He had hitched his wagon to the church,
And the church, to the nation―
And off they went, waving their flags
And singing their songs,
And having no real need of Jesus
Beyond some name-dropping here and there―
Which seemed pious enough to them, even if
It infuriated the Jesus they never knew―
Who stayed aloof, anyway,
And never crashed their party.
But never minding that, they appropriated
Mom and Apple Pie and everything warm and fuzzy,
Giving no careful thought to the state of one’s soul
And whether it pleased God or not,
For it was their tradition to know that God had
Automatically approved of the church and the nation alike―
And what more was there to be concerned about
But carrying on as before―
And recruiting more members, of course?
