This is my first attempt at a non-rhyming poem. Not having any formal education regarding poetic structure or styles, I've attempted a little bit of antithetical parallelism.
A queer thing is afoot in America.
We no longer individually judge,
but we collectively heap condemnation.
We abhor the death penalty for murderers,
but transgressors must never be allowed to forget their past sins.
American forgiveness is expressed as legal clemency for felonies
but losing your job over your personal opinion.
The Court of Public Opinion is an unfair tribunal,
where the judges are unelected and their verdicts abide by no law.
There is no statute of limitations,
because restraint is one thing Americans do not have.
We eat, sleep, drink, speak, buy, keep, and excuse ourselves in excess,
and we admit to knowing it's wrong when we criticize others for the same.
Everything must be done to our liking,
because we like ourselves most.
When someone does something bad,
we contrast them to ourselves.
That way, everyone different from us is wrong,
but we never are.
If someone should tell us that our standard is not correct,
we say that judging others is wrong, and judge them as being wrong.
In these days, there is no king;
everyone does what is right in his own eyes.
~ Rak Chazak
PS The Bible verse cited in the final stanza is repeated frequently in the book of the Judges, for example Judges 17:6 . But rather than refer to want of gubernatorial jurisprudence, I am indicating the lack of God's lordship in the hearts of the people in this country. Far fewer follow His precepts -- whether believer, nominal professing believer, or unbeliever alike -- than did in the past, and their actions and opinions are unruly, not being in submission to the Judge of the universe. I'm not talking about lawbreakers, here, I'm talking about those who attempt to pursue or impose punishment on others. Romans 1 describes the unregenerate as unmerciful and unforgiving. Can anyone deny that this is an apt description of our popular culture?
Despite not following God's law, our countrymen insist that there are rules that must be followed, and in so doing fulfill Romans 2:14 -- they "are a law unto themselves," revealing the knowledge, in their conscience, that certain things are right and wrong. But because they do not submit to the revelation of Scripture, their conclusions about what those things are, and what a suitable remedy is for them, is way out of wack. They do what is right in their own eyes because they do not honor the King.
A queer thing is afoot in America.
We no longer individually judge,
but we collectively heap condemnation.
We abhor the death penalty for murderers,
but transgressors must never be allowed to forget their past sins.
American forgiveness is expressed as legal clemency for felonies
but losing your job over your personal opinion.
The Court of Public Opinion is an unfair tribunal,
where the judges are unelected and their verdicts abide by no law.
There is no statute of limitations,
because restraint is one thing Americans do not have.
We eat, sleep, drink, speak, buy, keep, and excuse ourselves in excess,
and we admit to knowing it's wrong when we criticize others for the same.
Everything must be done to our liking,
because we like ourselves most.
When someone does something bad,
we contrast them to ourselves.
That way, everyone different from us is wrong,
but we never are.
If someone should tell us that our standard is not correct,
we say that judging others is wrong, and judge them as being wrong.
In these days, there is no king;
everyone does what is right in his own eyes.
~ Rak Chazak
PS The Bible verse cited in the final stanza is repeated frequently in the book of the Judges, for example Judges 17:6 . But rather than refer to want of gubernatorial jurisprudence, I am indicating the lack of God's lordship in the hearts of the people in this country. Far fewer follow His precepts -- whether believer, nominal professing believer, or unbeliever alike -- than did in the past, and their actions and opinions are unruly, not being in submission to the Judge of the universe. I'm not talking about lawbreakers, here, I'm talking about those who attempt to pursue or impose punishment on others. Romans 1 describes the unregenerate as unmerciful and unforgiving. Can anyone deny that this is an apt description of our popular culture?
Despite not following God's law, our countrymen insist that there are rules that must be followed, and in so doing fulfill Romans 2:14 -- they "are a law unto themselves," revealing the knowledge, in their conscience, that certain things are right and wrong. But because they do not submit to the revelation of Scripture, their conclusions about what those things are, and what a suitable remedy is for them, is way out of wack. They do what is right in their own eyes because they do not honor the King.
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