Stay in the conversation — even when we disagree

Peaceful communication does not mean agreeing on everything, and it does not mean keeping quiet to avoid an argument. It means listening before we answer, asking before we assume, and seeing the person in front of us rather than a label.

That is not easy at a time when so much public debate, online and offline, rewards the loudest voice and the quickest judgement. But words are never only words. They can open a door or close it. They decide whether a newcomer, a neighbour or a stranger feels welcome.

This is the kind of conversation we practise in our own work — around a shared table, in a language class, at a workshop, in a radio studio. Again and again we see the same thing: when people of different faiths, cultures and backgrounds really talk to each other, prejudice has less and less room.

Later this month we continue the conversation with the first of our Dialogue Talks, a series of international panel discussions on intercultural dialogue and resilience against extremism, on 23 October — because extremism grows where people stop meeting.