The Blues and the Reds

Dropped by a wee gathering tonight at The Tun, the first throw in an fresh attempt to establish a self-sustaining network of Christians in the arts, media, entertainment and new media in Edinburgh. My friends Paul Thomson and the painter David Martin are behind this endeavour, a network that aims to encompass the blues and the reds*, as Paul puts it, whereas previous attempts have focused very much on the blue end. No Dave tonight (huvnae seen ye for ages, mate), but Steve Cole of Artisan Initiatives was there. I came away hugely encouraged, feeling like many of the splits that characterise my life at the moment were at least momentarily fused into a unity.

*The theologically conservative and the theologically radical, for want of more precise terms.

Amy Jo Philip

4 responses to “The Blues and the Reds”

  1. Adam A Avatar
    Adam A

    Hey Andy,

    Huvnae seen you (and Jude and Eilish) for ages either. Unfortunately the closest I’ve been to Linlithgow is St John’s Hospital. We must remedy this soon! It would be great if you fancied coming over here for lunch/dinner, or maybe Linlithgow would be easier for you? Do email me.

    Bringing the blues and the reds together – fantastic aspiration, good on ya. There is a real need for more detente here – expressing communally what many of us are experiencing individually, never mind it always being a good thing full stop.

    Reply
  2. Andrew Philip Avatar
    Andrew Philip

    We must, yes! Will drop you an e-mail.

    I suspect there’s more scope for blue-red detente in the arts than in the wider church sphere, ’cause the arty blues have probably more imagination and therefore tolerance than others of their theological persuation.

    Reply
  3. Adam A Avatar
    Adam A

    I think you may be on to something there: imagination does often go along with tolerance on the blue side of the “fence” (where red-tolerance is often sadly lacking). Can’t say I’ve ever noticed a correlation between imagination and blue-tolerance on the part of people of other persuasions though. Perhaps, on the contrary, there is often a belief that blueness stifles imagination and opposes tolerance. Of course, there is sometimes truth to this. Unfortunately though, an intolerant attitude often arises whereby all blues are tarred with the same brush. Where it occurs, that is, of course, just good old-fashioned bigotry.

    From the red point of view, perhaps there’s more of a possibility of red-blue detente amongst arty individuals because of a shared appreciation of the value of the imagination, and the possibility of recognising the self in the other due to shared experience of beauty and the process of creation. What do you think?

    Reply
  4. Andrew Philip Avatar
    Andrew Philip

    I think you might well be right, Adam.

    Reply

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Amy Jo Philip

Amy Jo, a trans woman in a floral dress, standing a microphone with her arms wide and her hands spread.

Photo by Jules Lacave-Fontourcy