FROM FAITH TO FAITHLESS: WHY FREE SPEECH IS ESSENTIAL FOR APOSTATES
Wednesday 19th March, 7.30pm until 9pm, followed by a drinks reception
Free Speech Union in partnership with Faith to Faithless
IN-PERSON: Central London location, W1. Precise details will be provided when ticket is purchased.
IN-PERSON TICKETS VIA EVENTBRITE
ONLINE: FSU Members and Faith to Faithless contacts can join free of charge using the link provided in via email.
Speakers
Terri O’Sullivan, Apostate Services Development Officer for Faith to Faithless, a service of Humanists UK which supports people who have left high-control religious groups
Khadija Khan is a journalist and broadcaster. She is an editor at Canadian Magazine A Further Inquiry and a co-host of A Further Inquiry podcast.
Dr Benjamin Jones is the Director of Case Management at the Free Speech Union and completed his PhD on the experiences of ex-Muslims in Britain.
This event focuses on the experiences of individuals who leave high-control religions or cults — whether they are ex-Muslims, ex-Jehovah’s Witnesses, ex-Evangelicals, ex-Mormons, ex-Scientologists, or have left an Ultra Orthodox Jewish sect. Leaving a religion can be a complicated, challenging and dangerous process. Apostates can be shunned and sometimes completely disowned from immediate family, relatives, and the community at large. The right to not believe is a fundamental human right and yet apostates can often experience real threats to their rights of freedom of speech, belief and association, and some will be subject to violence.
The protections needed by apostates are under threat in myriad ways: the proliferation of loosely drafted hate speech laws in western countries, calls to end online anonymity — a much-needed protection for apostates to communicate with others outside their community, and unthinking algorithmic censorship of social media platforms. The Free Speech Union is especially concerned by the most dangerous threat on the horizon for ex-Muslims (and many other people besides) in the definition of ‘Islamophobia’ being advanced by the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on British Muslims. This definition, among other things, brands as Islamophobic anyone who makes “mendacious, dehumanizing, demonizing, or stereotypical allegations about Muslims”. This could lead to apostates being even less free to tell their stories.
The Free Speech Union is hosting this event in partnership with Faith to Faithless, a groundbreaking support service run by Humanists UK that includes a helpline dedicated to supporting people who have left high-control religious groups. The helpline, operating three days a week and staffed by trained volunteers, offers bespoke assistance, resources, and empathetic support to a diverse group, including ex-Muslims, ex-Jehovah’s Witnesses, ex-evangelicals, and ex-Mormons. It aims to bridge the gap in understanding and support for apostates, providing a crucial lifeline for those navigating the complexities of leaving high-control religious environments.
Our speakers reflect a broad range of expertise and direct experience and there will be plenty of time for audience Q and A.
Join us on Wednesday 19th March for this important discussion. In-person tickets can be purchased via Eventbrite and include a drinks reception after the event.
Online attendance is offered free of charge to Free Speech Union members and to those engaged with Faith to Faithless (the link will be provided via emails from these organisations).
SPEAKERS
Terri O’Sullivan is the Apostate Services Development Officer for Faith to Faithless, a service of Humanists UK which supports people who have left high-control religious groups. She was raised as a Jehovah’s Witness which she left at the age of 21 resulting in her becoming homeless for a short while. Terri went on to set up a support group for former Jehovah’s Witnesses in 2007 called XJW Friends, and joined the leadership team of Faith to Faithless in 2015. She completed her degree in social psychology at the University of Kent and conducted research into the long-term effects of ostracism from a religious community. She continued this line of research at Tilburg University in the Netherlands in her master’s degree and studied the relationship between religious fundamentalism and ostracism.
Khadija Khan is a journalist and broadcaster. She is an editor at Canadian Magazine A Further Inquiry and a co-host of A Further Inquiry podcast. She advocates for women’s rights and denounces the idea of Islamic feminism. She is an ardent advocate for secularism, free speech, and universal human rights. She criticises the use of blasphemy laws as a tool to crack down on dissent and supports freedom of and from religion. She stresses the need for freedom of speech to counter extremist ideologies.
Dr Benjamin Jones is the Director of Case Management at the Free Speech Union. His day job is to stop FSU members from being cancelled. He appears regularly in the media commentating on free speech issues. He completed his PhD at the University of Warwick on the experiences of ex-Muslims in Britain. His research was part-funded by the National Secular Society.
In the chair will be Dr Jan Macvarish. Jan is Education and Events Director of the Free Speech Union. Before joining the staff of the FSU, she worked as an academic sociologist, studying parenting, family life, intimacy and reproductive health.
TICKETS: FSU Members £10 / Non-members £15 / Age 25s and under £12.
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