You train them young in spite and hate
to deem all others reprobate.
To mould as bigots in their youth,
ensures behaviour deemed uncouth.

You live, in vain, for hopes unseen
and summon plagues on "the unclean".
It quite eludes your chosen few;
the greatest pestilence is you.

The world embraces many views--
to stable folk, that's hardly news.
But zealotry is clearly wrong;
it's time you sang another song.

So, tell your children, "Make a stand",
but not the one that you had planned.
The world's progressed, and so you must;
your past lies buried in the dust.

Intolerance is not our thing;
to rote ideas, we should not cling,
or teach them to the forming mind.
Instead, instruct thus: "Child, be kind."

And if your offspring stains the floor
in wet dreams of a racial war,
you've clearly failed your one main task,
and parenthood's too much to ask.

So teach your child to value life
and, if they feel a need for strife,
look inward. For, beneath our skin,
the worthwhile war takes place within.