Apostasy in the UK: on leaving a high-control religion

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This talk explores the personal and social challenges of leaving religion behind in contemporary Britain. Despite an increasingly secular society, walking away from faith — especially from fundamentalist or high-control religious communities — can carry serious consequences. Apostasy isn’t just a private decision; it can lead to fractured families, lost friendships and, in some cases, total ostracism. Drawing on lived experiences, including her own journey as a former Jehovah’s Witness, Dr Locke examines what it really means to stop believing in a world where religion still shapes identity, culture, and community.

Dr George Locke is a member of Peterborough Humanists, and previously ran Sheffield’s Café Scientifique. She now works at Trinity College, Cambridge as an administrator. She is an active volunteer with Faith to Faithless, a Humanists UK programme that supports individuals leaving high-control religions. George is part of the programme’s research team, and also organises peer-led support groups both online and in person. Drawing on her own lived experience of apostasy as a former Jehovah’s Witness, she regularly speaks about the personal impact of leaving religion and the challenges faced by others on similar journeys.