Credo

Credo

I believe the world is round,
Yet I have not travelled 'round it;
I've seen round maps and globes,
Yet I have seen God's face in paint
And heard God's name in hallowed words.
I've seen square maps with cliff-fall edges,
And I've seen scientists preach their gospel
In magazines and books, and upon the TV screen,
And I believe the world is round
Because they tell me so.
I have not measured inch by inch, the earth,
Nor have I toyed with test-tube trials;
I've talked with people around the world,
Though I do not know they are not actually
Five minutes down the road from me,
Or that America exists,
Or that my plane really left the ground
And didn't drive to Belfast,
Carrying cloud machines and minature cars
To prove how far above the ground I was.
I do not know the moon-landing was real.
If I accept it was, it is because I believe
My loyal TV;
If I accept it was not, it is because I believe
The world is out to get me,
Especially my "loyal" TV.
I believe the earth revolves around the sun -
Yet I have not once looked in a telescope
(And even then, how can I know
That what I see is really there?),
Nor have I travelled space.
I've read people's works, which said
They believed the sun revolves around the earth,
And I believe they really believed that,
Because I believe these are their words
And because I believe in carbon-dating,
Because I believe the man in the white coat,
Who told me so.
I believe 1+1=2, because that is what I was told.
I was programmed like a computer
And now I see 1+1 can only equal 2,
And is "proven" as logically the result of this equation.
I believe numbers exist
(or that what I see are numbers),
And that + means plus
And = means equals
And that there is an equation
And that this is it.
I believe what I believe is true,
And I believe that I'm actually writing this,
And you believe you're reading this,
And the gospel of science believes it has found
The Truth,
And you and I both know
That we believe we know what we believe,
And I believe it's true. Do you?