"amen!" booms the stout man behind me
and it's joyful
except it's not.
because i know what he has never learned
and i see what he refuses to see.

you love to think you're right
well, that's universal.
bend the words all you want
to support what you're saying
and it doesn't make you right.

defend your hate with words of
"god"
divert the blame from your charcoal heart.
and it doesn't make you right.

"the atheists won't be so smug when
they're burning in hell,"
the sunday school teacher says.
i wonder what she heard growing up
to make her so scared to think
to consider
to decide what she thought about the world.

and the preacher shakes my hand
and his wife hugs me warmly
but i can't help but wonder
what these loving souls would do
if i told them.
if i stood up and said,
"i respect your views, but i don't believe
there's a god watching over me and you."
well i imagine they'd have a lot to say
but it wouldn't begin with
anything about
respect.

and i have learned, by now
the surest way to tell
that someone is wrong
is if they refuse to acknowledge
the possibility of it.

and as the children nod along
to the condemnations
i don't need to burn in hell
i don't need everlasting punishment
this is all the agony i need
and after listening to this,
burning
sounds
fine.