those who live
don’t know their true identity.
We are, but we should not be shocked
it pushes ideology
of leftist lies while God is mocked,
dismissed as mere mythology.
We’re free to live “our truth” we’re taught,
with no concern for piety,
and reap the harvest chaos brought
which fractured our society.
The government is jealous of
the fervor and sincerity
of those who worship God above
so it has the temerity
to modify God’s holy word
with lies that will eventually
infect the church so Truth gets blurred
and rot grows exponentially.
It’s now or never for us to
be loving yet be critical,
acknowledging that if we do,
we’ll all be called political.
So, like those in the Book of Acts,
we must speak out courageously
then as the government contracts,
God’s Truth will grow contagiously.
.
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Warren Bonham is a private equity investor who lives in Southlake, Texas.
This is very a lively bit of serious (and true) content, which you have magically placed into a somewhat humorous form, by means of your strings of fun rhymes and a rollicking rhythm. I can’t identify a particular sketch — though I feel one ringing in my head — but I have the sense that this may be patterned after a particular musical comedy act?? (Someone here will probably name it, and then I’ll wonder why I couldn’t think of it.) Anyway, this is truly enjoyable. Thanks, Warren.
I’m glad you enjoyed the form and content. I hadn’t consciously been thinking about Gilbert and Sullivan when I wrote this one but I was frequently exposed to their work when I was a kid so they probably should get some indirect credit.
“I am the very model of
a modern major general…”
Thanks for making the Gilbert & Sullivan connection.
That’s what I was trying to think of!
The phrase “politique d’abord” (coined by the great Charles Maurras) is relevant here. It means “Politics first,” or “Politics above all else.”
It is a fatal weakness of many otherwise conservative religionists to approach the world as missionaries and preachers rather than political fighters. They are fixated on their catechisms, their scriptures, and their sectarian certainties rather on how to win battles and kill the enemy.
The latest manifestation of this insanity comes from those anti-abortion partisans who have now decided not to support Donald Trump in the coming election, because his position on abortion does not quite exactly match that of their own simon-pure and absolute opposition. Michael Matt of The Remnant is a flagrant example of this kind of moralistic nit-picking.
Trump gave the anti-abortion movement its prime victory — the overturning of Roe vs. Wade and the throwing of the abortion question back to the individual states. That is precisely where it belongs in accord with American constitutional tradition.
By staying home on election day, or voting for some quixotic third-party candidate instead of Trump, these religionists are only proving how utterly asinine and unrealistic they are.
Politique d’abord. Our primary job is to get Trump back into the White House, not to pat ourselves on the back for our moral virtue.
If I only voted for someone with whom I agreed on every issue, I don’t think I could even vote for myself. Great point.
Amen!
I’m glad as always to be on the same side of any issue as you are.
Warren, despite its seemingly light tone (deriving from the song-like rhythm), this is a densely historical poem on relations of church and state in America. It suggests a relatively recent development of the state into an evil and godless entity. Since your first evidence is that the government “murders kids,” you draw the line (at least the line where evil becomes evident) at legalization followed by increasing support for abortion. This is an evil different in kind than political corruption, which has been around ever since governments became centers of power. It naturally sets state in opposition to church, for as you say, the state is jealous of the fervor and sincerity of Christian citizens. I could say, “religious citizens,” because most sincere and fervent religion opposes abortion. I could cite orthodox Judaism, traditional Islam, and even Buddhism, in which parents besmirch the noble eightfold path by the killing of “water children,” for which they must make reparation if they are to progress toward nirvana. But “the church,” as you say, becomes target of the state over this issue and related ones, in which the state obscures truth itself.
Joseph Salemi rightly sees the “now or never” call as the need to re-elect Trump, whose actions helped bring down Roe v. Wade, the state’s abortion bastion. Reagan, who declared himself pro-life, could not do as much, though he helped prepare the way by appointing Scalia to the Supreme Court. Scalia was most influential in bringing back logical, historical, and truthful approaches to interpretation of the Constitution.
I have found more here than you explicitly wrote into your poem, but as I said, its words figure forth a dense backdrop. It is an invitation to think about how we got to this point of hostility between church and state, such that government and culture stridently want Christians not to be “political.” You also draw out the implications of acceding to this demand.
Among little things in your well-written verse, let me admire the ten pairs of perfect triple rhymes. For many of them, in the iambic meter, you could have used simple /ee/ rather than /ERity/ and /AShusly/ and /ENchully/. It shows careful design and skill to have used the more artful method.
Your poems and commentary always expose the limits of my knowledge. “Religious citizens” would have been much more fitting. I have a lot to learn about other faiths. I am completely unfamiliar with the eightfold path, but it sounds very well aligned with core Christian beliefs meaning that Buddhists may end up on the hot seat as well.
Warren, in my view this is an outstanding poem in every way – message, meter, rhyme – you’ve put it all here. Very impressive!
Thanks very much for the read and for the supportive comments!