When people are saying, "Peace and security", then sudden disaster comes upon them like pain upon a woman in labor, and they will not escape.
                                                                                                                                                                                               -1 Thessalonians 5:3


i pray against empire
against its pledge of universal freedom

a copy-cat mickey-mouse way of living

where ev'ry mall repeats another

and we kill ourselves striving to look alike

"God, spare the world this imitative curse"

i pray against empire
against its pledge of universal freedom

informers with a patriotic scent

stir toilets to analyze ingredients therein

where ev'ry enemy of mine will be theirs

and I'll be suspect when i finger their friends

i pray against empire
against its pledge of universal freedom

protective pulp circles the fearful seed

and like religious kitsch fills its emotional needs

moments of humor are primed by sitcoms
the last laugh for all being History's ghost

i pray against empire
against its pledge of universal freedom

the poor are snuffed, intellectuals spurned

the arts are targeted as corrupters of youth

the military machine drives the minds of most

distinguishing not between friend or foe

i pray against empire
against its pledge of universal freedom

peace and security no one can give

when your mind's not free and your spirit's chained

for fear smothers freedom, love frees one up

the kingdom of the human always tragically ends

i pray against empire
against its pledge of universal freedom



*Thoughts of some doubters:

-Modest doubt is the beacon of the wise.
William Shakespeare

-It doesn't seem to me that doubt is the opposite of faith.  Doubt is an integral part of faith.
John Irving

-I don't want to believe if it's not true.  I want evidence.
Paul Verhoeven

-I don't want to come across like a saint here - because I'm not, I can be a jerk - but I think the best thing you can do is to forgive.  The most selfish thing you can do is forgive.
Laurence Gough

-I take issue with poets who say some days it just descends from the clouds in inspiration.  I really dislike the idea that you're just being a conduit for a larger force that is doing all the work for you.  I mean it is such hard work.
Evelyn Lau

-To witness sane and in every regard respectable individuals experiencing direct rapport with the divine fills one with either fear, which finds its natural outlet in disbelief, or envy.
Wade Davis

-I can't imagine life without curiosity.
Douglas Coupland