HE’S the Bible-toting bikie who commands the respect of outlaw bikers, celebrities and world leaders alike.
The reverend Dr John ‘Bullfrog’ Smith, founder of the world’s oldest Christian motorcycle club, God’s Squad, describes himself as a “one-percenter of the Christian movement”.
After 43 years offering chaplaincy to outlaw motorcycle gangs, Rev Smith says drug dealing and firearms were not typical of patched motorcycle groups, despite recent feuds between a handful of rogue clubs.
The long-time Boronia resident who recently moved to Ocean Grove, said he hoped to deliver this message at a protest rally in Melbourne’s CBD on Sunday, December 1.
“I know whole chapters of (outlaw) bikers who if you even began to touch that world you would be kicked out of the club,” he said.
“I’ve got 17 grandchildren, why would I want to fight to support the drug trade?”
Rev Smith, 71, supported police going after drugs and firearms, but warned “horrific” open-ended anti-bikie laws, such as those introduced in Queensland, could be used against any community group.
“I know there are bad apples, but then there are in the police force and sadly the priesthood,” he said.
A passionate human rights campaigner, Rev Smith was once sentenced to death in the Philippines for defending the rights of rural peasants, holds a PhD in cultural anthropology and is a confidante of superstars U2.
He felt called to work in the bikie scene after passing a group of riders tinkering with a bike on the roadside.
“I thought ‘I wonder if anyone ever gets to talk to these guys about faith, the meaning of life, about what love really is’,” Rev Smith said.
God’s Squad members were welcomed as friends into most “so-called outlaw” clubs, he said.
“It doesn’t mean we share the same lifestyle, except we do share the love of being on motorcycles.”
Riding in convoy had a magic that was hard to explain to outsiders – and clubs gave men a sense of identity, he said.
Rev Smith will feature in an upcoming documentary Something In Every Hue, produced by Knox filmmakers
Source: Herald Sun
