Want to solve the world’s problems? Go once a year to Ytre Ulvøya
20 May, 2019 // in The Coffeehouse Cleric // by Alex Rowe
Want to solve the world’s problems? Go once a year to Ytre Ulvøya, a small island off the southern coast of Norway. Here, a group of Christians gather together to discuss some of life’s biggest questions; and here, is where I found myself last week. Filosofiuka (“philosophy week”) is the brainchild of Daniel Joachim Kleiven, a marketing whizz and amateur ethicist on the side, who, four years ago, founded an annual week-long retreat for him and his fellow thinking friends in response to their frustration at the surface-level, sound-bite nature of much public debate.
Each year, they choose one theme. This year’s theme was sexuality and the body — these people don’t shy away from controversy — and I had the pleasure of attending with my friend David, who was one of the main speakers. He was invited to talk about his life as a gay celibate Christian and about the book he published last year. The other main speaker was Erik Andvik, a catholic American-Norwegian professor of linguistics, who spoke about the theology of the body, but others also gave presentations, with topics ranging from the use of technology and its bearing on anthropology, arguments for and against euthanasia, and discussions about the spiritual practice of celibacy. Needless to say, the week was brilliant.
I came back from Filosofiuka with a renewed assurance that Christianity can contribute meaningfully to ongoing and contemporary discussions about the biggest questions of life and death. It sounds like an odd thing to say — isn’t Christianity all about life and death? — but in our secular, post-Christian culture, the Christian voice is increasingly marginalised. One thing that appeals to me about my faith is the rich intellectual tradition which I inherit and can draw upon for thinking deeply about some of life’s most existential questions.
I was also inspired to organise a similar event in England; a week away, for friends and their friends who dare to be courageous enough to stare in the face hard questions that elude easy answers, plenty of time and space to think, to listen to each other and to discuss, all the while fuelled by coffee and tea and feasting every time we eat. I worry that the daily lives of many are not conducive to deep thinking. But this thinking is what makes us human. It is existentially satisfying, and is vital for the flourishing of pluralistic societies like our own.
We must encourage each other to care. We must provoke one another to examine. We must be brave enough to think.
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