GOING UP AGAINST A CORPORATE GIANT
This fall, a small real estate holding business, Courtland Company, successfully challenged a much larger corporation in federal court. In what the company hailed as a “David versus Goliath victory,” U.S. District Judge John T. Copenhaver, Jr. ruled favorably for Courtland against chemical giant Union Carbide, which is owned by Dow Chemical. Between 1950 and 1980, Copenhaver found, Union Carbide had illegally dumped toxic waste in a nearby property called the Filmont Landfill in West Virginia. Toxins from that practice have and continue to leech into public waterways and groundwater. If the ruling is not overturned, Union Carbide will be forced to pay for the cleanup of soil and water contamination and could face civil penalties under the Clean Water Act.
GOING UP AGAINST AN ACTUAL GIANT
When a young man from Bethlehem came to King Saul and offered to face a Philistine giant in single combat, Saul was hesitant. How could this David, not much more than a boy, stand a chance against a nine-foot-tall warrior? But seeing no other volunteers, and perhaps being moved by David’s zeal for the God of Israel, he relented. David stood before Goliath in the power of the Lord, and he prevailed.
Questions
- When have you seen someone take positive responsibility for harm done to another?
- What’s a David vs. Goliath situation you’ve been part of?
- Why do you think King Saul agreed to let David represent Israel in this situation with Goliath?
