Once in a while you may happen upon something you wish you’d written, but in my case that happens, oh, about fifty times a day! I found this poem by journalist Steve Turner at PoemHunter.com and was impressed by his perceptive wit. Often, we deny verities and creeds so vehemently that our persistent dissention becomes dogma which, ironically, congeals into a creed of our own — a positive confession of our contrarian attitude, systematizing the tenets of our rebellion against any form of alien correction or restraint that might hinder us in our pursuit of pleasure and self-interest. In the end, we may become the bigoted haters that so excited our righteous passions in the first place.
Steve has done the contemporary humanist the favor of canonizing his negation of traditional values in this memorable confession:
Creed
We believe in Marxfreudanddarwin.
We believe everything is OK
as long as you don’t hurt anyone,
to the best of your definition of hurt,
and to the best of your knowledge.
We believe in sex before during
and after marriage.
We believe in the therapy of sin.
We believe that adultery is fun.
We believe that sodomy’s OK
We believe that taboos are taboo.
We believe that everything’s getting better
despite evidence to the contrary.
The evidence must be investigated.
You can prove anything with evidence.
We believe there’s something in horoscopes,
UFO’s and bent spoons;
Jesus was a good man just like Buddha
Mohammed and ourselves.
He was a good moral teacher although we think
his good morals were bad.
We believe that all religions are basically the same,
at least the one that we read was.
They all believe in love and goodness.
They only differ on matters of
creation sin heaven hell God and salvation.
We believe that after death comes The Nothing
because when you ask the dead what happens
they say Nothing.
If death is not the end, if the dead have lied,
then it’s compulsory heaven for all
excepting perhaps Hitler, Stalin and Genghis Khan.
We believe in Masters and Johnson.
What’s selected is average.
What’s average is normal.
What’s normal is good.
We believe in total disarmament.
We believe there are direct links between
warfare and bloodshed.
Americans should beat their guns into tractors
and the Russians would be sure to follow.
We believe that man is essentially good.
It’s only his behaviour that lets him down.
This is the fault of society.
Society is the fault of conditions.
Conditions are the fault of society.
We believe that each man must find the truth
that is right for him.
Reality will adapt accordingly.
The universe will readjust. History will alter.
We believe that there is no absolute truth
excepting the truth that there is no absolute truth.
We believe in the rejection of creeds.
Steve Turner
Hey Bo … now this is something a WISE sociologist might write if there were any. It’s written so perceptively a student can say, “Oh, now I get it!” It’s awesome writing and I enjoyed it more than the poem…
“Often, we deny verities and creeds so vehemently that our persistent dissention becomes dogma which, ironically, congeals into a creed of our own — a positive confession of our contrarian attitude, systematizing the tenets of our rebellion against any form of alien correction or restraint that might hinder us in our pursuit of pleasure and self-interest. In the end, we may become the bigoted haters that so excited our righteous passions in the first place.”
Some scary stuff there. I didn’t realize how much I disagreed with the humanist until I read this.
Gee, Mike, thanks. I’ve often referred to myself as an “amateur sociologist.” It’s a hobby… I wonder at how people think, but not about math so much or music, although that’s fun, too. I like to get to what makes people “tick” — why they/we do what they/we do, especially in societies or groups. Perhaps it stems from my involvement and deliverance from the cult.
Mr. ZS, you may disagree with the modern or postmodern or secular humanist, but you may be quite compatible with the people I would consider the real source of humanism as we know it, Aquinas, then Erasmus, Thomas More, etc.. I know I do… I think there’s a lot to be said for a solid classical education (although, that may due to the fact that I have no education, so any education looks good).
That was SO cool. Thank you for finding and sharing. You know, it’s getting a little weird now. My personal quests for information and spiritual findings are starting to mesh well with what I am being taught by the elders at church and by Jerram Barrs and John Piper and my husband and Jesus…
It’s getting surreal.
everyone has a creed they live by, whether they will admit it or not
Have you ever noticed how certain movies become creeds for some … Easy Rider, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, A Clockwork Orange, Taxi Driver, etc. … even when, on the surface, they are surely anti-creedal. But I guess that’s why they call them cult films … duh.