James K. Baxter was a non-conformist and through his poetry is a societal commentator. He wrote about issues that plagues New Zealand society and the hypocrisy of this society. “Complacency” is a feeling of quiet pleasure or security, often while unaware of some potential danger, defect, or the like; self-satisfaction or smug satisfaction with an existing situation. By looking at the things that have become a problem in society, he tries to reach out to audience in order for them to understand the problems better and to “shake them out of their complacency.” The Maori Jesus concentrates on the treatment of outsiders and how society manages to control each and every one of us. The Maori Jesus is a man that “wore blue dungarees” and “did no miracles.” This is symbolic of a working man and someone who is comparable to many New Zealanders. This is also a religious allusion to the ‘real’ Jesus, who, just like the Maori Jesus, was a worker, and someone that was automatically judged because of his religion. Both of these are significant as it illustrates to me that the Maori Jesus was a man of no class or status, but a man who believed but who was persecuted because of his race. Because he did no miracles, society judged him. Not only because he had “no lawful means to support himself” but because he was a Maori. The treatment of the Maori Jesus was significant because even though we are meant to be an equal society, there are many inequalities between Maori and Pakeha. No matter how far society has come and developed, we will always wee people differently because they are different to ourselves. The other ‘outsiders’ in The Maori Jesus were, in a bid to continue the religious allusion, his ‘disciples.’ They, like the Maori Jesus were people that were not accepted in society. They differ from “an old, sad queen”, “a call girl, who turned it up for nothing” “an alcoholic priest, going slowly mad in a respectable parish.” Each of these people would have been seen as people with problems, problems that separated them from the ‘respectable’ part of society. It makes the audience question why, of all the people in society, these were the ones who were being judged, as they showed qualities such as generosity. The priest, for example, is someone that is always there for his congregation, and their problems, but when he needs this help reciprocated, who is there for him? It makes the audience question the society, as the goodness of these people is under minded by things that society chooses to discredit them for. The non-belief in the Maori Jesus is significant because “on th