If you could find some time to write a letter in support of the Samuel Hill 4 as we front the Yeppoon Magistrates Court, it would be greatly appreciated. We'd ideally like to have letters of support as people, saying that our actions were consistent with the rest of our lives, but more importantly letters that support our action.
We'd like to plonk a whole bunch of letters down in front of the judge, from a wide cross section of the community, saying that they support us and the action we took to stop these "war games". Something like the one below would be ideal (though you don't have to have been nominated for the Nobel Prize, let alone by Desmond Tutu).
This is one way you can have a say to the court system and the government about your opposition to war and violence.
Send it to samuelhill4@gmail.com and we'll make sure it reaches the trial judge. Many thanks.
To Whom it May Concern,I am Rev. John Dear, a Catholic priest, writer and lecturer, involved in work for peace and justice in the United States. As a reference, I'll share that earlier this year, Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa nominated me for the Nobel Peace Prize.I'm writing in support of my friend Simon Moyle. He hosted me in Melbourne last year during my speaking tour of Australia. I was so moved and impressed by his good work as a Baptist minister, but also by his good character, his passion for peace and humanity, and his Christian faith. Simon Moyle is a true Christian, a real peacemaker, which is rare enough in our world of war.I fully support Simon's peacemaking life and work, and his beautiful, nonviolent attempt to say no to Australia's warmaking in last year's military exercises. His nonviolent witness, like the actions of Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr., is rooted in love, truth and faith; it strives to speak to the country about the need for peace, and invite everyone to disarmament and justice. His witness fits within Simon's life, character and vocation to follow the nonviolent Jesus, his effort to live out the biblical commandments to "love your enemies." I hope he is found not guilty, and I hope that Australia will heed his call, disarm its weapons, and pursue nonviolent solutions to international conflict. Thank you for your consideration. God bless you.Rev. John Dear
2 comments:
I am a sometime peace activist, schoolteacher and father living in Brisbane.
I was unaware until this evening of the Samuel Hill 5's action on the miltary base in 2007. However, I do support what you did, and see it was done in an engaging and non-violent way. Earlier this year a Northern Territory Court of Criminal Appeal overturned convictions of the Pine Gap 4, who'd carried out a citizen's inspection of the Pine gap base in Central australia at the beginning of the 2nd gulf War.
Even if one accepts the technical guilt of those 4 defendants, as Supreme court Justice Sally Thomas did at trial, the penalties were moderate. Certainly no more should befall the SH 5. In fact, in attempting to educate the military about the destructiveness of the war machine, and the miltary's seemingly benign part in a web of terror and death, these people should be celebrated not prosecuted. Unfortunately, our society's mechanisms have but a clumsy format for reacting to these challenges. It arrests, prosecutes, administers mild or more severe punishment. How crude a device. Every police officer, lawyer, magistrate and other official involved in the process knows these actions are a harmless, at worst inconveniencing process to get us all thinking about the turning wheels which we'd all rather ignore because they're just too big and imposing to consider resisting. Let the court be honest and humane, and see the actions of these wonderful brave people for what they are.
SIMON WELLS, Sunnybank Hills, QLD
Thanks Simon! Great name you've got there!
You might have already caught up with the news that the PG4 were later acquitted...awesome. Thanks for your support mate.
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