Please Just Follow The Rules [A Poem]

And when we murder you, could you please protest peacefully?

And when we choke your life away, please kindly refrain from outrage.

And when we chase you down in the streets with our shotguns, please don’t try to run. Please stop and obey our simple commands.

And when we press our knees into your throat for 9 minutes, please don’t take a knee during our National Anthem and ruin our football games.

Things are not so bad, are they? Things are not so bad for us.
Everyone has the same opportunity in this land of the free.
At least, it’s always been that way for me.

And when we take your life away it’s only because you didn’t follow our rules.

And when we take your life away it’s just because you matched the description of someone else we feared.

And when we take your life from you it’s just because you were holding that cell phone. We thought it was a gun.

And that empty hand. We thought it was a gun.

And that toy you’re holding. We thought it was a gun.

And that gun you had a legal permit to own. It made us fear for our lives.

You make us fear for our lives. We don’t know why.

Our lives are precious. Our lives are at risk.

You have to understand.

It’s so hard to be white in America today.

You need to understand.

Is it so hard to understand?

Please just protest peacefully.

Please don’t interrupt our football games.

Please don’t remind us of how we’ve treated you.

Please just follow the rules.

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Keith Giles and his wife, Wendy, work with Peace Catalyst International to help build relationships between Christians and Muslims in El Paso, TX.  Keith was formerly a licensed and ordained minister who walked away from organized church over a decade ago to start a home fellowship that gave away 100% of the offering to the poor in the community. Today he is the author of several best-selling books, including “Jesus Undefeated: Condemning the False Doctrine of Eternal Torment” which is available now on Amazon.