Had I Lived – I Would Have Been Killed

(Had I lived – I would have been killed)

Had I lived in colonial times,
I would have been hung.
I would have argued with them when they told me that the Indians were savages
and could be killed, cheated and dispossessed of their tribal lands
at any man’s convenience.

Had I lived in the Revolutionary War,
I would have been shot.
I would have argued with them when they told me that a black man was not
a human being and could be bought, sold and killed
at any man’s convenience.

Had I lived in Nazi Germany,
I would have been gassed.
I would have argued with them when they told me that a Jew was an ‘untermensch’/subhuman
and could be stolen from, enslaved, and liquidated
at any man’s convenience.

Had I lived –
I would have to have given my life
to save indians.

Had I lived –
I would have to have given my life
to save slaves.

Had I lived –
I would have to have given my life
to save anyone in the Holocaust.

And you say that I am a fool to want to save someone –
just because they are unborn –

and can be killed at any woman’s convenience.

(selah)

I hope for the day when we will acknowledge that there is no augment passionate enough to sway away the knowledge that almost all of the most inhuman acts in history began when someone first argued – they aren’t really human.

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