God compelled me to write you an open letter. An epistle coming from a place of Love, not hate. Unity, not divide. God, not man." (📸 Eric Deshawn)

Disclaimer: By no means is this letter an attempt to weaponize God or act in deceit for personal benefit. This letter is a true momentary religious reflection (with images added for context). God, forgive me for my sins. Bless all who read this.

January 25th, 2021

Dear Daniel Lester Dow,

My name is Amman Fasil Asfaw. I am one of the good people you charged from the BLM protests. In the 15 weeks since you charged me, God has blessed me—an undeserving layman—with some clarity and diligence to make sense of San Luis Obispo’s current predicament. God compelled me to write you an open letter. An epistle coming from a place of Love, not hate. Unity, not divide. God, not man.

Most people would view me as crazy or naive for trying to connect to the soul of my prosecutor. But I must try. To be frank, there probably isn’t much you and I would agree on which is alright. However, I think we may have one intellectual commonality... God.

I am a lifelong member of the Ethiopian Orthodox (Christian) Tewahedo Church which has a membership globally of over 35 million people and was founded a few decades after the crucifixion of Christ (Acts 8:26-39 NKJV). My understanding is that you are a Christian man as well. Your personal Instagram bio says “God first” which is a statement I wholeheartedly agree with.

However, I have heeded Reverend Martin Luther King Jr.'s sentiments of feeling “greatly disappointed with the white church,” and asking “what kind of people worship here? Who is their God?” (Letter from Birmingham Jail, 1963). So here I tread cautiously. But again, I must try.

This past year, while quarantining, I had more free time to read* and study** the Scriptures. In the summer and fall, before and after you charged Tianna Arata with 13 misdemeanors, I was enjoying my spiritual journey through the New Testament by reading one chapter every morning. After every reading, I prayed. And in every prayer I prayed for the wellbeing of Tianna and her family as well as you and your family—in the same prayer, in the same breath, in the same sentence.

So you could imagine how perplexed I was when two white men from your office smirkingly served me a vague notice to appear in court for an alleged misdemeanor violation signed “Very truly yours, Dan Dow.” Legally, I was confused reading the several-month-delayed notice because I knew I did not break the law as you accused. I nearly internalized your criminalization.

Meanwhile spiritually, I was dumbfounded and hurt because I didn’t understand how God could allow such a futile and fragile act from one imperfect child of God to another—especially considering the countless times I prayed for you.

Inspired by the epistles of Paul the Apostle, my prayers shifted to a paraphrased recitation: “Oh Dan, Dan, ‘why are you persecuting Me?’ Don’t you know ‘it is hard for you to kick against the goads’? (Acts 9:4-5). Oh the futility of fighting against the divine truth.”

Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” And he said, “Who are You, Lord?” Then the Lord said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the goads.”
Acts 9:4-5 NKJV (The Conversion of Saul)

You publicly mentioned “I believe the law’s on our side.” To this I say: I implore you to ruminate on which “law” you speak of. Similar to the muse by the late Nipsey Hussle, I’m afraid that on the face, you think you’re in control making wise chess moves, but in reality it’s all governed by God’s grace (Higher, 2019). Let me explain.

You are rightfully interested in our nation’s state and federal law. This is the law of works—our attempt to establish righteousness by keeping the Law of God. The Law of God can be interpreted as the basic principles of the world such as the Mosaic Law and the natural law written in every human’s pure heart as the voice of conscience. Man does not live by the shadow (the law of works) but by the substance that produces the shadow (the Law of God). Unfortunately though, the law of works reveals human weakness and sin.

Thus, we also live amidst the law of sin which is the power of sinful passions in our mortal humanity. Physical passions such as strong desires for praise and possessions are natural… but their overindulgence is not. These carnal passions aid in the unnatural domination of the body over the soul and sometimes the will. The law of sin coupled with the Law of God breeds intense warfare between sin and righteousness.

Simultaneously, we also abide by the law of love also known as the law of liberty (how ironic) because “love is the fulfillment of the law” (Romans 13:10). This is embodied in the second greatest commandment: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:39).

Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.
Romans 13:10 NKJV

Yet the Scriptures rhetoricize, “do not the rich oppress you and drag you into the courts?” (James 2:6). Oh what shall we do with this battle of the poor versus rich, right versus left, and divine versus earthly? This much I do know: The poor more easily see the emptiness of earthly things while the rich hurt others to gain earthly things.

As Jay Electronica raps: “You can find the Christ where the lepers and the lames [are] at” (Exhibit A, 2009). Christ triumphs, and He rides in triumphal procession leading out the prisoners of war in chains before Him, while He follows behind in His glorious shining victor’s chariot, the Cross. Kendrick Lamar taught me to know that “if I’m generous at heart, I don’t need recognition. The way I’m rewarded, well, that’s God’s decision” (Momma, 2015).

Only God’s grace can bring victory for righteousness. That’s why I am again dumbfounded—yet this time humbled—to notify you that by God’s grace, despite the hell of your persecution, I successfully defended my anti-racist thesis at Cal Poly and I look forward to doing the same in trial. May God bless us all.

Very truly yours,

Amman Fasil Asfaw