The Faith of Our fathers
by Walter A Adams

What is the faith of our fathers
If we are come up from the mud
Are we close kin to the dog and the rat
Does our stomach compel us to blood

Do we rip what we need from whoever is near
And count any feeding as good
What is the faith of our fathers
If we are come up from the mud

Who is the god in our temple
Who tells us we’re born of the slime
Who bids us bow down to the “fittest”
And the devil take him that’s behind

Counting the corpses we claw our way over
To be sure that we’re not left behind
Who is the god in our temple
Who tells us we’re born of the slime

And what is the hymn that we dance to
That drones in our ears day and night
A dog is a cat is a rat is a man
And darkness is better than light

Pound the beat in ’till all thought is gone
Except that the wrong is the right
What is the hymn that we dance to
That drones in our ears day and night

The faith of our fathers, the god in our temple
The hymn that we dance to all day
What have we taken into our souls
And what have we thrown away

Tossing the gold and jewels in the dirt
Filling our hearts with the dross
What have we won for what we have paid
And what are the things we have lost

A God who said we would shine like the stars
And be clad in gold like a king
For one who declares we are a mistake
And belong with the crawling things

A Father who bends down to lift us
A god who will curse us all day
A Son who gives life in abundance
A devil who takes it away

Who do we call our fathers
Whose faith do we follow to where
What do we find when we get there
Glory
or Despair