Why do we do it?

Why do we do it?  The 'it' refers to assisting individuals at point of need and campaigning for systemic change to achieve social justice.  Why do some individuals participate in such activities but not others?  In other words, what motivates some  people to be altruistic?  

Over the years I have met many people engaged in activities helping others.  Some clearly are inspired by their faith; many are agnostic or atheistic in outlook, some are poor, some rich, of all sexual orientations and races.  Some people are motivated by the circumstances of their lives, or by experience.  Is there something innate that leads some people to be altruistic, but not all?  Is being non-altruistic related to selfishness, bigotry, greed, peer pressure, experience, background, expectation?  It is tempting to think so but is it a false assumption?  Many engaged in helping others themselves live in deprived circumstances. Is the pursuit of material possession a distinguishing factor?   My thinking is that there are so many variables  and caveats that it is not worth seeking to understand why people are altruistic: just be thankful that many are.

Why do I do 'it'.  What motivates me to seek to assist people to enjoy 'better' lives?  It's not as though I woke up one morning and declared I was going to engage in charitable work!  I was raised in a family that had a caring ethos, my experiences as a child and a teenager influenced my thinking as did the reading material available to me.  University education at an institution renowned for leftist thinking led me to embrace the political philosophy of democratic socialism and that has stayed with me (with some aberrations) for the last sixty years.  

My early adult life was free of any faith interest.  I was keen on advancing my career and the material benefits it brought.  Then I met an individual of strong conservative evangelical persuasion that led me to read the bible.  Over a period of five years I came to the conclusion that the teaching attributed to Jesus was compelling, but not the writings attributed to Paul.  I came to accept there is no metaphysical or anthropomorphic god and the bible is of human origin.  

It would be incorrect to state my helping individuals and campaigning was, and is, motivated solely by the example of Jesus nor that my activity led me inevitably to follow the teaching attributed to Jesus.  There is undoubtedly a symbiosis between the two but this has to be set in the context of my life experience.  

Some say that the bible should be read through the lens of love, that Jesus is love.  But to show kindness, concern etc for others is not dependent on any faith based source.  We are all capable of love, by choice, independent of any faith considerations.  For me the teaching attributed to Jesus acts as a source of inspiration and motivation for what I do.  Others find motivation elsewhere.  Put simply: you don't have to be a person of faith as a prerequisite to showing love by practical action to assist others.