Reinvent And Reclaim Religion. Poem by Dr. Antony Theodore

Reinvent And Reclaim Religion.

Rating: 5.0


The world seems to be spinning out of control.
In the name of God bombs are detonated.
Subordination of women,

killing in the holy name of God.

Religions failed.

Religious Routinism,
dogmatic teachings devoid of vision and soul,
dogmas without a relation to real life,
religious extremism,
mindless repetition of prayers.

Religion becomes slowly irrelevant.
It does not appeal to the young.

Reinvent Religion
to meet the needs of modern life.

The world is on fire.

So reinvent religion.
Reclaim religion.

Offer faith of all kinds
as a hopeful counter-narrative
to the numbing realities of violence,
extremism and pessimism.

Thursday, December 22, 2016
Topic(s) of this poem: hope,religions
COMMENTS OF THE POEM
Glen Kappy 05 January 2017

tony, excuse me if i've already shared this. it took me years (i'm a slow learner) as a self-identified christian to notice that there in the beginning of jesus' sermon on the mount there is no beatitude that says, you're blessed when you have the perfect doctrine. as you point out in your poem, it is too common for people to have no other understanding of religion than mental assent to dogma or doctrine. thinking of how common this is and the problems of the world can be overwhelming- as i express in an early poem of mine imagine me. but we must hold on to what we can do, yes? light one candle in the dark- done over and over. one act of kindness and mercy- done over and over. may love guide and sustain us. glen

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Annette Aitken 29 December 2016

It was about thirty years ago now I had a convertsation very similar to this with a priest, I said they would have to change their teaching for the young to understand more and not to be bullied or pressured into religion as believing in God comes in many guises...great write my friend. Annette

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Bharati Nayak 23 December 2016

The world is on fire. So reinvent religion. Reclaim religion. Offer faith of all kinds as a hopeful counter-narrative to the numbing realities of violence, extremism and pessimism. - - - - - - - - - - A wonderful poem, thanks for sharing.

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