cockroaches run from the light

someone turn the lights on.

I do not hold my religion
on a pedestal.
it is not better than yours.
I do not have a get out of hell free card
because my parents baptized me
and I choose to go to church
and like my priest.

My religion, like all others, has a troubled past.
there are many things my church
has done I am not proud of.
and I will never defend its cowardice
in dealing with pedophiles within the church,
men who, in my view,
have lost their right to be called priests.

But as a Catholic, it is not only
my right but my duty
to speak out against injustice
within the faith in which I was raised.
and my right, though divorced, and a sinner,
to stand before God as my judge
and no one else.

I will tell any priest I do not believe
homosexuality is a sin.
I will not be shunned,
I will not be excommunicated,
for my opposing views.
a death order will not be signed
with my name on it.

Turn on the floodlights.
let love speak out
against hate.
cockroaches,
pedophiles,
and extremists,
flourish in the dark.

Author's Note

Reviews

[Frieda P]

You're on a roll today, you went from sap to the the total opposite spectrum, another atrocity in the name of religion, people feel justified when they think their god stands behind such hatred, makes it all too easy to be a self righteous prick.

[Lyn Anderson]

Yes, well, once I grab a bone, I find it hard to let go. I am hissing and spitting. When no one says anything, evil wins by default. It's no different than ignoring the smoke coming from the concentration camps.

[Frieda P]

I know exactly what you mean, indifference and looking the other way, just compounds the problem, many people don't want to stand for what's 'right' just what's easy....