This ironically titled novel depicts the ambiguity and ambivalence of making and receiving gifts. One of the main characters is a transplant psychiatrist who assesses potential living kidney donors. He struggles to understand his apparently altruistic patient and acts out this struggle in boundary violations. His wife, a psychologist, faces similar difficulties with a phobic, traumatised client and also acts out. This closely observed novel provides a valuable insight into the thoughts and feelings that therapists can have whilst with their (...) patients/clients and of the consequences of not reflecting on them in supervision. It also raises to consciousness the many ethical issues of altruistic organ donation. (shrink)

Between 1993 and 1998 I served as magazine editor and then publications officer for the Christian Socialist Movement. The article reflects on this experience and in particular the attempt to relate theological ideas to political activity. It is argued that theological ideas were less important than political allegiances. This said, theological ideas did help motivate people to become involved in politics and offer general ideological direction especially through the notion of an eschatological vision. This type of theological reflection tended to (...) support those who were critical of the New Labour project. What seemed to be lacking was a theology of governance and so in the final section some consideration is given to the issues for this type of theology. (shrink)

Throughout the 1980s Margaret Thatcher dominated British and global politics. At the same time she maintained an active Christian faith, which she understood as shaping and informing her political choices and policies. In this article I argue that we can construct from Thatcher's key speeches, her memoirs, and her book on public policy a cultural "theo-political" identity which guided her political decisions. Thatcher's identity was as an Anglo-Saxon Nonconformist. This consisted of her belief in values such as thrift and hard (...) work, care for the family and local neighbor, and charitable generosity; her belief in the renewal of the national British Christian spirit; and her notion of morality as the opportunity for free choice. Without a recognition of the centrality of her theo-political identity, it is difficult to understand the values and beliefs which were central to her political life. The methodological issues raised by the construction of this theo-political identity are examined in this article. The aim of the proposed methodology is to develop theological insights into a political phenomenon like Thatcher rather than make policy judgments or recommendations. (shrink)