“The best thing you can do is step aside and let others get on with it. . . .” This remark by a member of the audience took me rather by surprise. It came at the end of our third, and final, event at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in August, each entitled “Why Didn’t We Have This Conversation a Year Ago?” Over 200 people had crossed the threshold for our events, sub-titled “Mediating Conversations about Difficult Issues.”
We had covered Theology Today with the title: “Can we take the Bible both literally and seriously?” Then the UK Constitution with the topic: “England and Scotland: Can we live interdependently whatever happens?” And finally, Climate Change with: “Carbon Dependence: Can we wean ourselves off fossil fuels quickly enough to survive?”
The events went really well. We had a live band, lovely food and much discussion about the nature of conflict at the beautifully laid-out tables of six. I sought to introduce ideas about why we find it difficult to have those conversations that we need to have. We had questions and examples from the floor.
