CONVERSATIONS

These are dialogue sessions between one or more speakers, usually lasting between one and two hours. Most events are at St John's but a number of events are at other venues across the city.

We have a tremendous line-up this year featuring Arun Gandhi, Mairead Maguire, Bishop Gene Robinson, Rabbi Lionel Blue, Ziauddin Sardar, Lord McCluskey, Fr. Gerry Hughes SJ, Tina Beattie, Carter Phipps, Charles Handy, Martin Bell, Oliver James and many more.

Our partnership group have hosted many distinguished speakers over recent years including His Holiness The 14th Dalai Lama, Archbishop Elias Chacour, The Venerable Thich Nhat Hanh, Bhai Sahib Mohinder Singh Ji, Dadi Janki BK, Karen Armstrong, Prof Tariq Ramadan, Prof Rajmohan Gandhi, Sri Sri His Holiness Ravi Shankar, Chief Rabbi David Rosen, Jean Vanier, Sr Joan Chittister, Rageh Omaar, Moazzam Begg and many others.

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TICKETS AVAILABLE NOW!

PHONE:       0131 473 2000
ON-LINE:     www.hubtickets.co.uk
IN PERSON: The Hub Box Office, Lawnmarket 

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KEYNOTE:
IN THE EYE OF THE STORM - £7 (£5) Monday 4 August, 5.45pm – 7pm at St John’s
Bishop Gene Robinson is the most controversial Christian in the world, currently at the centre of the storm blowing through the word wide Anglican church. Yet if you did not know one thing about him – his sexuality – you would think him no different from thousands of other ministers or priests .. or indeed bishops and archbishops. And he’s not – merely more open and candid than they dare to be. Whatever your point of view – and whether he likes it or not - he represents change. In conversation with Revd Dr John Armes.

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PIONEERING GREEN BUSINESS - FREE
Tuesday 5 August, 12.30pm – 1.30pm at St Cuthbert’s (venue 122) Are the entrepreneurial skills of business the same skills we need to address the challenge of climate change? What can business do, in practice, to remain competitive but also be part of the solution rather than part of the problem. Glen Bennett, Managing Director of EAE distribution and Brendan Dick, Director of BT Scotland, in conversation with Duncan McLaren Director of Friends of the Earth Scotland. Arranged in collaboration with OASIS. Sponsored by BT Scotland

KEYNOTE:
HOW TO CHANGE THE WORLD £7 (£5)
Tuesday 5 August, 5.45pm – 7.00pm at St John’s (venue 127)
From gradualists to militant activists, every generation throws up advocates for change who may agree on the goals but not the means. When the status quo is challenged by those with a passion for change, what forces are at work and how is change best achieved? Fr Gerard Hughes, bestselling spiritual writer and guide with a lifelong passion for personal and social transformation in conversation with Peter Tatchell, militant activist, dedicated human rights campaigner and sometime bogey man of the press.                                                                                             BOOK TICKETS

 

IF YOU CAN KEEP YOUR HEAD… £5 (£3.50)
Wednesday 6 August, 12.30pm – 1.30pm at St John’s (venue 127)
How do religious traditions embrace change without undermining the fundamental tenets of faith? Great controversies have rocked the Christian church from its earliest days – over circumcision, science, democracy, the role of women and now gay people - producing outcomes we now take for granted. What are the dynamics of change and how do we distinguish those which are for the good? Bishop Gene Robinson in conversation with Peter Tatchell and contribution from Dr Christian Lange, lecturer in Divinity Studies.                                                                               BOOK TICKETS

KEEPING BODY AND SOUL TOGETHER - £5 (£3.50)
Wednesday 6 August, 2.15pm – 3.15pm at St John’s (venue 127)
CANCELLED

LAND AND FREEDOM - £5 (£3.50)
Saturday 9 August, 10.45am – 11.45am at St John’s (venue 127)
Since 1978 when their legal rights were restored Kevin Locke, a Native American from the Lakota nations (and a committed member of the Baha’i faith) has travelled the world as a traditional storyteller, cultural ambassador, recording artist and educator, to keep alive the culture and spirituality of Native Americans. Here he, and others in his ensemble, speak about the wisdom of native traditions in their approach to the land and those who live on it, in conversation with our own land campaigner and spiritual thinker, Alastair McIntosh, author of Soil and Soul. See performance by the Kevin Locke tonight.                                                                                           BOOK TICKETS


HELL AND HIGH WATER - £5 (£3.50)
Saturday 9 August, 12.30pm – 1.30pm at St John’s (venue 127) 
Climate change is the greatest challenge that the world has ever faced. In this groundbreaking new book exploring human myths, Alastair McIntosh summarises the science and meaning of what is happening to the planet – both globally and using Scotland as a local case study. He suggests that politics alone is not enough to tackle the scale and depth of the problem and he outlines the depth of the challenge– and the choice between hope and despair - which faces us. In conversation with Duncan McLaren, Director of Friends of the Earth Scotland. Comedian Abie Philbin Bowman (Eco-Friendly Jihad) will perform a short sketch on the impending reality of climate change.                                                                                         BOOK TICKETS

KEYNOTE
WALKING TO JERUSALEM - £7 (£5)
Monday 11 August, 5.45pm – 7pm at St John’s (venue 127)
In 1987, Fr Gerard Hughes walked most of the way from Ayrshire to Jerusalem. His book, Walk to Jerusalem contains reflections on the nature of peace which came to him as he journeyed. Here he discusses with people willing to ‘walk the walk’ for peace the vexed question of how to establish peace in present day Jerusalem with Rabbi David Rose and others.                                                                                          BOOK TICKETS


OFFENDERS ARE YOUR BUSINESS! - FREE
Tuesday 12 August, 12.30pm – 1.30pm at St Cuthbert’s (venue 122)
A great deal is being done to improve the employability of offenders by developing their skills, addressing their offending behaviour and maintaining links with their families. But there is a need to build on this by establishing direct links with employers aimed at increasing the numbers of offenders going into employment. There is substantial evidence to show that if an offender can gain sustainable, meaningful employment on release, they are much more likely to stop re-offending. In this seminar, Andy Pope, National Business Crime Partnership Manager for the Co-op will talk about some of the work his company is engaged in to help offenders back into employment. Arranged in collaboration with OASIS. Sponsored by The Co-operative

KEYNOTE:
THE SHARIA SCARE - £7 (£5)
Tuesday 12 August, 5.45pm – 7pm at St John’s
A furore broke when the Archbishop of Canterbury suggested that some aspects of sharia law should be incorporated into our legal system. Are fears about sharia law justified? Is it consonant with ‘western’ values? Can it promote personal and social wellbeing? Ziauddin Sardar, prominent Muslim intellectual and columnist in the New Statesman, discusses with Lord McCluskey, former Solicitor-General for Scotland and senior judge.

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FOR ONE DAY ONLY…  - £5 (£3.50)
Wednesday 13 August, 12.30pm – 1.30pm at St John’s (venue 127)
To discover what life was like for his Imam friend Sajjad, Peter Clark, a Methodist minister, dressed as Muslim and walked the streets of Edinburgh for a day. Here, with Ziauddin Sardar (author of the phenomenally successful blogging the qur’an in The Guardian) and Osama Saeed of the Scottish-Islamic Foundation, he draws out the day-to-day ‘on-street’ and ‘on-line’ experience of Muslims in Britain today.        BOOK TICKETS


CAN WE MAKE POVERTY HISTORY? - £5 (£3.50)
Wednesday 13 August, 2.15pm – 3.15pm at St John’s (venue 127)
It’s just over halfway to the 2015 target to halve world poverty – and they can be achieved, but only if citizens are engaged. Debt cancellation and increased aid, which have happened through popular movements, offer a real hope. And the time to hold leaders accountable is now. Are the faith communities fully engaged in speaking up for the poor? With Salil Shetty Director of the UN Millennium Campaign and Judith Robertson, Head of Oxfam Scotland                                                     BOOK TICKETS


THE DEBATE ABOUT GOD - £5 (£3.50)
Saturday 16 August, 10.45am – 11.45am at St John’s (venue 127)
Is Dawkin’s ‘God Delusion’ outselling The Bible? Tina Beattie, a leading British feminist theologian and broadcaster and author of ‘The New Atheists’ argues that the strident arguments by fanatics on both sides neglect wider questions about faith, science, power and justice in our world. She argues for a change in the terms of the debate with Iain McWhirter.                                                                                       BOOK TICKETS

THE FUTURE OF SPIRITUALITY AND RELIGION - £5 (£3.50)
Saturday 16 August, 12.30pm – 1.30pm at St John’s (venue 127) 
David Lorimer and Carter Phipps, two leading thinkers and writers on spirituality, philosophy and religion will engage in a potentially highly thought provoking conversation on the future of spirituality and religion. David Lorimer is Programme Director of the Scientific and Medical Network, author and editor of a dozen books and Project Director of the Learning for Life Values Poster Award. Carter Phipps is executive editor of What Is Enlightenment? magazine www.wie.org and joins us from Massachusetts, USA. He is a speaker and educator and is active among the small but growing group of scholars and thinkers who are defining the new fields of collective intelligence, evolutionary spirituality and integral philosophy.                                                                                       BOOK TICKETS


DOES FAIR TRADE COST THE EARTH? - FREE
Sunday 17 August, 1pm, St John's Church (venue 127)
Just as Fair Trade produce has become mainstream does it conflict with environmental pressures to ‘buy local’? Can fair trade principles influence global trade rules? Join Harriet Lamb, Executive Director of the Fairtrade Foundation, and author of Fighting the Banana Wars and Other Fairtrade Battles. Followed by sampling of fair trade products and the chance to buy accessories and jewellery – suitable for all ages. In association with The One World Shop at St John’s www.oneworldshop.co.uk  See also the Fair Trade Fashion show event. 


MAKING MUSIC IN A WAR ZONE - £8 (£6)
Sunday 17 August, 7.30pm – 9.15pm at St John’s (venue 127)
International violinist Ruth Waterman performs (with Benjamin Frith, piano) and speaks of her experience as guest conductor to the multi-ethnic Mostar Sinfonietta in Mostar, Bosnia. She recounts what it is like to journey into the strange peace that follows a war, and how making music can connect us to our essential humanity and to each other. With Richard Holloway, chair of the Joint Board of the Scottish Arts Council and Scottish Screen, as well as of Sistema Scotland, the new agency that transforms the lives of deprived children through music, based on the famous Venezuelan El Sistema and which opened in Raploch, Stirling, in June.                                                   BOOK TICKETS

KEYNOTE: IS GOD A PACIFIST? £7 (£5) 
Monday 18 August, 5.45pm – 7pm – Nicholson Square Methodist Church (Venue 6)
Is humankind becoming more peace-aware, more ‘evolved’ in its experience and practice of peace, as the Dalai Lama has suggested? What wisdom are we learning? Is this a political question or a spiritual one? How does it relate to our view of ‘God’? And what is the context which we face now and in the future? What is ‘being revealed’ to us in human history? Here, Carter Phipps, executive editor of What Is Enlightenment? magazine discusses the potential for spiritual awakening. Phipps is active among the small but growing group of scholars and thinkers who are defining the new fields of collective intelligence, evolutionary spirituality and integral philosophy. See related article by Carter Phipps www.wie.org/j26/pacifist.asp . With a response to the talk by Carter Phipps by Bishop Brian Smith, Bishop of Edinburgh and chaired by Rev Prof Frank Whaling, President of Edinburgh Interfaith Association and Emeritus Professor of the Study of Religion.
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LAND ART FOR THE 21STCENTURY - FREE
Tuesday 19 August, 12.30pm – 1.30pm at St Cuthbert’s (venue 122) 
Angus Farquhar of NVA sees things as few other do. From disused post-industrial sites and hidden corners of cities to the grandeur of the Old Man of Storr on Skye he has turned landscape and cityscape into monumental art. Underpinning the work is a strong spiritual perspective. David Arnold, a director of Scottish Power and NVA chairman has seen the company grow over the last few years and together they reflect on the organisation's ground breaking publicly engaged practice. Arranged in collaboration with OASIS. 

WHO MIGHT YOU BE? -  £7 (£5)
A conversation with Charles Handy
Tuesday 19 August, 4pm – 5pm at National Library of Scotland (venue 147)
‘When you die and get to heaven,’ said the father to the son, ‘you will meet the man you might have been.’ We cannot wait that long if we, and the world, are to change. How to find your hidden self will be the theme of this conversation led by Charles Handy. Norman Drummond will both introduce and respond to Charles Handy.

Charles Handy is a writer and broadcaster, known to many for his Thought for the Day and his books on work and organizations. His latest book is his autobiography ‘Myself and Other More Important Matters’ and is now available in paperback.          BOOK TICKETS

KEYNOTE:
HOW UNIVERSAL ARE HUMAN RIGHTS? - £7 (£5)
Tuesday 19 August, 5.45pm – 7pm at St John’s
In 1948 the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was inspired by the aspiration that every human should be treated with dignity. 60 years on, what impact has this hopeful vision achieved? What challenges stand in the way of fully achieving this goal? And how universal is the vision? Kate Allen, Director of Amnesty International in conversation with David Pratt, Foreign Editor of the Sunday Herald and Osama Saeed of the Scottish-Islamic Foundation.                       BOOK TICKETS

CHANGE YOU CAN BELIEVE IN? - £5 (£3.50)
Wednesday 20 August, 12.30pm – 1.30pm - St John’s (venue 127)
In the USA we see the extraordinary ‘Obama factor’ sweeping through the political landscape, with effects felt in Europe and the wider world. Is a new way in politics possible or are politicians ‘all the same’ in the end - and our cynicism justified? With Valerie Hemingway (Ernest Hemingway’s daughter-in-law), who has been deeply involved in the Barack Obama campaign and Idris Tawfiq commenting on the word-on-the-street in the Arab world. Fascinatingly facilitated by Iain McWhirter, the foremost political commentator in Scotland.                                                     BOOK TICKETS

THE POLITICIANS WE DESERVE? - £5 (£3.50) 
Wednesday 20 August, 2.15pm – 3.15pm at St John’s (venue 127)
Martin Bell, the former BBC correspondent and the “accidental MP” who was elected as an independent MP - standing against sleaze in British politics - comments on the state of politics and journalism in Britain today. Do our leaders and the press serve us well? Or is our political discourse dysfunctional? What are the factors which make for a healthy body politic? Chaired by Iain McWhirter, the foremost political commentator in Scotland.                                                                                          BOOK TICKETS 

PATHWAYS TO PEACE - £6 (£3.50)
Wednesday 20 August, 3pm – 4pm - Scottish Parliament Debating Chamber
The history of the twentieth century appears dominated by conflict and violence – not only world wars but confrontation resulting from ethnic and religious difference. Yet even when such conflicts appear so deep rooted as to be irreconcilable, pathways to peace can be found - as has been seen in South Africa and Ireland. Peace campaigners Arun Gandhi, grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, and Nobel Peace Prize winner Máiread Corrigan Maguire, share their experiences of how conflict can be transformed into peace, and how we might work to end violence in the new millennium.
In association with the Festival of Politics at the Scottish Parliament. Please book through www.festivalofpolitics.org.uk or at www.hubtickets.co.uk

SUCCESS AND ITS FAILURES - £5 (£3.50)
Saturday 23 August, 10.45am – 11.45am at St John’s (venue 127)
In the bestselling Affluenza and the follow-up, The Selfish Capitalist, world-renowned psychologist Oliver James introduced us to a modern-day virus sweeping through the English-speaking world – that despite rising material wealth, we are twice as prone to depression, anxiety and addictions than people in other developed nations. Here, in conversation with Idris Tawfiq, he argues that our personal well-being must take precedence over the wealth of a tiny minority if we are to cure ourselves of this disease.                                                                                            BOOK TICKETS

CLOSING KEYNOTE 
NON-VIOLENCE FOR A CHANGE - £7 (£5)
Saturday 23 August, 12.30pm – 1.45pm at St John’s (venue 127)
In India, Burma and Tibet and in eastern Europe we have seen the varied success of non-violent movements for change. Whether it’s at Faslane or in Tiananmen Square, what inner resources does it take to confront the powerful and what possibility is there of winning ? With Arun Gandhi, grandson of Mahatma Gandhi and Trevor Royle, historian of war and Empire (and author of The Last Days of the Raj) and diplomatic correspondent of the Sunday Herald. Comedian Abie Philbin Bowman of Eco-Friendly Jihad will also perform a sketch and join the discussion.                                             BOOK TICKETS