The problem with faith, scratch that,
MY problem with faith, I guess I'd say,
it's the attitude, the manner of the people
who have it. Now, let me preface this,
I don't speak to all people of faith, cause
I know some ain't this way, but I know
people, and am friends with those who are.
And that is who I speak to.

Now I don't mind the faithful who
don't shout it out loud, or wave it
like a flag-bearer. Those who believe,
those who dream, and keep to themselves,
that's a faith that I can respect, won't shelf.
Even if it's not for me, I won't tell them
that they wrong for what they think.
Yet, there are others who trouble me so.

Certain people of faith, they wear it like
a sticker, or a badge of honor, and sure,
maybe it's something to be proud of,
something to take joy or glee in,
but whether they know it or don't,
it carries an implication I can't ignore.

Their faith is a way of lording over you,
a way they can say, "I'm better than you".
Even with the best of intentions they may have,
a desire to make you as good as they feel,
it's still just a wall that divides me and them.

Or, rather, a fence that they can sit on,
and still be above me, feeling so self-superior.
It leaves me feeling weak and depressed,
to feel like my friends think they're so much better,
just because they believe in a higher power
in something above that I just don't share.

They always want to try and preach to me,
try and convert me, like I'm just a check
to be marked, a mark to be had, I draw
that line in the sand. I don't want to hear
it, even if they mean well, but still, they continue.
And so I find myself forced to yell, and like that,
I'm the bad guy who needs to apologize
instead of the victim who had been forced upon.

Perhaps they can't really be blamed
for being this way, for thinking this way.
As far as they see it, they just sharing the message,
spreading gospel for the betterment of all.
They want me, and people like me, to join 'em above,
to live that life immortal, life immemorial .

But I can't buy, just because they selling,
I can't take what they be giving because
it don't work for me, it don't jive with me.
It's not a system I can comply with, beliefs
that I can fly with. I respect the faithful,
and the good that it lets them do, but
I don't respect the way they shove
it down my throat like a bad pill.

It's something too tough to swallow
even with a glass of water to wash it down,
it makes me angry and want to shout.
Maybe that's why I get so defensive when
I feel like I'm being preached to.
Because deep down, it feels like an excuse to
be talked down to, and I just have to take it,
or else I'm heinous, speaking heresy, blasphemy,
or just being plain disrespectful to them.

Now, faith folk, don't get up in arms,
don't raise your red cups up in anger.

Don't take this as a condemnation,
or some kind of vilification,
when really it's just conjugation,
or, rather, venting my frustration.