When I discarded religion, the relief I felt was tremendous. It had become like a heavy irksome package strapped to my back. Suddenly I was free to be myself with only my own sense of right and wrong to guide me. I started an adventure of self realisation and personal growth that has continued to this day. I discovered that I did not need 'God's Laws' to guide my life or the rewards or punishments they threatened. Life itself demonstrated the difference between the good way and the not so good way of behaviour,

As a social animal, I could easily appreciate the virtues of truth, honesty, trust, tolerance, compassion, love and all the other human virtues, and I wanted all of them in good measure. I reasoned that a good person is one who has the emotional and intellectual parts of life in proper relationship. I agree with David Hume, the respected eighteenth century philosopher, who held that every reason for doing anything has to connect with some desire or emotions we have, if it is to have any effect on our behaviour. None of us does anything for nothing. That is why most mature people want to do what is socially acceptable. The reason is that we benefit ourselves by those social actions. Among my greatest achievements was the accepting of responsibility for my own life and the realisation of the importance of self esteem. I could then accept my fellow human beings as equal persons of worth. Perhaps I was fortunate to have been bom with a somewhat passionate nature and a healthy body which gave a drive to my activities and ambitions- Of course there have been times of anxiety and stress but the virtues of harmony, peace and enjoyment have far outweighed the difficulties. Life for me has been a continuous exciting adventure and still is.

Sometimes people ask "What is the grand purpose of this life?" Biology would say that it is to reproduce our kind so the species can survive. Sociology would indicate that the purpose is to use our natural social virtues as tools to enable us to live together in harmony and enjoyment with our own species. Why else would evolution have given us these wonderful social qualities? The fact is that all these social virtues contribute to the emotional needs and pleasures of humankind in proportion to the extent we use them. So I became free to give my own meaning to my own life.

My philosophy is very simple. I believe we are all innately social creatures equipped with the most perfect tools to maintain that social structure. They are the very same tools we enjoy others using on us. We know about these virtues instinctively. They began at birth with parents' love and grew into compassion, tolerance, the ability to love our kind and all the other virtues.

There is a negative side in all of us. Antisocial sickness arises when we disregard the social side of our nature- At worst, it can develop into blatant greed; grinding selfishness; desire for revenge; even hatred; fears of loss; anger; other fears of all kinds which can upset our good intentions. It is all a matter of degree. By maintaining goodwill and by keeping short accounts we can avoid most of these pitfalls.

There have been many dramatic and fundamental changes in the perceptions, attitudes and lifestyle of the people during the last forty or fifty years. Technology too, has changed far beyond our expectations of forty years ago It is a different world and is still rapidly changing. In some ways it is a better world and in other ways a world with greater problems. I hope I am not mistaken that there is perhaps a new Reformation taking place right now. This time it is a Social Reformation, not a religious one.

When I was a lad at school, almost every day some boy or boys would get the strap. I did so myself on many occasions. Social enlightenment has now outlawed corporal punishment as most unhelpful. When my wife and 1 first started leasing housing units thirty years ago, about ninety percent of applicants claimed to be married couples. Today, over eighty percent of applicants are unmarried couples who are not embarrassed to state the fact. Only forty years ago a woman was not considered, by our law, to be responsible for herself. When we were selling typewriters to women on time payment, we had to gel the husband's or father's signature to make the contract legally binding. About thirty years ago, my wife Elaine, applied to the State Advances for a loan to build her home units. She was refused because at that time, she was an unmarried woman' About the same time, union wages for a woman working alongside a man were considerably lower.

These are only small personal incidents which occurred less than half a lifetime ago. They are important because they indicated public ideas about punishment and offensive attitudes toward women. Attitudes are still changing. The feminism of the 1960s ushered in a new Social Reformation. Helped by the pill, women gained new freedoms over their own lives and the world benefited- Many men also need freedom from outdated ideas and traditions. Society seems to be moving towards changes of attitudes. Instead of other kinds of punishments, we will increasingly see dysfunctional people attending clinics for anger management; paedophilic offenders sent for special counseling, marriage guidance, counseling for victim support and other kinds of remedies for problem people.

We are on the way to considering and treating crime as a social illness. We can, at least on some occasions, change the perceptions of the maladjusted, It will not happen suddenly. The process may take decades but a start has already been made. There will always be some who need to be removed from society to protect the rest of the people. The Utilitarian philosopher Jeremey Bentham stated "all punishment in itself is evil." James Rachels, 1993, another respected philosopher said, "Criminals are often people with emotional problems who find it difficult to function well in society. They are often ill educated and lack marketable skills. Considering this, why should we not respond to crime by attacking the problems that give rise to it?....... But while he is in there (prison) his problem

should be addressed with psychological therapy, educational opportunities or job training as appropriate. If he can be returned to society as a productive citizen, rather than a criminal, both he and society benefit."

The fact is that prisons are inhuman establishments and very seldom reform the criminal. Often they become schools for crime, passing criminal information and hardening the new criminal in more cunning ways. People believe in force because its use gets immediate results. Force will gain submission while it is being applied but it does not change the heart or mind of anyone. Instead, it builds resentment and increases the resistance and determination of the offender. The offender himself often feels offended against.

Edward De Bono in "I am Right, You are Wrong" tells us, "In our legal system we make a sharp distinction between 'guilty' and 'innocent'. If guilty, there is punishment to follow. In Japan, half the arrested offenders are released by the prosecutor, who has the power to let them go if they apologise and seem intent on behaving better in the future. The emphasis in the Japanese system is not on a judgement category but on what comes next. The crime rate in Japan is very low. There is one lawyer for 9,000 people compared to one lawyer for 400 in the U.S.A."