A Holy War Poem by Francis Duggan

I've always thought that the word holy involved prayer
But the Muslims of Ambon in Indonesia say they ought declare
A holy war on all Christians living there
And religious tolerance seems strained beyond repair.

But a holy war there is no such a thing
For death and sufferings war can only bring
And even war that's fought in Allah's name
Cannot be seen as a lesser act of shame.

The words holy and war are different as chalk and cheese
As different as the birds are to the bees
They are not compatible in any way
Forgive them if they know not what they say.

Don't ask me who is wrong or who is right
The Muslims or the Christians in this fight
But since they cannot seem to live in harmony
They are as bad as each other it would seem to me.

One must go back to the Crusades and that's back far
When men for God declared a holy war
When religious fervour gave rise to inhumanity
Yet mankind has not learned from history.

That men go to war over boundaries and Land
Is something that i try to understand
But a holy war there is no such a thing
As death and sufferings war can only bring.