> She has been chosen and elevated precisely because she is impossible to oppose. When Al Gore was chosen, he turned out too easy to oppose. Now we need somet

> She has been chosen and elevated precisely because she is impossible to oppose. When Al Gore was chosen, he turned out too easy to oppose. Now we need something better - and fortunately Greta makes herself heard. I understand "chosen" here as "heard and understood to have valuable ideas by a critical mass of people". > I have often wondered about putting out an advert for a disabled Danish 14-year-old who loves fossil fuels. In a Scandi child-off with Greta would such a candidate win? I suspect not, though it remains unclear what the rules are. Danish - or rather his ideas - would lose, and the rules are simple: respect facts and logic. > Last week the bishops of the Church of England called for calm and respectful language from parliamentarians in the Brexit debate. An appeal that would carry more weight if the Bishop of Leeds — to pick one example — had not in January used his pulpit to call Boris Johnson an ‘amoral liar’. Isn't it a rather old invention - would similar behavior 150 years ago cause similar response? > There are ways through. They include us trying to interpret the words of our opponents, and not only our allies, in a spirit of generosity. To realise that ideas are difficult and that mistakes are a votive offering demanded by answers. To treat the past as well as the present in a spirit of toleration and understanding. But most of all we must once again permit ourselves the messy luxury of heresy, including heretical thinking. I think it's a good approach.