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Since 2017, I have been on a journey of having to defend my communications on social media after a gay activist reported me to my medical board. The board investigated the complaint and placed 24 conditions on my registration. I challenged these conditions through my defence union and the conditions were reduced to 5. I was not satisfied with the reduced conditions as there was no evidence that my views expressed on social media were implemented in my practice in psychiatry. I appealed the conditions, and a hearing date was set before a tribunal. Meanwhile, all the conditions were stopped, and therefore I could continue to practice freely.I decided to retire from practice 6 months later, but wanted to continue with the appeal to support freedom of speech. My defense union withdrew its support as they felt they had done as much as they could to achieve a good outcome. I decided to represent myself at the tribunal. The Australian Christian Lobby was prepared to support me, but could not afford to pay for a barrister, and I was not willing to bear the cost either. During this period, many from the medical and justice systems who would have never read my blogs were forced to read them. I was prepared to be thrown into the lion’s den, confident that their mouths would be shut and the courtroom would be filled with His presence. This never eventuated as I cancelled the proceedings after I was told that I had to pay a hefty fee before the hearing. This did not matter now since I had already retired from practice 6 months ago. Through this journey, I have learned that God has used my voice to influence many who would never have read my blogs, which are mainly a reflection of my daily thoughts on my spiritual journey. The whole experience has challenged me to “walk on water” and see God come through on each step of my journey

John Mathai

I was a Consultant Psychiatrist with over 40 years of practice. I have tried to integrate my learnings in Psychiatry with Spirituality. I have a Doctorate in Bible and Theology.

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