Dogma's Demise : Beneath the Banners
Mawphniang Napoleon 1993 (Ri Bhoi)
In solitude I dwell, amid the din
Of zealots crusading, virtues to defend
Whose righteous rage makes feeble voices dim
As dissenters they seek to apprehend
They raise their banners high, their faith proclaim
All others they denounce, deem evil, cursed
No creed but theirs, they bellow, can reclaim
The righteous path - all else must be coerced
"Destroy the infidels!" their battle cry
Against those whose beliefs they view as flawed
No mercy will these fanatics e'er try
To understand what others might applaud
Their sense of right and wrong allows no doubt
All questioning of tenets shut right out
The righteous path, by dogma shaped and bound
Brooks no descent, or room for compromise
Their "truth" must be by forced compliance found
Dissenting minds, like weeds, they tyrannize
No curiosity, no scope for change
Static, entrenched, by any means they'll fight
To their conformist ways, dissenters estrange
Their blinkered vision blinds them to the light
A multitude of paths can lead to good
But righteous zealots only theirs acclaim
In frenzied fervor, reason's chilled - they would
Destroy all else in their faith's hallowed name
The humane heart embraces, uplifts all
Their frantic fear of difference builds the wall
We grasp the swords and staves with fevered hands
To smite the unbelievers, make them see
The righteous path ordained by our demands
All those who differ, we will tyrannize
Dissent is cursed, our dogma must prevail!
Destroy the heretics who disobey!
Our phobic fervor turns human hearts frail
Reason and mercy we will cast away
The righteous quest becomes an act of spite
The search for truth warped into frenzied fight
Where open minds should grow, instead we find
A narrow harvest sown by fearful kind
Compassion chilled, diversity defamed
In the crusaders' frenzied, fearsome name
Our creeds collide, discordantly clanged
By righteous soldiers in their hostile throngs
Each wielding words that slash and burn, harangued
To battle for their faith with wrathful tongs
The quest for truth in rancor dissipates
And zealous fervor fosters fear and hate
Intolerance wraps righteous robes around
Its trembling form, rejecting common ground
Dissent's dimmed down, dogmatic banners raised
The light of understanding darkened, dazed
Beneath the righteous boot that presses down
A multitude of truths, that should have grown
But planted in the soil of fertile minds
The sprouts of understanding fear no binds
The righteous road, by dogma sharply hewn
Allowing not the slightest deviance
From hallowed path, by faithful fervor strewn
Its followers, in pious pageantry prance
No pausing to reflect, or perspective gain
No opening of the heart, or of the brain
Just frenzied fear of different, driving hard
Against the threats beyond their guarded yard
Besieged within their narrow citadel
Behind their battlements they rage and swell
Belittling all beyond their circled wagons
Banning diverse thoughts through brazen braggin'
But build we must our human brotherhood
On grounds more firm than faulty dogma could
With angry ardor, weapons raised on high
We slander those who dare our truth defy
No hint of mercy in our ruthless gaze
As we denounce all others' wicked ways
How dare they spurn our perfect paradigm?
Against our might they haven't got a hope!
We'll tyrannize each dissident and mime
Till they conform, and with our precepts cope
No grace, no quarter for the cursed unclean
Who criticize our long-revered routine
Such bold effrontery cannot be allowed!
Our raging fervor will create a crowd
To drown dissenters in cacophonous din
And vanquish all who question from within
But truth will only flower in open minds
Where light, not heat, a growth of wisdom finds
So let us lift our lamp, and not our lash
To seek the path that love and wisdom sketch
Exalted by the righteous, rapturous thrill
Of vindicating our unwavering creed
We vow to crush apostates with our will
And smite down heretics for their misdeed
Our godly gospel must be spread by force
Coercion justified to rout dissent
Raise riotous ranks! Set forth the troops to quash
All unbelief, till true faith is cement!
But bloodshed bred by blind devotion's bane
Will drown dissent in never-ending pain
For violence vines that round the heart's truth cling
Bear only bitter fruit that Sorrow's wing
Will scatter in the wind as Wisdom's breath
Blows gentle o'er Humanity's frail form
And whispers: "Let compassion conquer death
The peaceful path brings life beyond the storm"
So let us walk in harmony, not hatred
The light of love dispels the clouds of discord
With violent visions veiling sense and heart
We turn on unbelievers with brute force
No empathy, no will to understand -
Just rage and ruthlessness chart our course
Begone the heretics who dare defy!
We'll root out all who spurn our sanctified
And perfect precepts! No dissension brooked!
Our truth alone in hearts must be mistook!
With fists and fury we will lay them low
The wicked ones who contradict our troth
No mercy will to critics be bestowed
Our godly gospel is the only growth
But truth's fair flowers demand an open mind
Where varied views are free to intertwind
And weave a wisdom, richly rendered round
Not cut and dried, nor cleanly circumscribed
So let us lift the lamp of love on high
To see, and not denounce, diversity
Zealotry's possession, reason's theft
Has scarred humanity with wounds unhealed
When dogmas, deaf to decency, are cleft
Hard into hearts that fear has steeled
The frenzied flame of fundamental creed
Would flay all minds that dare to disagree
No qualms, no quarters given, no remorse
Just righteous wrath to brutalize by force
Dissent tree withered, diversity destroyed
Yet still small seeds of truth have endured, enjoyed
Nourished by empathy's eternal springs
Watered with hope - till gentle wisdom sings:
"Let go your grips upon the Guide above
And grasp your brother's hand in human love
Together seek the light, the path unfold
Not cloaked in creed, but unconcealed, untold"
So softly flows the stream of loving-kindness
To bear us bravely through life's fitful blindness
With guttural cries, our gory weapons gleam-
Against the infidels, we'll be redeemed!
No mercy for the vile, unholy hordes
Who dare disdain our divine, mighty lords!
Annihilate the foes! They must comply!
Or else be plagued, beguiled, then left to die!
Yet violence vines round virtue's tender shoots
And strangles saplings ere they grow their fruits
While hearts that open, minds that stimulate
Will cultivate compassion, radiate
Wisdom's pure light - our human bonds renew
And broaden understanding's worldview
So let us lift our eyes beyond blind creeds
To see our kinship sown in selfless deeds
Belief's bludgeon, we will hold on high
And quell those heretics who Won't comply
The righteous path we'll punish them to take
All who spurn our faith, remorseless, we'll forsake
No unbelievers shall our world view blight!
Our godly gospel gleams with heaven's light!
Yet blind belief brings but a false repose
As, cloaked in creed, confusion darker grows
While hearts and minds kept open, unconstrained
Will harvest truth's diversity, unchained
And unified, yet infinitely diverse
One tapestry, though separate each thread
Woven with empathy, compassion's force
Our human bonds shine courage, loving spread
So let us forge a world where love entwines
And understanding sprouts from fertile minds
Through vehemence and vice we vindicate
Our singular, unerring creed of hate
No sympathy for those we subjugate
With righteous wrath we'll decimate their state!
No qualms, no quarters for the clans reviled
Who contradict our cult - their views are guiled!
Annihilate the cursed, unholy breed!
They must revere our faith, or we will stampede
Their dens of disbelief with devastation!
No rest, no refuge from our domination!
Yet truth emerges in the minds that mingle
And cast off creeds of conflict, biases single
So let us lift our weary hearts above
The battlefield of dogmas, bound with love
To find the peaceful path, lit luminous
By lanterns of compassion, unanimity
With scary shouts, our swords raised overhead
We vow to vanquish the misguided dead
How dare their diseased minds our truth deny?
Against our might they haven't got a chance!
Obliterate the lost ones! They must buy
Our pure perception! Make the heretics dance
To our true tune! No dissent will we allow!
Our gospel's greatness they must all endow!
Yet crushing conflict cannot conquer hate
Only sow sorrow, make compassion stagnate
While empathy's enlivening, thoughtful streams
Will cleanse the mucous misery that reams
Reality with rancor, ripe and rank
So let us lift the lamp of love, not lanterns dank
With frightening fury, our falchions flay
All who spurn our singular, sacred way
How dare they stray from the righteous road?
We'll tyrannize each unbeliever toad!
Annihilate the pagans! Let them learn
Their putrid path from ours they must turn!
Yet force cannot compel the search for truth
Only free minds can pierce the lies aloof
So let us loose the bonds of harsh belief
And tend the sprouts of understanding's sheaf
To grow in gardens where diversity
Is warmly welcomed, minds meander free
Our godly gospel shines the only light!
All else is shrouded in sin's wretched night!
With pious passion, pilgrim we proceed
To crush the cursed ones who stray and mislead!
Obliterate the lost! They must comply!
Embrace our ethos or be left to die!
Yet blind belief is but a barrier to truth
That blinkers thought and severs heartfelt roots
While opening our eyes and minds instead
To grasp our common ground, that lies widespread
Beneath the banners boasting outward difference
Will unveil our inner, shared inheritance
So let us lift aloft illumination
The lambent lantern of appreciation
With frightful fervor, fists raised overhead
We vow to vanquish the misguided dead
How dare their diseased minds our truth deny?
Against our might they haven't got a chance!
Obliterate the lost ones! They must buy
Our pure perception! Make the heretics dance!
Yet crushing conflict cannot conquer hate
Only sow sorrow, make compassion stagnate
While empathy's enlivening, thoughtful streams
Will cleanse the mucous misery that reams
Reality with rancor, ripe and rank
So let us lift the lamp of love, not lanterns dank
And open hearts and minds to understand
How similar we are, as hand touches hand
Beyond the battleground of harsh belief
Lie meadows where diversity's relief
And richness grows, when souls unite, not fight
To weave with empathy a world of love and light
United, not divided, we shall thrive
For in our kinship lies the will to build
A world where truth and tolerance revive
And understanding banishes bias blind
Too long have creeds cut chasms amongst mankind
Imposing enmity, discord designed
Now let us lift our eyes, uncloud our hearts
Illuminate a path compassion charts
That sees beyond the shields of stubborn pride
To find, with empathy, our common side
And celebrate the colors, creeds we each possess
While strengthening the ties that bind and bless
Our human hearts, that yearn for unity
To harvest understanding, sown from seeds of equity
So let us scatter the dark shroud of hatred rife
And plant the seeds of tolerance and trust
That they may grow, entwined, towards the light
Of wisdom, love - our universal right
To live in peace and place our futures in
The hands of hope, that we may all begin
To heal the wounds carved deeply over time
And transition from the brutal to sublime
By binding up the breaks within mankind
With empathy, communication intertwined
So shall we silence the vociferous demand
To conquer those we fail to understand
And cut the cords constricting point of view
To pave a path where many truths shine through
And blaze a trail of transcendence, transforming life
From discord and division's ceaseless strife
To symphonies of souls, unique notes sound
Entwining in one rich, empathic round.
The poem is part of a full version found in the book “Homo Sapiens” Part Part I - XVIII, written by Mawphniang Napoleon. This book is part of the popular “Homo Sapiens” book series, which can be purchased online at various online bookstores, such as Amazon. The book is available for purchase for those who are interested in reading the complete version of the poem. Remember to get all the books from the “Homo Sapiens” series, as well as other books by the same author. So, don’t hesitate and get a copy today from one of the many online bookstores. Khublei Shihajar Nguh, (Dhanewad )(Thank you )
About this poem
The poem vividly illustrates the destructive nature of fanaticism, portraying the relentless pursuit of a singular truth at the expense of empathy and understanding. It emphasizes the importance of open-mindedness, compassion, and unity to overcome the divisive forces of rigid dogma, suggesting that embracing diversity and shared humanity can lead to a harmonious coexistence. The imagery of conflict and oppression serves as a powerful call to value empathy as the key to dismantling the barriers that separate us. more »
Written on May 30, 2022
Submitted by Mawphniang.Napoleon on November 10, 2023
Modified by Mawphniang.Napoleon on November 12, 2023
- 12:18 min read
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Quick analysis:
Scheme | Text too long |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic hexameter |
Characters | 13,380 |
Words | 2,417 |
Stanzas | 88 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 2, 4, 4, 4, 2, 4, 4, 4, 2, 4, 4, 4, 2, 4, 4, 4, 2, 4, 4, 4, 4, 2, 4, 4, 4, 4, 2, 4, 4, 4, 4, 2, 4, 4, 4, 4, 2, 4, 2, 4, 2, 2, 4, 2, 4, 4, 2, 4, 4, 2, 4, 2, 4, 2, 2, 4, 2, 4, 2, 4, 2, 4, 2, 4, 2, 2, 4, 2, 4, 2, 4, 2, 4, 4, 2, 2, 2, 4, 2, 2, 2, 4, 2, 2, 1 |
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"Dogma's Demise : Beneath the Banners" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 27 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/173498/dogma's-demise-:-beneath-the-banners>.
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