When we discipline the
Harmless yet
Reward
Evil
When we punish adults
For consensual
Sex
When we associate
Sexuality with
Shame
When we insist
Suppression
Of love
When we deplore
Independent
Thought
When we condone
Exploitation of
Children
When we abandon mercy
For archaic
Laws
When we blindly
Cherry pick
Scripture
When we self elect
God’s personal
Mouthpiece
When women exist
As a narrator’s
Afterthought
When religion annuls
One’s reasonable
Thinking
When religion invokes
One’s illogical
Hate
When religion compromise
One’s human
Dignity
When religion result
In piles of
Corpses
When religion manages
Only self-
Loathing
We ask,
Is religion synonymous with human decency?
Is religion synonymous with God?
Writer’s disclaimer: This is not a personal attack on one particular religion; it is a rhetorical piece about religion as an entity. If anyone regards it a personal attack, remember, “siapa makan cili, dia yang rasa pedas” (he who bites into a chilli feels the fiery bite of spicy torture/ he who is guilty will feel the guilt).