An active group of Progressive Christians meet regularly at Redcliffe to debate the core issues of modern Christianity.
They call themselves the REDCLIFFE EXPLORERS and they are interesting people who have expansive minds.
I am delighted to have accepted their invitation to meet with them on Tuesday of the coming week, 4 November, at 7.00pm, to discuss my book, WALKING WITH THE MAN BUT NOT TO CHURCH.
Venue is the Redcliffe Uniting Church from whom they rent the Ocean Room for the evening.
If you would like to be with them on Tuesday evening, they will warmly welcome your attendance and invite you to join them in asking challenging questions about my book. I will too. Come early and enjoy a coffee.
WALKING WITH THE MAN has been written in secular language for the 90% of people who don’t go to Church but want to find a positive way to follow in the footsteps of Jesus the Man and make Australia a more caring and cohesive society.
Most readers enjoy my book WALKING WITH THE MAN BUT NOT TO CHURCH as it charts an inspirational pathway of life for the 90% of Australians who have left churches and have no intention of ever returning.
They reject organised religion and its ancient outlook on life.
My book sets out a plan for us to make Jesus the Man our role model and the cornerstone of our reasons for being Australians. It does so in simple practical terms that ignore creeds, dogma, exclusion, hypocrisy, and bigotry but have purpose, human decency, personal responsibility and collective well being as core values.
Buy a signed personalised copy today and enjoy a page turning read about 65 great people who have walked with the Man throughout the 2000 years since he was crucified.
Go to my personal website, everaldcompton.com, to buy it for 25 dollars plus 10 dollars postage.
You can also buy it as an audio book or ebook or unsigned print book from any online book store.
When I reached the outer fringe of old age at 80, I took up book writing seriously and have over the past 13 years published 5 of which I am proud.
The Man on the Twenty Dollar Notes, Dinner with the Founding Fathers, A Beautiful Sunset, Catching the Linville Train and Walking with the Man but not to Church.
All 5 are selling well, but my personal choice of my best work is THE MAN. Some of its readers have written reviews of it on Amazon and Goodreads & I have recorded just one or two lines from each, as many have more than 50 words.
IAN STEWART- A fabulous read. An easy read. Draws you in with its integrity, credibility and subtle challenges. CEC PEDERSEN – Everald writes about Jesus the Man without the religious gobbly gook and rhetoric and hypocrisy that has driven so many away from mainstream religion. JOHN LYONS – Everald has captured the essence of christian values and practice. STEPHEN KOUKALAS – Everald strikes at the heart of what a good society should be, something missing with many faiths nowadays. TONY BRETHERTON – Everald fearlessly sets out how churches and religion should be if Jesus is to be followed.
BILL SYNNOT – Everald chronicles his journey as a Christian from childhood onwards. JOY SCHLOSS – I share with Everald the strong conviction that Jesus is my primary model for life. JEFF GILLING – In his trademark down to earth conversational relatable style, Everald’s fifth book is a compelling read. DEAN GOULD – Thought provoking call to reconsider Jesus the Man as opposed to the curated and institutionalised version of Christ that most of us grew up with. ALISON COURTICE – As an atheist and humanist, I share values with Everald who is the longest serving Elder in the Uniting Church in Australia.
ANDREW CATSARAS – A wonderful and effortless read. Everald is the living embodiment of what it is to walk with the Man. DAVID McGIFFIN – Everald fills a very intriguing place in the world of religion/philosophy/atheism, principally appealing to the non believer. RUSSELL HARPER – Everald’s book is written with respectful but ‘gut level’ honesty. ANDREW SCHULZ – Walking with the Man is a reflection of a lifetime of analytical deductions and deep passion by its author Everald Compton. CHRIS WRIGHT – A compelling and thought provoking exploration of Everald’s unwavering commitment to living Christianity.
CAROL KENT – Everald’s book is very thought provoking. He has the courage of his convictions and just gets better with age. A READER – Everald’s life journey is an inspiration for Australian’s of all ages. MICHAEL SPRINGER – I am not a Church goer and I am delighted that Everald’s book enthusiastically captures the core principles of Jesus. DAVID MUIR – Everald walks the talk and follows the example of Jesus and people like Flynn of the Inland. MICHAEL NAYLER – Powerful and thought provoking. Everald challenges Christians and non-believers alike to understand Jesus message.
DON MORRIS – Everald, you are a master. Whether you are a believer or not, this book is most thought evoking. GRANTLEE KIEZA – A fascinating and thought provoking book. ROBERT TREDENICK – A really well researched and thoughtful read. Very good. DAVID HETHERINGTON – Warm, wise, insightful book that shares valuable insights for those who believe and those who dont. PETER McGIFFIN – Compelling read that shares a lifetime of thoughtful analysis of Christianity.
A MAN OF THE PEOPLE – This book is like a compass to give people a guide on how to live a fulfilling and compassionate life. ANNIE T – Everald has written a great book that will entertain you and make you wiser. MARK RUDDER – Every book club should have this book on their reading list. Guaranteed to provoke lively discussion. SEABASS88 – This thought provoking book encourages readers to embrace values that foster connection, compassion and sense of purpose. STEPHEN – Have thoroughly enjoyed reading this book on how to improve our society for the better and leave a legacy.
MAEDO – This book for all its many shortfalls jolts the reader to rethink all ‘givens’. DIANE DROMGOLD – Congratulations Everald for your inspired writing and your faithful commitment as a true follower of Jesus the Man. GREG CARY – This book is a journey worth taking. Enjoy the conclusions of a wonderful man and his long and fascinating religious journey. ANONYMOUS – This is a rare find. An easy read that feels like a dinner conversation with good friends. PAJ – Sensational and absorbing read. It follows the simple lessons of a man named Jesus and not all the fuzzie noise in between.
CARRIE – I am one of the 90% of Australians who do not attend Church but consider myself to be a person of faith and belief. Have a read of this book, you won’t be disappointed. GREG McMAHON – A great read from a great Australian that diverges widely from doctrines taught by christian schools and churches. MICHAEL TEYS – This is a very readable account of the lives of saints and sinners that is uplifting and inspirational. BEVERLEY BELL – Walking with the Man has captured for me the teachings of the human Jesus instead of preaching about an exalted divine Jesus. REBECCA LEVINGSTON – Everald’s energy is irrepressible. To know more about his personal philosophy in life is a gift. We can all grow from his curiosity and care.
BRYAN GILMOUR – Everald articulates the simple and practical principles that underpin the life of Jesus. GRAHAM DOOLEY – Everald explains the turning away from Christianity by the bulk of the historically Christian world. WALLACE TAYLOR – This book unpicks irrelevant dogma from the allegories that aim to convey the timeless messages of decency. AMAZON READER – Thought provoking read that will lift your spirit. LINDSAY MARSHALL – A must read for churchgoers, those who no longer attend and those who have never been.
ANONYMOUS PHONE CALL FROM AN INDIGENOUS AUSTRALIAN – I greatly resent the way christian missionaries have demeaned the spirituality of my people and insisted we must reject it, follow their religion and join their Church. But I have read your book and am convinced that Jesus the Man will positively relate to our dreamtime and our worship of the land. I intend to now walk with him but go nowhere near a Church.
EMAIL FROM A LAPSED ANGLICAN -I have run away from Church for 50 years but your book has convinced me that I cannot run away from Jesus the Man any longer. I am now proud working partner.
MESSAGE THAT MADE WORTHWHILE MY TWO YEARS OF WRITING ABOUT THE MAN – When my parents divorced they were declared sinners by our local priest and refused the sacraments. I have never been back to church since then. Now, I have read your book. So impressed with it I bought six copies for friends who do not go to church. They were inspired too. Now we meet for lunch every month and as working partners of THE MAN we do our best to make our community a better place to live happily and positively.
You can buy a signed copy of WALKING WITH THE MAN from my website – everaldcompton.com – or online from Amazon or any online bookseller as paperback, kindle or audiobook. Alternatively, send me a direct message on Twitter or Facebook or Bluesky
Enjoy the read and the journey.
Everald
The splendid painting below is the work of my friend Noela Lowien of Kilcoy. It depicts the Good Samaritan in modern Australian form as the Bush Samaritan whom you will note is female. As you will expect, she is a working partner of Jesus the Man.
With significant help from three eminent Australians, Paul de Jersey, David Muir and Anthony Lynham, I have drafted a Preamble I believe our Founding Fathers should have adopted as the opening statement of the Australian Constitution in 1901.
I have lodged a petition to Parliament requesting that a Referendum be held on the same day as the 2028 Federal Election so that future Parliaments, with positive backing of voters, are required to uphold the values we regard as the ground of our being as Australians.
Here are the words I propose and for which I seek your support in signing the petition.
‘We, the people of Australia,
*Proudly acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as original occupants and custodians of our continent and islands who cared for our land, water, flora, and fauna for many thousands of years.
*Recognise that our nation is enriched by people from many ancestries who have chosen to make Australia their home.
*Affirm our commitment to democratic, representative, and secular government of our sovereign nation founded on rule of law, equality before the law, and government by the people.
*Believe in justice through independent courts and equality of social, economic, and political opportunity for all in a manner that minimises inequality.
*Seek visionary reform of our colonial heritage and reject racism, sexism, class distinction, poverty, all forms of violence, and domination by wealth, ideology, religion.
*Affirm the right of every citizen to a vote of equal value and basic benefits of home, food, education, employment, medical care, and social interaction.
*Uphold family life as a cornerstone asset of society.
*Aspire to a cohesive society that rejects greed and is based on honesty, decency, sharing, and goodwill.
*Acknowledge that our freedom of speech and religion is based on our acceptance of responsibility as citizens.
*Seek peace with all nations and our maintenance of global order in matters relating to peace, trade, health and environment.
*Strive to ensure through our collective efforts that Australia is a role model of an enlightened and just society.
With hope and determination, we commit ourselves to this Constitution.’
I welcome your recommendations for improvements.
In my book, DINNER WITH THE FOUNDING FATHERS, I describe the huge effort made by Alfred Deakin at the Federation Conventions of the 1890’s to have a Preamble inserted in the Constitution that would set out the values on which our new nation would be founded. Churches opposed any debate on it as they claimed they were were responsible for the morals and values of our nation, a task for which they have significantly failed.
Alfred Deakin was Prime Minister of Australia three times.
He was also a powerful founding father of our nation, having a huge influence in drafting our Constitution.
It is important to note that he made a significant effort to include a Preamble to the Constitution that would set out what it means to be an Australian and what are the basic principles of life that are the fabric of our existence.
He failed to achieve this as he was bitterly opposed by Churches. They claimed to be in charge of the morals of the nation, a task in which they have massively failed.
Now in #Election2025, our leaders only ever talk about #money as they are certain that this is the only value that we place on life, an assumption which may largely be true.
But the blunt truth is Australians live in a massively divided society which seems to have no cornerstone other than #greed on which to base our finest aspirations.
I am delighted to invite you to go to my website – everaldcompton.com – to buy my two finest books via a special offer.
Total price is 50 dollars, postage free, (normal price including postage is 70 dollars)
Both will be signed with a personal greeting to you.
CATCHING THE LINVILLE TRAIN is about my life journey after I left my boyhood home in Linville in the Brisbane River Valley. It became public in 1956 when at 25 I was appointed by the Presbyterian Church of Queensland to be Organising Secretary of the team that built St. Andrews War Memorial Hospital on Wickham Terrace in Brisbane and led me to organise similar community projects in 26 nations. There are 80 chapters about significant people and events and places that influenced all my endeavours.
WALKING WITH THE MAN, BUT NOT TO CHURCH describes my faith journey since my mother first took me to Church in Linville when I was just three weeks old and I have kept going for 93 years. It is a secular book written especially for the 90% of Australians who do not attend Church and never will. Its all about us becoming Working Partners of Jesus the Man and walking with him to create a more caring and creative society. There are 65 chapters about extraordinary people of faith who moulded my life.
I am not noted for humility but I venture the opinion that your 50 dollars investment in these two books will repay you in personal dividends as we expand our contribution to the enhancement of humanity.
Come to the Royal on the Park in Alice Street Brisbane on Friday, 22 November, for lunch with me (and lots of friends) at 12.30pm.
You will receive a signed copy of WALKING WITH THE MAN.
As well as enjoying a drink, an Everald Burger and coffee.
Plus some excellent speakers.
Rebecca Levingston will launch my book. I very happily share a radio chat with Rebecca on Radio 612 ABC Brisbane every Monday evening just after the 8.00pm News.
I will respond, as will my publisher, Jason Smith of Clark and Mackay.
David Muir, Chair of the Clem Jones Trust, will be our MC and Jan Schutt, Manager of the Royal on the Park, will launch the Everald Burger.
All for just 90 dollars.
This includes the satisfaction of knowing that the profit from the function goes to Dorcas ACTS, the community service arm of the Aspley Uniting Church, that I have been chairing for 15 years. We give direct cash grants to people in crisis situations.
To sign up for an enjoyable time, just call Events at Royal on the Park on 07 31121677 right now. Have your credit card ready.
Briefly, let me give you some headlines about Walking with the Man. I will tell you more at the launch.
It is written for the 90% of the population who do not go to Church and invites readers to.
*Adopt Jesus the Man to be your role model for life.
*Try to live by The Sermon on the Mount
*Walk with him as a Working Partner to help create a better world.
*Whenever you face a problem, ask yourself ‘how would The Man handle this issue?’.
*Invite 4 friends to join you for a meal several times a year to plan how you can work together to enhance the society in which you live.
*Be ready and willing to get personally involved in challenges as you work hard to create a world powered by compassion, justice and vision as you walk with The Man towards the light on the hill.
See you on 22/11.
Everald
(only 93, happily married to Helen for 66 years, and writing my next book)
Our world, in which we totally depend on IT for our very existence, feel apart on Friday when a bug in the software of small company caused a seizure in communications across our planet that denied us of essential services.
This ridiculous event compellingly informed us of how helpless we have allowed ourselves to become.
I yearn for the days of my youth when our airline tickets were written out by hand and the pilot of the plane knew how to fly it without any help.
Was browsing through a book shop a few days ago and found this one. It is so fascinating I read it within 48 hours. A real page turner.
Its about the close friendship of our former Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, and the founder of Hillsong Church, Brian Houston, that hugely embraced religion, politics, power and money, especially government grants and tax concessions.
They had a dream of making Australia a Kingdom of God that would be a beacon for the world to follow and they made a huge effort to bring it to reality. Then both crashed at the same time, bringing their dream to an end.
Their commitment was huge and cannot be doubted. Their strategy was fatally flawed.
Read it and make up your own mind about its validity and the relationship between religion and politics that now dominates our world.
Its author, David Hardaker, is highly regarded investigative journalist who spent 5 years of detailed research in writing it and he reveals all his sources. I did not find any nasty gossip in it and he does not call us to join any crusade against Morrison or Houston.
Enjoy the read and consider its impact on our lives.
In the minds of most Australians, not just the 10% who go to Church, what is the foremost reason we have for celebrating Easter?
It’s time to be honest with ourselves as a nation and acknowledge an order of priority instead of pretending to be religious.
Firstly, most of us welcome it as a great 4 day long weekend holiday to be enjoyed by as many as possible.
Then, we happily welcome the Easter Bunny who brings our Easter Eggs. Many regard the Bunny as the Easter equivalent of Santa Claus, while in ancient societies Rabbits and Eggs were a symbol of fertility.
Also, we hugely enjoy Hot Cross Buns, lots of them. These were first made in the 6th century by the Greeks as holy food to be eaten after concluding their traditional fast on Good Friday.
Last of all, a small number observe an important Christian tradition which is the original basic reason for our holiday weekend even though the last Australian Census revealed that only one in two Australians believes in God and only one in ten are active Church members..
We should also note that Australia is one of very few nations that observe Easter as a public holiday. While over 100 nations recognise Easter, few declare it to be a public holiday.
So why does Australia pretend to be Christian at Easter and Christmas?
Fact is we are observers of traditions for which most of us give little thought.
For me, it is a quiet endorsement of my long term decision to have Jesus the Man as my role model of life and an affirmation on my commitment to walk with him as we try to create a world of peace, justice, and equality of opportunity.
All have been good even though some were sad when we lost loved ones.
The key factor in our long standing partnership has been our family of 20 children, grandchildren, partners and one little great grandchild, whose love we treasure.
We also believe that no matter what is wrong with the world, there is much more that is good.
It’s a pleasure to try to add to that which is good and to share this privilege with friends like you.
May grace and peace be with you all, today and always.
Everald
PS. The photo below was taken at The Steak House in Taupo, New Zealand, in October when we celebrated our 65th wedding anniversary.
And we will enjoy many more anniversaries as I am only 92 and Helen is a young 86.
I have written an novel called A BEAUTIFUL SUNSET.
Its growing number of readers tell me it is inspirational.
Based on final three months of life of a terminally ill man who decides to make them the most creative, meaningful and productive of all his days before he peacefully departs by Voluntary Assisted Dying.
You will enjoy it, especially the very last day, when he invites 25 of his family and friends to share a final drink with him in the happiest of ways. Indeed, the most wonderful party of his entire life.
I took great care in writing it as it depicts the same joyful way I intend to happily depart if my circumstances are likewise.
I will sign and post it to you for 25 dollars plus 10 dollars postage.
You and I have the democratic right to place a Petition before Parliament asking them to consider and act upon any matter of public interest that concerns us.
All that is required is that we go to the website of the Australian Parliament, click on PETITIONS, and follow the guidelines on how to submit a request in not more than 250 words.
Our document goes to the Petitions Committee of Parliament for consideration. If they agree that it is a suitable petition, they invite us to submit evidence of community support for our request. This means that we invite supporters to log on to the Parliament website and follow the prompts to register as a supporter.
The Petitions Committee will then study our supporter base and, if they believe it is sufficient, they forward our Petition to the relevant Minister whose portfolio of responsibilities cover the domain of our request.
We are then free to contact the Minister to advocate our cause before, as required by law, he or she replies to us.
Because of this democratic privilege we have here in Australia, I decided to submit a Petition asking Parliament to set up a Committee to investigate the establishment of UNIVERSAL BASIC INCOME in Australia.
As I want to achieve the best possible result, I invited my friend, Dr Karen Stenner, an eminent political scientist, to draft the petition and submit it to Parliament. She has done this splendidly and successfully as the Petitions Committee has now asked us submit evidence of community support.
So we need your help right now and invite you to click on the link below to register your support.
Please do it TODAY as our deadline set by the Committee is 31 August.
Ignore the survey on the website. Just click ‘Continue’.
I will not bore you here with a detailed description of the huge benefits of Universal Basic Income. Just type it into Google and you will find many descriptions of where and how it has been trialed around the world.
I will just give you these few dot points as an indication of key elements of its value.
*Replaces all welfare, and there is no Centrelink, as all over 18 are eligible to receive UBI.
*Removes the stigma of welfare.
*Financed by the removal of a huge bureaucracy & the imposition of a levy on all of the many tax evaders in Australia.
*Gives people the financial backing to survive while they start up a small business or undergo skills training to change occupations.
*Unlike the age pension, it enables everyone to earn as much as they want to without penalty other than normal income tax.
*Significantly increases participation in the work force.
*Reduces mental stress from daily life.
Just be reminded that we are not asking Parliament to implement Universal Basic Income. We are just inviting them to investigate it. Hopefully, we live in a world of open minds where we constantly seek to find better ways of doing everything.
Here is the link for you to use to sign up as a supporter of UBI. You will note that the Petition has been submitted by Dr Karen Stenner.
Please do it TODAY and also send it on to your friends inviting them to do likewise.
‘I confirm that if the VOICE referendum is successful, a resolution will be passed in Parliament requiring every Member of the House of Representatives to hold at least one public meeting in their Electorate to review and comment on the proposed legislation to establish VOICE and convey the views of those meetings to Parliament before it votes on the matter.’
I am voting YES to VOICE.
More importantly, after the Referendum is successful, I intend to campaign aggressively and persistently to ensure that Voice does not ever have power to do anything other than advise our Parliament and is denied access to the Courts of Australia for any endeavour it may subsequently make to achieve an upgrade to its advisory role.
If Albo makes this commitment to Parliament, I am of the view that he will turn the tide of voters who are currently moving into the NO camp with steadily increasing numbers..
To be certain it does win, the YES campaign must stop declaring publicly that their opponents are racist, stupid and irresponsible. Right now, they alienate undecided voters every day.
The blunt truth is that YES is running the most amateur campaign of insults I have ever witnessed in my life of 9 decades, thereby lowering themselves to the same dark depths of fear and lies to which the NO campaign has woefully descended.
May I beg the current leaders of both the YES and NO campaigns to please resign, shut up and allow sensible people to debate the crucial issues of this vital Referendum which simply corrects an omission that occurred in 1901 when Australia became a nation and failed to acknowledge our indigenous heritage in our Constitution.
With a commitment to correcting a mistake of history.
I will be at Linville on Thursday of this week, 20 July, doing a local launch of my book CATCHING THE LINVILLE TRAIN at a lunch at the Linville Hotel.
Decided to call the School and arrange to give them a signed copy of my book to put in the School Library. The Principal is a friendly person who was more than a bit surprised to be taking a call from a past student who first enrolled 86 years ago.
So it is that I will be at the School at 2.30pm on Thursday and I am looking forward to it.
The school was smaller when I was there, but it has an unforgettable memory for me as the school teacher at the time forced me to change from writing left handed. Now I do everything in life with my left hand except to write.
But they were happy days. Made many life long friends. Now, I am the only survivor.
With much nostalgia.
Everald
PS. Linville is in the Brisbane River Valley. Its a pleasant little village with a superb pub that serves great meals. You will be able to buy my book in the bar with 5 dollars per sale going to a great cause ARE YOU IN A PUDDLE MATE?
Most governments around the world have welfare programs that attempt to provide for the basic needs of its citizens who are old, ill, poor, unemployed, disabled etc.
Those programs are far from ideal and are as narrowly targeted as is possible. A huge amount of paperwork is needed to apply for welfare and if you qualify you are constantly required to prove that you remain eligible.
If you are fortunate enough to qualify for it, usually after a long waiting period, you find that it places you on or below the poverty line and this means you live under constant financial and emotional pressure.
There is also a stigma attached to anyone who applies for welfare. You are regarded as a lesser being when you receive it. Indeed, many in your community will regard you as lazy, an undeserving burden for your fellow citizens to carry.
In addition, taxpayers pay excessively for their government to employ many thousands of public servants to manage a huge bureaucratic welfare system. In Australia, we call it Centrelink and it can justly be proclaimed as the most hated, inefficient and ineffective institution in the nation.
Far too many nations, especially Australia, have far too often had governments whose ideology has led them to want to punish welfare recipients, regarding them as sinners in need of repentance. The criminal application of ROBODEBT in Australia is a prime example of welfare persecution that caused people to suicide.
There just has to be a better way to create a just and decent society.
Indeed there is and it is called UNIVERSAL BASIC INCOME (UBI), an enlightened alternative that a few nations have experimented with regionally and the results show noteworthy promise. The Province of Manitoba in Canada is a good example.
The basic plan is this.
*Every registered voter, who actually votes so as to prove their identity, will receive an unconditional monthly payment from government without applying for it. It should be at least the size of the current age pension and you will receive it until the day you die.
*If you also earn wages for work, or income from enterprise or investment, the UBI you receive will be counted as taxable income but you are not punished for working as currently happens with the age pension in Australia.
*If you choose not to receive UBI, you instruct government to pay it into a sovereign fund that is established for this purpose and is used for nation building projects.
*The cost to government of providing funds to pay for UBI is partially offset by the savings generated from closing Centrelink. The remainder is covered by ensuring that all tax evaders pay a minimum tax on revenue no matter how much they claim as losses.
*A prime benefit of UBI in social terms is that there is no such person as a welfare recipient. All stigma is removed as no one can tell what your personal position actually is.
*The existence of UBI means that there is never any need for governments to make relief payments to people when crises occur such as floods fires droughts etc. Everyone is receiving their UBI payment every month no matter what tragedies hit them.
*Mental health improves dramatically and its economic cost is reduced as UBI removes financial tension from millions of lives.
*More people will become self employed as they start small businesses knowing that if they fail they have their UBI to sustain the basics of life while they have another try.
As always, with every social initiative, special attention will need to be given to people who are in very special situations where they usually fall through the cracks.
The first step in introducing UBI into Australia will be for the Prime Minister to establish a Committee of Parliament to study it in depth and determine whether or not it can be designed to work effectively in Australia. If it reports positively, then legislation can be introduced to implement it.
If you agree in principle with UBI, please send this article to your local Federal MP asking him or her to advocate the establishment of a Committee of Parliament right now. It will take a courageous government to implement UBI but I think that our current Prime Minister and Treasurer may be the leaders to pioneer it.
UBI is not an idea that I have thought up. Far from it. I have simply been following its slow but purposeful introduction overseas, especially in Scandinavia and Canada.
The prime advocate here in Australia is a long standing friend of mine, Dr Karen Stenner, who is a highly experienced political scientist of excellent international repute. I am an enthusiastic volunteer on her team who, in my twilight years, wants to be part of the huge social and financial revolution that UBI will create.
You can follow Karen on Twitter @karen_stenner.
Join us in a journey to a safer and better future for all Australians.
Some people on social media regularly accuse me of being a WOKE and they do not mean it as a compliment.
So, I typed WOKE into Google recently and it instantly came up with this description.
Woke is a name given to people who are –
‘AWAKE TO THE NEEDS OF OTHERS, WELL INFORMED, THOUGHTFUL, COMPASSIONATE, HUMBLE, KIND, AND EAGER TO MAKE WORLD A BETTER PLACE FOR ALL PEOPLE.
Even though I have a healthy self ego, I can’t claim that I qualify for this accolade, but I proudly proclaim that I am trying to do so as a REFORMING CONSERVATIVE.
I live and move and have my being from a basic set of values and ethics, but I am a reformer who acknowledges that we live in an ever changing world and have a responsibility to ensure that the inevitable changes meet the needs and aspirations of humanity.
I hold the view that to achieve this I am more likely to do so as a WOKE.
Sadly, whatever I try to achieve as a reformer is declared by the Christian Right to be socialist. In their view, it is not possible to have a conscience and also remain a conservative. They declare me to be a ‘leftie’.
Fact is that I have never ever joined a political party and never will. I have been a swinging voter all my life and vote for candidates of quality, never a political party.
However, when I study the lives of people who claim to be WOKES, I do find that far too many are extremists who forget that a WOKE is someone who is thoughtful, but we can’t be this if we have closed minds that takes us out to the extremes. This is not at all smart.
I find that WOKES who move to extremes are actually addicts to the CANCEL CULTURE, people who are destroyers of any form of enlightened thought. They declare themselves themselves to be God and sit in judgement of the world when their own lives and deeds would not stand any genuine scrutiny.
They fill me with disgust when they want to take down statues of Captain Cook, an explorer of extraordinary achievement, who simply carried out the written orders from his King to claim the great south land as part of his empire.
I am even more disgusted when the CANCEL CULTURE guys want to rewrite all the children’s books I loved reading at school just because their closed minds declare them to to racist or sexist.
But let me calm down and move on as I declare myself to be a REFORMING CONSERVATIVE WOKE who is proud to be identified by this title forever.
If you have never met me and want to check me out so you can decide whether or not I am a nutter, please buy my book CATCHING THE LINVILLE TRAIN. It sets out my views on 30 significant historical events that I have experienced in my 90 years on our planet, plus 20 influential people I have worked with and 20 historic places I have visited that influenced my thinking. Also a chat about what I think have been the main achievements of my life. All of this began 85 years ago when I took my first journey away from my home village of Linville on the train going to Toogoolawah.
I think you will find that I qualify as a REFORMING CONSERVATIVE WOKE but, if you decide otherwise, then please tell me where I went wrong,
But, whatever you decide, please join me in giving the CANCEL CULTURE guys a solid kick in the butt.
A signed copy of CATCHING THE LINVILLE TRAIN will cost you 35 dollars. Just go to my website
click on books and follow the prompts, or just send me a message with details of your postal address and mobile phone and I will post it to you and send banking details.
Enjoy the read.
By the way, the photo below shows what a WOKE looks like. Stern, angry, fearsome, avoidable
I shed a tear this week when I learned of the death of Father Bob Maguire, then I revived my soul to give thanks for the inspiration he has given me.
Father Bob was a priest of the Roman Catholic Church who lived in Melbourne and believed that his prime task was, not to give priority to the conduct of Mass, but to have an unwavering commitment to feeding and housing the poor, hungry and homeless.
He did this so splendidly that he became a legend in his own lifetime and a role model for many people like me as we strive to care and share.
His passing has come at a crucial time in the history of Churches and religion. Never before in my lifetime have Churches been held in such poor esteem or been in such a state of decline. Their appalling tolerance of child abuse has been absolutely shameful and their stance against abortion reform, same sex marriage and voluntary assisted dying was lamentable.
However, Father Bob was not a Churchman. He was a Christian, a committed working partner of Jesus of Nazareth, a follower of Jesus the Man, who did his utmost to walk with him to create a world of compassion.
He believed that what you did in life was far more important than what you said. In this belief, he was spot on.
This put him at odds with the hierarchy of his Church who condemned him for ‘not effectively carrying out his spiritual responsibilities as a priest.’ They actually hounded him out of his South Melbourne Parish at age 77 despite him wanting to remain at his ministry until he died, just as Popes are allowed to do. This humiliation of him was grossly vindictive as 77 is nowhere near old age.
I am not old at 91 and I am still able to conduct Church Services and lead the community care activities of my local Church. I plan to do so for another ten years.
But, lets get back to Father Bob’s total commitment to humanity.
He had deep personal experience of poverty. His father was a drunk and a wife basher who often left his family without food for days. He became an orphan at fifteen with no home and rags for clothing. He understood poverty. He had lived it.
So, he spent his life, trying ceaselessly to ensure that he personally helped people out of the gutter and the depths of despair to get a fresh start. Most people in South Melbourne knew that, if you were in strife of any kind, you could go to Father Bob’s home in the depths of the night. He would answer, you would be welcome and he would do something practical to help, especially if you were unloved and unlovely.
Such was his commitment that, when his Church kicked him out, he set up the Father Bob Foundation so that he could could continue his work in the community for another eleven years. Love was in his blood and, even though he was a powerful communicator who terrorised governments to do better, his actions far exceeded his words. Always.
Like all of us, he had his faults, but the good exceeded the bad by a huge margin.
As we say goodbye to him, the best way to give thanks is for you and I to decide to become the Father Bob of our street and create a caring society that is powered by compassion and justice.
VALE FATHER BOB.
Travel safely.
Everald
PS. My book, A BEAUTIFUL SUNSET, is about a guy who has a terminal illness, has only three months to live and tries to spend them helping people around him who are in trouble, making his last days the most meaningful of his life. Father Bob was still doing this in his final days of grave illness.
