Possibly my valedictory post..

For the past 35 years I have engaged in the pursuit of social justice by campaigning for systemic change to the structures of society causing injustice.  Alongside this I have been involved with faith and secular organisations seeking to alleviate the symptoms of injustice, in other words helping people at point of need.  It has been a a long, tortuous journey.  Along the way I have engaged with faith, secular, business and governmental organisations.  It has been humbling to meet and work with people with similar motivation to mine, many of whom have done and achieved far more than ever I could.

The war on poverty, marginalisation, exclusion and discrimination is ongoing.  Some battles have been won but the forces ranged against social justice are deeply entrenched.  They will be so for many years to come unless there is favourable major political upheaval.

My motivation over the past 35 years years was the decision to follow and promote the concept of love your neighbour and in particular its expression in the principles attributed to Jesus in the christian New Testament.  These principles may be discerned by  reading the Synoptic Gospels with particular regard to the Sermon on the Mount and the parables. Within the gospels are comparisons with statements in the Old Testament that illustrate the distinction between a legalistic rule-based approach and an approach founded upon the sweeping principle of love.

The message of Jesus is profound and deeply attractive. I don't know if Jesus was an actual person or the product of myth, folklore, symbolism, metaphor and custom, but it doesn't matter.  No, really it doesn't.  What does matter are the principles to be discerned from the texts: a broad, expansive guide to equality for all and not a rigid set of rules.

After 3 years of writing my blog my ideas have distilled to this:  love your neighbour, help them by alleviating the symptoms of injustice: campaign for systemic change in society to achieve social justice for all.

I don't concern myself with questions about the nature of a god or the likelihood of life after death.  We all die and will know, or maybe not,  soon enough.  Regard all scripture as of soley human origin and don't be beguiled by doctrine and dogma of religious organisations.

Instead, just focus on acting out the teaching attributed to Jesus, follow him in seeking a society and world dedicated to the love of all humanity and the environment.  It is a message of hope in a divided world.