I do not want your God

I found this poem by a native american on a site that referred to the blog against theocracy.

I do not want your god

I do not want your god.
You say the devil is in the wilderness,
But the greatest peace I have ever known is with the sun shining bright,
The wind blowing on my burned face,
Or the moon shining like the sun on a solstice.

I do not want your god.
You believe the annihilation of my ancestors is divinely authorized.
Even your religious coercions today are still cultural genocide,
As you make darkness bow its head in shame for the choices you make.

I do not want your god.
Every time you say your Devil’s name he comes and dances
Though you say he’s “under your feet.”
It’s your Devil, you keep him.
I do not want your god.
And while your Religious Fascism killed my clan,
Who knows not who they are –
I forgive you, the white man,
But I’ll never forget.

I do not want your god.
I may not know where the bones of my ancestors are,
Whose culture your Religious Fascism murdered –
But they breath through me,
I know who I am.
I do not need your god to be free.
I am free of hate,
I am free of fear,
And all I see with your god is hate and fear.

I do not want your god.

Says quite enough, I think, although one of my students asked the other day if it was wise to ask of the gods ‘What do you want of me?’ and I’ve been thinking about that, and why it is generally wise, as long as your gods have integrity and don’t, for instance, insist that you declare war on Iraq, or burn people for having the wrong belief system, or even have as a base requirement for their own worship that a man be tortured to death. Which is worth a rather longer blog post…. it’ll arrive shortly.