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When I am gone, Children will still be taught to fear a punishing God— A God who may make them unhappy in this life, And punish them in the next, If they don’t do what religious people say God wants them to do. But while you are still here, You can free children from these chains. When I am gone, Children will still face mental, emotional, physical and sexual abuse— At the hands of those who claim to speak for God. Abused not just in body but in spirit, Their minds warped, their hearts manipulated, Their sense of self smothered by the weight of dogma.
But while you are still here, You can free children from these chains. When I am gone, Children will still be taught nonsense as truth: Crazy beliefs, dogmas and metaphysics Given equal standing to Facts, evidence and physics.
When I am gone, Ordinary people will still turn a blind eye, Pretending not to notice that the Emperor has no clothes— Because it benefits them to remain silent. It gets their children into their local schools. Ordinary mothers, with icy distain, Will still chastise those who don’t collude in the charade: ‘How could you inflict that on your children?’
But while you are still here, Proclaim aloud and strong— There is more harm in keeping silent than speaking truth. When I am gone, Children yet unborn will face years of mind-warping, The rape of their intellectual freedom, The crushing of their authenticity and autonomy, In service to a Big Lie that reduces them to obedient sheep. But while you are still here, You can show kids there is another way, That critical thinking is their birthright That their minds can and must be free. When I am gone, Human beings will still be taught that their sexual identity is a disorder— That to express who they are is a sin. They will still be shamed for the very essence of their being, Made to feel unworthy of love and acceptance, Because holy men claim to know the mind of God. But while you are still here, Fight for a world where being yourself is not a sin But a celebration.
When I am gone, Those brave enough to trust their doubt, To break free from the Lie, Will still be ostracized by those who claim to see Clothes on the naked Emperor. But while you are still here, Arise and stand with them— With the doubters, the freethinkers, the questioners. Choose not to be silent. When I am gone, Generations yet unborn will still define themselves by their differences, By the religions that divide them, Instead of by the humanity that unites them. But while you are still here, Show them that we are more alike than we are different. That love, compassion, and understanding should be our common language, Not dogma. When I am gone, People will still ask, ‘What harm is it?’ For a child to learn the Ten Commandments, To make their Holy Communion. But while you are still here, Dare to ask: What harm is it for a child to learn truth? To think for themselves? To grow up free from fear, shame, and the weight of religious judgment? When I am gone, The world may still be as it is. But while you are still here, There is a chance for change. You can free children from those chains.
Listen to our song So Glad I Married You on Spotify or YouTube, sung by The Rayne.
Listen to our song Every Moment, sung by The Rayne.
Joe’s acclaimed first memoir In My Gut, I Don’t Believe is available on Amazon in Kindle, Paperback, Hardback and Audible editions. His second memoir Saved by a Woman is available on Amazon in Kindle, Paperback, and Hardback editions.
