Theological Degree as a Layperson

[tafan2]

It is a fact of life that people in foreign countries have views and opinions about one’s domestic issues. Yes, they are often somewhat misinformed, but that doesn’t imply a person is wrong to have such views.
I happen to have a great deal of respect for Thatcher. In the late 70s and early 80s, she was one of three (and only three) world leaders who did not accept communism in Russia and central/eastern Europe as a fact of life that we had to live with indefinitely. And while I realize the results of her domestic policies are mixed, I suspect that overall her policies of privatization was a good thing. The idea that much of the major industrial production should not have been owned by the state was correct.

As to Brexit, while I tend to agree with you, the EU has only itself to blame as it has largely rejected subsidiarity and has consistently moved to centralize power. Reaction against this centralization was bound to be extreme. The EU, as a zone of free trade and free movement of labor, was a very good thing. But it certainly has moved beyond that.

Yes his views are likely misinformed, yes perhaps somewhat immature. It happens, give him a break.

 

[Londoner]

Yes, I am actually one of the relatively rare species of British people who takes a more nuanced view of Mrs Thatcher’s premiership. Yes, she is rightly credited with an important role in liberating central and eastern Europe from communism and the Soviet sphere of influence. She was also absolutely right to defend the Falkland Islands from the Argentinian invasion. Her negotiations with Europe were highly successful, retaining all the benefits of membership while winning valuable concessions. Her policy in Northern Ireland, though not immediately successful, did make a valuable contribution to the peace process and anticipated the agreement later secured by Tony Blair’s government. Britain and the British people were richer at the end of her premiership than they were at the beginning, although levels of economic growth and employment did fluctuate throughout her time in office.

So, yes, I agree that Mrs Thatcher’s premiership deserves an even-handed appraisal. It certainly was not all bad. What I cautioned against wasn’t in fact admiring Mrs Thatcher, but presenting admiration of her as evidence of being English, a British patriot, and, most troubling of all, Catholic. Here in Britain, even Mrs Thatcher’s admirers recognise that she remains a controversial figure. They will also recognise that her opponents, such as the former prime minister and Second World War veteran Edward Heath, were not unpatriotic.

The reason I am bringing this up again is because the OP is now talking about possibly applying to read theology at Oxford. He should know, for example, that Mrs Thatcher was so unpopular at the university that she was denied the honorary doctorate that at the time was customarily awarded to any Oxford graduate who became prime minister. He should also know that the academic community in Britain, including Oxford, is overwhelmingly opposed to Brexit, not least because of its detrimental impact on British universities and researchers, because the UK receives a much larger share of funding for research than we contribute, and because our researchers are already being excluded from collaborative projects with European partners in anticipation of our exit from the EU.

What will irritate people in Britain is not so much that the OP has views and opinions about the UK’s domestic issues, but that he seems to have chosen his views and opinions as a means of indulging in a fantasy about a country about which he clearly knows very little at all. People who actually live here are worried about things like the lack of opportunities in former industrial towns in the northeast of England and the threat of a renewal of the Troubles in Northern Ireland, not the correct way to make a cup of tea.

 

[Londoner]

I agree that the Labour Party in its current form is awful. A large reason for the mess that we are currently in the fact that far-left entryism enabled the election of a Labour Party leader who has no broad appeal among the electorate, does not command the respect of his parliamentary party, and offers no kind of effective opposition to the government. The party also has a serious problem with antisemitism, which its leadership has done little to sort out. I am not even sure that Jeremy Corbyn is particularly liberal. His friends in the Middle East are certainly much less liberal than the State of Israel.

The danger when it comes to portraying the Labour Party as liberal and the Conservative Party as a conservative alternative is that the Conservative Party is really no less liberal than the Labour Party. It was the Conservative-led coalition which introduced same-sex marriage, for example. It was also a Conservative government which reduced the age of consent for homosexual sex from 21 to 18. The first openly gay “metro mayor” in the UK is the Conservative mayor of the West Midlands. The leader of the Scottish Conservative Party is a lesbian who has a child, conceived through IVF, with her female partner. Sir Alan Duncan, a senior member of the Conservative government, is an openly gay man who is in a civil partnership.

The Conservative Party makes no attempt to repeal the decriminalisation of abortion. The present Conservative government has given tentative hints that it may take the opportunity of the suspension of the Northern Ireland Assembly to force Northern Ireland to legalise abortion.

These are the realities of politics in contemporary Britain and, indeed, for the past 20 or nearly 30 years. Liberal values are now mainstream British values. Conservative values such as opposing abortion and LGBT rights are now restricted to rather extreme right-wing parties and a handful of oddballs such as Ann Widdecombe, who has undergone an interesting transition from ridiculous to downright unpleasant (although, come to think of it, having female prisoners chained to their hospital beds to give birth was already pretty unpleasant, as was her support for the death penalty).

 

[Nmc]

God already knows what he wants you to do. Just do your best and He will work all thing to your good. As for the previous response of
“The main thing you will need is a highly developed network of people already in the system who want to see you come on board, including influential theologians, professors and clergymen. In other words, you have to be a familiar and welcome face to the people who are making the hiring decisions. Good positions tend to go to people who are in the know and in the loop already, especially clergy. It’s really tough for “outsiders” to break in, with one possible exception. That exception is for people who have a proven track record for raising large amounts of cash, meaning fundraising or grant writing. A lot of a professor’s time is spent writing grants to fund their research and that of their students.”
I wouldn’t let that advice turn you away. It is true that is the way of the world no matter what you do. But while we are in the world we are not to be of the world. Go for it…God has work for your to do. Even if you ultimately end up doing something else God will put your gifts and talents to use. Walk through the door straight ahead and let the Lord worry about the doors further down the hall.

 

[Londoner]

I couldn’t find the video I was looking for, which uses Ann Widdecombe’s famous description of Michael Howard, “there’s something of the night about him”, but did stumble upon this classic in which she makes an appearance!