Soul salve (belief systems)
We’ve ample gods to venerate
who don’t much help us mitigate
transgressions that we perpetrate:
the evils that we machinate.
616
Whatever faiths we nominate
have sacred laws we promulgate
and rituals we orchestrate
in temples that we consecrate.
620
For help, to gods we invocate.
In chorus skyward, we phonate.
Our ills we pray to palliate.
Of ancient times we’re derivate.
624
Good Catholics transubstantiate.
Our God divine we trifurcate.
In churches we conglobulate.
The Testaments we indagate.
628
The Pope lives in his city-state.
Archbishops wield rods uncinate.
These chaste men of the First Estate
reluctant to impropriate.
632
Profane we excommunicate,
The zealot strives as an oblate.
From Protestants we segregate
because they consubstantiate.
636
Jews are the chosen, we orate.
Observe laws of the rabbinate.
Once baby boys attain day eight
Their pink foreskins we amputate.
640
Towards Mecca Muslims supplicate.
The Qur’an we transliterate.
Obey codes of the Imamate.
A kaleidoscopic caliphate.
644
All Buddhists calmly meditate.
Round prayer wheels circumambulate.
Protesting monks self-immolate:
consuming flames asphyxiate.
648
Hindus seek to reincarnate.
A wealth of gods we animate.
At Thaipusam we celebrate.
Bad karma’s bound to ruinate.
652
Zoroastrians to fire relate.
Quakers prefer to rusticate.
To Taoists opposites equate.
Hari Krishnas tintinnabulate.
656
Rastafarians all cantillate
that Selassie is God incarnate.
Fundamentalists don’t innovate.
With nature Wiccans affiliate.
660
Astrologers read charts stellate.
Black Pagans tend to imprecate.
Good witches mix up mithridate.
Empaths seek spirits discarnate.
664
Creationists all intonate
and piously asseverate
God, from clay, did agglutinate
the man from whom we’re all agnate
668
Charismatics in tents jubilate.
Agnostics for hard proof we wait.
J’s Witnesses just irritate
with door knocking that won’t abate.
672
And Atheists extrapolate,
The universe is insensate.
Religions only dissipate
our skills to ratiocinate.
676