The 'Sin' of Certainty - what it means to leave faith; with Joy Cranham
Details
Have you thought about what it is like to have your life completely controlled by a set of rules and people (usually men) who set those rules? You cannot think for yourself and often cannot act for yourself. In Britain most people take for granted that we have freedom of thought and the ability to make decisions about how we run our lives. And yet, estimates suggest there are around 2000 ‘high control’ religious groups in the UK that deny these basic freedoms, impacting the lives of ‘000’s of people.
This event will explore how and why people leave ‘high control’ religions, through the experience of Joy Cranham. An ex-member of the Plymouth Exclusive Brethren, Joy will talk about life in the Brethren, her journey to leave and what that has meant for her life since. Joy will be ‘in conversation’ with Chrissie Hackett.
Joy Cranham
is a former Deputy Headteacher and is now a researcher at the University of Bath looking at safeguarding in education. She is also a volunteer with Faith to Faithless, the Humanists UK service, led by apostates themselves, helping people who face serious and systemic issues, and which helped Joy to leave the Brethren.
Chrissie Hackett is chair of Bristol Humanists, herself a former teacher. She is a humanist funeral celebrant and trained humanist pastoral carer.
Faith to Faithless
is a service led by people with lived experience, who have knowledge and experiences of apostate communities facing significant personal issues. These range from emotional and physical abuse from family members, friends, and peers in their community through to homelessness, shunning, ‘honour-based’ abuse and killings, and systemic failures by statutory organisations to support apostates. We will be making a donation to support Faith to Faithless. https://www.faithtofaithless.com.
Our meetings are open to all. If you are a Bristol humanists member the event is FREE, others we request £5/£2. The bar/cafe at the YHA is open before and after the meeting.