A Catastrophe Foreseen

Is it a niggardly thought or rumination you find
When Religion, they all say, is a state of mind?

Tritely, one man's poison could be another's passion
And posturing may be merely a statement of fashion:

Times when the God's business the State was minding--
A common code of beliefs on its populace was binding:

Any poser that two plus two was five deftly dubbed naive
And a reprimand the Savants would magnanimously waive:

For the laboring Man, worshiping was simply a way of life
With faith helping as an anodyne, there was nary any strife:

Today, the laboring Machine deludes Man to go idle for a lark--
And the Devil induces a fatal bite subduing the harmless bark.