This is a non-ticketed event with a £5 fee on the door. Doors Open: 7pm, Start Time: 7:30pm
“Why did Jehovah make the dinosaurs, if he's just going to kill them all?"
"Well, it's because they needed to eat all the excess vegetation."
"But some of the dinosaurs had really sharp teeth, and they eat meat."
"They were for eating the vegetarian dinosaurs."
"Why didn't Jehovah just make the right amount of trees and plants in the first place?!"
These were the kind of relentless questions a young, inquisitive Terri O'Sullivan constantly asked her mother about their faith. Terri had been raised as a Jehovah's Witness from the age of 7, when her mother and grandmother converted to the religion.
The Jehovah's Witnesses, a Christian-based religion best known for their door-to-door evangelising and distributing the magazine 'The Watchtower', not only believe in creationism, as well as dinosaurs, but they also believe that we are living in the last days and that Armageddon is approaching fast.
As a child Terri enjoyed reading, and learning about the bible, but as she became older, the constant questioning began to cause trouble, and the answers were not satisfying enough. Things finally came to a head when Terri decided to leave the faith and her mother kicked her out of the family home, making her homeless at the age of 21.
Join Terri O'Sullivan as she shares her deeply personal journey from Jehovah's Witness to Humanist, and talks about the issues and difficulties so-called 'apostates' face when leaving a controlling religious group in the UK. Leaving can result in a person experiencing not just homelessness, but also abuse, reduced access to support services and severe isolation.
As an Apostate Services Development Officer at Faith to Faithless, a service of Humanists UK, she will also talk about the support available to such people, and what more is needed to help.
TERRI O’SULLIVAN
Terri holds a bachelor’s degree in social psychology from the University of Kent, where she conducted research into the effects of ostracism from a religious group. She went on to continue this line of research while studying for a master’s degree at Tilburg University, Netherlands where she investigated how ostracism affects one’s religious identity as well as studying the vicarious effects of ostracism. In 2007 she set up a support and social group for former Jehovah's Witnesses called XJW Friends, and has been on the leadership team for Faith to Faithless since its inception in 2015 and delivers awareness training courses to service providers such as police forces, the Home Office, NHS services, and charitable groups on the needs and issues of those who leave controlling religious groups.
Brighthink presentations take place upstairs in the Nightingale Room at the Grand Central Pub, opposite Brighton Station.
DOORS OPEN: 7:00pm (£5 on the door)
TALK STARTS: 7:30pm
AUDIENCE Q&A: 8:30pm
Brighthink is a non-profit organisation, non of our invited speakers charge for their time, and proceeds from ticket sales go towards the running costs that allow us to put on these events for the public.