Pitfalls of Piety

Pitfalls of Piety 

“The basic tool for the manipulation of reality is the manipulation

of words, for when you control the manipulation of words you control

the people.”--Philip K. Dick

When faced with overwhelming odds,

with a foe who packs the weight of wealth,

with weapons & technology that dwarf imagination,

coupled to the arrogance & resolve to continue

iron-fisted control over you & many of your peers,

then at some tipping point it is inherent in your nature 

to say No, rebel, defy, resist, protest, to take up arms,

to become a freedom fighter, a patriot to some,

proudly wearing the sash of liberty, slashing

at the grand behemoth guerilla-style,

hit-and-run, martyrdom, sacrifice, never

facing him on a specific battlefield;

and perhaps History, depending 

on which regime writes it,

will exonerate your cruel excesses

and extol your virtuous results,

or it might just paint you as demonic,

other-directed, overly zealous, misguided,

brain-washed, mentally ill, merely

the willing pawn of some more intelligent

puppet masters with their own dark agendas.

The scurrilous sticking point seems to be

our fears of mortality, our spiritual choices,

our nagging need to find succor in some

religious cartel, to find our inspiration

in dusty holy books & devout crusades--

for religion and gruesome greed sticks to politics

like a honeycomb shirt, like gunpowder residue,

and is not easily preventable, regulated, or 

scrubbed away. 

In a new world where corporations openly own

politicians, where profit & personal gain usurp

all the messages within the sacred texts

and revered constitutions, where amendments,

manipulation, partisanism, & sad accommodations

gum up the great gears of government,

where the hoary prizes of history,

like natural resources, precious metals,

& cheap labor still steer the course of events,

where extant have-not nations are controlled

by dangerous demagogues who are predictably

and easily bought & paid for, where enlightenment

is considered blasphemy, where love

is callously twisted into a commodity,

where compassion is considered a superfluous sentiment,

where we are habitually & continuously conned,

phished, bullied, herded, ruled, and

led by liars wearing the bright mantle of piety

and the valued accoutrements we have 

given up to them--

we need to pause and just wonder

where in hell is the wisdom & purity

of the catechisms we were all taught

to recite, of the treasured words

left for us by our founding fathers,

and where the path to greener pastures

is actually hidden. 

Glenn Buttkus

May 2013

Posted over on dVerse Poets MTB

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