The Civilized Brutes
Taking his seat with his friend from the Mars,
In the early space shuttle for the Neptune,
He sucked a long breath and continued:
“Well, as I was saying, in the olden times —
About 2100 AD, the Gregorian calendar —
People on the Earth used to worship
One Mr. Omnipresent within the four walls [sic]
Of their respective religious shrines
Specially built for the purpose.
“Religion was a pretext that had been invented
By those primitive tribes for regimentation.
The wretched fellows!
Though they had landed on the Moon and the Mars,
And called themselves civilized,
Had yet aboriginal beliefs
Regarding state, sovereignty and creed,
And lacked the intellectual prerequisites of peace.
“They fought among themselves like beasts
With the weapons unknown to the animals of any times —
With poisonous froth and nuclear claws —
This they did for their respective gods,
Or for some yellow trash now out of use —
Specimen available in the ‘Interplanetary Museum
For Antique Metals’ at the Uranus –
Or at best, in the name of their little territories.
As the Earth was split into petty nationalities then,
And the idea of the ‘State Government of the Earth’,
Leave aside the present ‘Confederation of the Solar Planets’,
Looked like an impracticable Utopia!
The cardinal virtues were at a discount and
Criminals were pampered at the cost of the Exchequer.
“As if the religious regimentation were not enough,
Each tribal nation maintained a regular army
To meet the challenge of self- imposed necessity of wars.
The army was conditioned to fight and kill with a franchise,
And fighting for land, plunder and debauchery
Under the veil of religion and nationalism
Was then regarded rather a sacred duty.”
“Pooh! The brutes with the cheek to call themselves civilized!”
Interjected a robot listening close by.
