Who do they think they are?
In a beautiful act of mercy and courage, a group of human rights lawyers have taken the Moreton Bay Council to court over its destruction of homeless camps on public land. Bravo.
Some kids grow up on fairy tales. I loved them but it was Bible stories that formed me, layering my imagination with examples of God visiting with humans to make miraculous things happen.
And of course, I always placed myself in the stories: me and God. The burning bush spoke to … me, the Red Sea parted before … me, I placed my feet in the River Jordan and crossed over to the promised land. And I was David, pitching myself against the terrifying Goliath. I grew up believing in the impossible.
Yesterday, I reread the story of David and Goliath. The details of Goliath were still thrilling in the fear they evoked. Seven feet tall, a spear with a metal head that weighed 25 pounds. Suited up in layers of armour. Gloating. Brazen with arrogance. Unbeatable.
Who will dare come against me?
Everyone who has ever been bullied knows what Goliath looks and sounds like.
But the Bible story doesn’t end with Goliath strutting back and forth showing how big and strong he is. David enters the scene: one person, a small young man with ruddy skin, outraged by the belligerent bully.
Who is this who defies the armies of God?
He is inexperienced, naïve enough to believe he can win.
In the story, he picks up five smooth stones and - get this - RUNS towards Goliath. He slips a stone in the sling, pulls and releases. A single stone to the forehead floors Goliath. He is defeated.
But of course, it’s not the stone that did the trick but the courage to take up the fight.
The moral of the story is that the bully is never as tough as we think. A huge part of his power lies in us cowering in fear, getting lost in our smallness - and the impossibility of it all.
David represents hope. Hope that rights can be wronged, and bullies can be slayed by ordinary folk.
The story en-courages the small, shrimpy ones, the underdogs: If you are full of God, full of the quest for goodness and justice, you can run to the battle and you can win.
It inspires us to keep going, to refuse to bow down to the bombastic giants in front of us. To stand up for what is right and true and good.
Right now, a handful of Goliaths are strutting the world stage, throwing their considerable weight around, making us all feel small and powerless. Goliath goads us with images of Gazan children dying, starving to death, or being buried under rubble in relentless attacks.
What do you think you can do about it?
The day before yesterday saw the largest aerial assault of the war in Ukraine, with Russia unleashing 355 drones and nine cruise missiles on dozens of cities. Then there’s Sudan, Myanmar.
What do you think you can do?
I am lucky to live in Australia where we are safe and free. But even here the good life is not so good for some. Rental prices are out of control, demand greater than supply, giving the greedy a ticket to inflict exorbitant increases. Renters have become like modern-day serfs in a system stacked to make landlords richer and keep tenants forever poor, working just to make ends meet.
When did the human right to a roof over our heads become a profit-making scheme, a financial plan?
And what do you think you can do about it?
Close to my home, the Moreton Bay Council has been acting like the ugliest of Goliaths. It recently made it illegal to be homeless and live in a tent on public land. With the authority of these newly amended laws, it has been trawling the parks and serving the unhoused with move-on orders. Accompanied by police and bulldozers, it gives the order to destroy tents (homes) and the meagre belongings of those that have nothing.
Good citizens have been railing against these callous actions, revolted by the gross inhumanity - the rich shitting on the poor.
What do you think you can do about it?
In a beautiful act of mercy and courage, David has arisen in the form of some human rights lawyers who are taking the City of Moreton Bay to court over its destruction of homeless camps on public land.
(1) Sam Tracy, human rights lawyer, said they would argue that the seizures were a breach of property rights and the prohibition against "cruel, inhuman, or degrading" treatment.
"We can't simply continue to stand back and watch people's tents, possessions, and stability be thrown away."
A council spokesperson (some unnamed council stooge we’ll call Goliath) said it had not violated human rights laws.
The giants are huge. No doubt about it. They are frightening. Intimidating. Cruel. And we are small.
But the good part about being small is that it keeps us from becoming heroic egomaniacs who think we are the solution to the world’s problems. Our size forces us to understand the fate of the world doesn’t rest on our puny shoulders. We do not have all the answers, but we CAN confront the injustices in front of us.
Sometimes we can even slay them, cut off their heads, and sing the sweet song of justice.
And we can inspire one another: one act of courage and defiance engenders more. Goodness is contagious.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-05-23/human-rights-lawyers-to-take-moreton-bay-council-to-court/105308698