You will find a new song in the Poetry Hole entitled “My God’s Bigger.” Perhaps you should click on the link above (to the “Poetry Hole”) and listen to it, if you haven’t already. Otherwise, much of what I’m writing here isn’t going to make sense.

The sentiments expressed in this song definitely do not represent those of the writer/performer (me). The song is satirical. The lyrics express the enthusiastic support of Americans who think of themselves as religious warriors. They are liberal idealists who see themselves as champions of American democracy. They are conservative pragmatists who see themselves as defenders of American prosperity. The current administration has done well “shaping the debate” to make its war attractive to extremists on the left and right. They have bridged the ideological gap with a devout belief that it is time to prove the God of America mightier than other gods of war. Our involvement in a country’s civil war therefore continues.

The basic tune is borrowed from an old song entitled “I’ve Been Working on the Railroad,” specifically, from the verse whose lyrics go something like this:

Someone’s in the kitchen with Dinah

Someone’s in the kitchen I know ....

Someone’s in the kitchen with Dinah

Strummin’ on the old banjo ...

The tune was picked up and used almost 50 years ago in a popular TV commercial by a dog food company. The lyrics of that song go like this:

My dog’s bigger than your dog.

My dog’s bigger than yours...

The resemblance in tone between that song, depicting a young boy’s glorification of his dog and his challenge to some nameless owner of another dog, is no accident. My song is an attempt to capture that same sort of childishness. My intent in recording the song was to create a caricature of sorts.

I have failed. Our country has mangled reality so ruthlessly and has made itself into a caricature of itself, to the extent that true supporters of the war in Iraq today will probably love the song on face value. I wouldn’t be surprised to see religious fanatics on all sides of the conflict altering the lyrics a little to suit their special situations and humming this tune as they march to their deaths. Good satire provokes people to think. Far too many people today have decided not to think about it anymore.

I extend my apologies to true satirists, then. I also extend apologies to the music critics among you. I am fully aware of my amateurish lack of quality. But I’ve had fun doing it, and I’ve worked hard and given it a good effort. So there it is.

But I must also give some credit where it’s due:

I was driving back from Chicago one overcast, sad day in September, after attending the funeral of a very good man and a true friend. The sister of this gentleman, my wife and best buddy, was sleeping in the passenger seat.

When I’m feeling depression, I seek diversion and inspiration from everything around me. I get weirdly creative. I became lost in a radio show as I drove. It may have been Garrison Keillor’s A Prairie Home Companion, but it might have been another. Someone was either acting in a radio play or singing a political satire, criticizing the Iraq war. He was making fun of the religious childishness of the war as well. He used the phrase “triple-header,” referring to the Christian Trinity, and suggested that the American “God” was regarded by its pundits to be superior based on the number of “heads” it had.

Then the old tune came to mind, and I began putting lyrics together.

I dedicate this song, then, to the memory of my best buddy’s brother, Jim. I also extend my thanks to the artist, whoever it was, for boldly applying that phrase, “triple-header,” to the Christian Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

Here are the lyrics, with a few notes between the verses:

My God’s bigger than your god.

My God’s bigger than yours

My God’s bigger ‘cause he’s got better weapons.

My God’s bigger than yours.

(Many Americans truly believe this country has been selectively blessed by God with superior weapons, and that it would be wrong, maybe even sinful, not to make good use of them.)

Better weapons can shock and awe

With minimum collateral damage.

When my God has gone to war

He’s killed a million men or more.

(Under the flag of Christendom, millions upon millions have already died in war. It still makes a dandy excuse.)

My God’s bigger than Allah.

My God’s bigger than Budda.

My God’s bigger than all those other guys

My God’s bigger than yours.

(Christians don’t often throw these statements in the faces of non-believers in the world, but many Moslems have no trouble at all calling Christians infidels. It’s a very short stretch for crazy American Christians (just the crazy ones) to do the same, and in fact, they do, when enough of the crazy ones get together.)

My God loves democracy

I don’t know about yours.

We’ll wage war to spread the peace

‘Til all of the hostilities cease

(Why Christ would have loved democracy is beyond me, but that form of government has been endorsed by Christians (not all, but many) throughout the world, especially those in America. The Jews have also adopted some form of it. Their connection to Christ is a little strained, so their connection to democracy must be of a different sort. Of course, hardly any religious people support complete democracy, unless it favors the religious above others.)

My God’s better than your god.

My God’s better than yours.

My God’s better ‘cause he’s a triple-header

My God’s better than yours.

(Here’s that “triple-header” notion I was talking about. My god has three heads. How many does your god have? Huh?)

When our kid goes off to fight

And comes back in a body bag dead.

We cry for a while and hurt forever

And salute the blue white and red.

(For this portion of the song, I’ve dropped the satire. This is just the way it is. I’ve lost some former students, colleagues, and friends to this war. The hurt is not going to end. Oh, it will grow a little less sharp with time, but it will always be there. I’m still not sure what we’re accomplishing with our sacrifice to the god of war. I thought the war was won long ago. Iraq doesn’t really exist anymore. If the rest of the world doesn’t care to help straighten things out there, why does it fall so heavily upon this country to do so? And are all the terrorists just too busy in Iraq right now to figure out some way of attacking the United States, or have those attacks rather been stopped by common-sense security since the negligence prior to 9/11?)

My town’s better than your town.

My state’s better than yours.

My country’s better ‘cause we’re schizophrenic

My race is better than yours.

(The satire resumes. We seem to believe in the great benefits of competition in this country. A few champions emerge. That makes everyone else a loser of sorts. Is this the only way to be strong? Do we all have to be Barbies and G.I Joes? If we’re not All-American, do we still deserve to live? Do we have to create childish reasons to compete with one another? How big is your dog?)

You will not destroy the world.

We will see to that.

When it’s time for the end to come

Our God will squash it flat.

(Ah, yes, the destruction of the world! The extremists believe in that, don’t they? It seems like most religions contain some sort of twist on this story within their dogma. And too many of these believers want it so badly. They want to be reunited with their God. What do they plan to do with the rest of eternity after they have everything they want?)

My God’s better than your god.

My God’s better than yours.

My God’s better ‘cause he’s a triple-header

My God’s better than yours.

Thanks for reading and listening. See you again next time at viewfromthemiddle.org.