The Sacred Profaned

In the human experience of
social and religious custom there
is little as venerated as is the
tradition of sanctuary in a house
of worship. To trespass and to 
threaten, much less commit violence
represents unspeakable sacrilege.
And while the abode of the
heavenly spirit was once viewed
as sacrosanct, a priest may now
have his throat slit from ear to
ear in the church sanctuary and
massacres of the faithful deep
in prayer have become frequent
fare in the news. Where firearms
risk disrupting the peace of prayer
deadly knives maintain the silence 
while unspeakable horror is writ
large on the face of victims 
as the blood of the innocents 
cries out to the heavens as they 
are slaughtered. But it is not the 
invasion of a temple of god that 
represents a sacrilege comparable
to the mass deaths executed in 
death camps dedicated to fascist
ideology, but the very sacredness
of life itself sacrificed to humankind's
incapacity to govern itself in
recognition of that sacred status.
From Iraq to Pakistan, Egypt to
America, France to Canada the
legions of those faithful to belief
that the Almighty craves the
sacrifice of human life, prosper.