Monday, December 13, 2010

Another Poem to read along



i woke up this morning and had this poem in my head, so i wrote it and finished it; i haven't had a day write in a long time..it felt nice.


Religious Doctrine

I know, you’re still here
helping people see what is hard for us to grasp,
like babies reaching for a mobile
swaying above fragile, confused heads,
you give us hope in unattainable pieces—
it has always been easy to believe in faith,
but to have faith in understanding requires work.

I read a book once that created Heaven
in a world above my head, and Hell
in a land burning below my feet;
for awhile I closed my eyes and believed,
until another book defined the term “blind faith.”
The burning ideas beneath my feet left me cold,
the magic disappeared from the sky,
and I was forced to look around my life;
religion was being fed to children and adults alike,
starving them of reason, stealing their faith in one-another,
dividing families because subjectivity somehow became objective—
religion may not be the root of all evils,
but evil is certainly the root of all religions.

I read a book once that created a magic world
set behind a platform in a train station,
and my God, did I want to believe.

6 comments:

Unknown said...

Jeremy,

This subject is a lovely one. I was brought up an Atheist, which has its own set of "fundamentals" which certainly did little to make me open minded, or settle the big questions for that matter. The case you seem to make in this poem, the tension between the life of the rational mind, and the somewhat opposite polarity of the human heart, is a pretty important one.
My family is currently sharing an essay between us, through email, called, "The Ethics Of Belief." In the essay the essayist makes a case for the responsibility we have to live in rigorous deference to what we really believe in. The tension of your poem, and its beauty seems to speak to the pain the attractive, yet secular, life so often causes us. Thanks.

Peter Greene said...

The second book! It's not that old classic Milo and the Something something is it...damn! I can't remember the title. Evil as the root of all religions! Well, maybe, the organized ones that ask for stuff. I think 'freestyle' is acceptable. Still, to each their own, for sure. I really liked the way you tied this poem off Jeremy (Sean) - nice one. And thanks for it.

PG

Jeremy Blomberg said...

thanks for the feedback guys--andy if you could send me a link to that essay i would appreciate it. im actually in the middle of my own philosophical essay on organized religion; in brief, it goes along the lines of how they separate us from one another and misguide our faith in the divine...its becoming quite complex already, and im wondering if this will be a year long kind of project

Unknown said...

Jeremy,

I'm getting a link to the "Ethics of Belief" essay. Sounds like a very interesting project your in the middle of. I love hearing that.
I'll also send you some links to some essays I've written on my blog: no pressure; I'm not going to ask if you ever read them. I tend to spend a rather significant amount of time thinking about belief... ect.

Thanks

Unknown said...

Jeremy,

Here's the links:

The Ethics of Belief Is at the top... (I never actually used this website... believe it or not I read it from an envelope in the regular mail. It's pretty charming that my uncle never noticed his copy had a URL right at the bottom... which is why I simply went and determined that the URL actually works.)

The second and third are links to my blog. Enjoy!

(Ethics of Belief URL)
ajburger.homestead.com/files/book.htm

(Essay about two preists I've known from the Eastern Orthodox Church...I'm an Atheist... by the way)
http://brandofmakebelieve.blogspot.com/2009/04/if-you-reach-golden-corral-then-youve.html

Essay about a lot of stuff in the realm of belief:

http://brandofmakebelieve.blogspot.com/2009/08/lucky-ole-sun-and-bonneville-mud-flats.html

Thanks. (obviously anyone who wants to visit should do so... the essay at the top is somewhat tough going for some, but hardly indecipherable)

Jeremy Blomberg said...

thanks andy, i will definitely work my way through these and check out your blog...im in the middle of kant's perpetual peace essay at the moment but i should be done with it in a couple days, thanks again