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It's not the belief that matters, just belief.
No matter the system, dogma1, or creed2
The adherents3 cling to veracity4
Not due to truth but to an inner need.
5 This is proper, for with the natal5 spark
Is the certainty that beyond its realm6
Something incomprehensible7 awaits.
To have no faith is to give fear the helm8.
So poly's9, mono's10, and ancestrics11
10 Worship spirit and being deifics12
With the same fervor13 astrologists give
Stars and fact's sought by the scientifics.
Though different, these systems are religions
Whose power comes not from their correctness
15 But from the beliefs of their believers
1 Dogma: tenet; religious precept
2 Creed: definite belief
3 Adherents: believers
4 Veracity: truthfulness
5 Natal: birth
6 Realm: power; control
7 Incomprehensible: beyond our understanding
8 Helm: “the boatsteering thingy” to quote Muppet Treasure Island
9 Poly's: polytheists; those like Hindus who worship more than one god
10 Mono's: monotheists; those like Muslims, Jews, and Christians who worship one god
11 Ancestrics: those who practice Shintoism and some forms of shamanism and
worship their ancestors, among others
12 Deifics: gods
13 Fervor: zeal; ardor; passionate devotion
Who cling to the controvertible14 mess
With every last fiber of their being
Making miracles out of delusions,
Ignoring truth for what they want to see,
20 Staving off15 reason's threats via preclusions,16
And all to guard the traditional myths
And thereby defend their identity17
Found in the power of belief itself.
This potency18 blesses humanity
25 And guides each individual's own trek
Through what would be a cold mortality.
The "in what's" extremely irrelevant19,
Whereas belief is true vitality20.
From More Heresies from Iyan Igma
Copyleft 2008/2009 by Iyan Igma
Creative Commons AttributionNoncommercialNo Derivative Works 3.0
United States License
14 Controvertible: able to be challenged; arguable; unqualified
15 Staving off: fending off; refusing to believe
16 Preclusions: prepared responses for anticipated controversy
17 Identity: a large portion of a person's identity is connected to what they choose to or
not to believe.
18 Potency: power
19 Irrelevant: unimportant
20 Vitality: the essence and power of life