The Fortress

The Fortress

I built a wall to keep out the others, for they offended my patriotic sensibilities. How dare they try to take what is ours?

I built a wall to keep out the others, for they worship other gods. Why must I be confronted by their heresy?

I built a wall to keep out the others, for they offended my sense of morality. How dare they be anything but heterosexual?

I built a wall to keep out the others, for I have and they have not. Why must I be confronted with their inadequacies?

I build my walls to shield me from those who are not like me. My walls form a mighty fortress that protects me from the others.

I exile the others because they are wrong and I am right. Each one I find to be wrong, I exile from my fortress. And as I exile the others, the crowd standing with me slowly shrinks until I find myself standing alone.

I alone rule my fortress. I alone am the master of my domain. My ideals and my beliefs reign supreme within my fortress. I am all-powerful in this enclosure built for one.

I turn to share my victory with my friends, but there are no friends left, for I have exiled them.

Only then do I realize the truth of my walls. I have built not a fortress, but a prison. I am the prisoner, and intolerance my jailor.