Jack Pelham

There’s a certain sort
Who strive to be nicer than God—
Erasing the lines he has drawn
And avoiding the sternness—
Putting up with bad behavior
He clearly rejects—
Including the very behavior
I’m addressing here.

He orders the wife and kids around because—
He will tell you—
God has put the man in charge.

Ask him about the stories that were
Left out of his Bible, and he will tell you
He does not need to know them—
Even though he will wonder about them
For all his life, and will do his best
To fill in some of the gaps, best he can figure.

Is there any act so foul
That the American people
Will not tolerate it?

When was the last time
We said “no” to corruption?

If by some new magic, this land should suddenly
See justice done swiftly and impartially
In government and business alike—
With no tyrant or scoundrel ever again
Escaping what is due him by law—
America would soon discover not only
What peace and order she has been missing,
But the security that comes from having the leaders
Fear crossing that dreadful line beyond which
Cheating is not an option.

Gone the way of the hoe and the loom
Is the skill of searching for information.
The modern thinks he needs but to ask
And it will be delivered to him—
As are his food and his clothes.

If he has his eyes at least half-opened,
He will, in time, be repulsed by the muck
Of his current camp—even if the others are not—
And he will set out from there, convinced that
A fresh start cannot be put off for another minute.

How shall we define “cult”—and what if we were to define it thus?:

cult— n. any group in which the beliefs and practices of the group are guarded from the free, honest, and rational investigation and discussion of the members

If that were the definition, is there anyone among us who has never been a cult member?

And if this is our sad state, how twisted it is that so many are so hellbent on pointing out the cultishness of other groups and ignoring that of their own?

So many love to think they have won the battle by condemning the cultishness of other groups, even as they live in surrender to the cultishness of their own. And what more pernicious social trap is there than this?

I wonder if God does not pause in amazement
When he chances upon a human
Not looking for a shortcut.

Frankly, I think it surprised man—
The difference between God’s idea
Of a satisfactory level of human effort
And his own.