The number of people who have been tested positive on the corona virus continues to rise sharply in Switzerland.
We do not want take put anybody at risk, therefore we regretfully have to cancel the event.
We thank all our speakers and panelists for their willingness to be part of the event, and we hope to be able to reschedule it later this year
Help to slow down the outbreak. Stay at home as much as you can and assist those, who have to isolate themselves completely. Thanks.
The Apostasy Day programme is bilingual German and English. There will be simultaneous translation in both directions (except for the film night.)
Maryam Namazie was raised in Iran, from where her family fled after the Islamic revolution. She now lives in England and is a co-founder of the Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain. She is also the spokesperson of One Law for All, a campaign advocating the abolition of religious courts in Great Britain.
Inna Shevchenko grew up in a catholic environment in Ukraine. The misogyny of the Church and its scriptures led to her abandoning religion. She’s a co-founder of FEMEN and, with Pauline Hillier, co-author of the book Anatomie de l’oppression – deux femen défient les religions.
Samuel Friedman and C. used to belong to the orthodox Jewish community in Zürich. Samuel now openly lives a secular life, C. has so far revealed his loss of faith only to his family and a few close friends. Together they’ll talk about the difficulties leavers of this very closed community face.
Rino Zumerle joined Jehova’s Witnesses as a young adult together with his wife. Over time, he started to question the dogmas and finally left – on his own. Raphael Dorigo grew up in a religious household and was a youth worker for the local protestant church. Then he started to show an interest in philosophy and lost his belief. The two talk about their different, yet in some aspects strikingly similar journeys with Helene Aecherli.
Dieter Rohmann spent seven months as a member of the Children of God sect. Soon after he began to inform others about the risks of sects and coached a rehabilitation centre for cult leavers. He is now a trained psychologist and assists individuals who want to leave a sect.
Jesse M. Smith is a sociologist and associate professor at Western Michigan University (USA) and researches religion and secularism. He is Joint Editor of the journal Secularism and Nonreligion and is editing a book by the same name. He will show how researchers attempt to define different forms of apostasy and explain what apostasy studies reveal about psychological and social aspects of leaving a faith.
Sarah Haider was raised in a Muslim family in Pakistan and the USA. As an adolescent she decided to wear the hijab, but started to distance herself from religion after debates with co-students at the age of 16. She co-founded the Ex-Muslims of North America, an advocacy group that supports apostates.
Mina Ahadi had to give up her studies in Iran because she refused to cover her hair. After the Mullah revolution she fled to Austria, and later to Germany. She founded the International Committee against Stoning and the Council of Ex-Muslims of Germany , the first group of its kind.
Following Mina Ahadi’s plea for public awareness of the struggles apostates face, the four Swiss politicians representing the Social Democrats, the Greens, the Green Liberals and the Free Democrats will discuss with her whether the state needs to take a more active role or if apostasy is a purely private matter.
Helene Aecherli is a journalist specialising on women’s rights and the Middle East. In 2019 she was bestowed the reporter of the year award. Helene Aecherli will lead the conversation with the two ex Christians Rino Zumerle and Raphael Dorigo and the panel with Mina Ahadi and four Swiss politicians.
Bangladeshi Azam Khan and Moroccan-born Kacem El Ghazzali were both bloggers in their countries of origin. Because of their criticism of religion they both received death threats from Islamists and had to flee. They were granted humanitarian visa for Switzerland and started a new life here. Both received support from members of the Freethinkers, also when the threats by fundamentalists continued even here. Now they want to make sure others receive adequate support – with the formation of secular-refugees-ch.
Andreas Kyriacou is the president of the Swiss Freethinkers and the driving force behind the Apostasy Day. He is also the creator of the science festival Denkfest and the humanist summer camp Camp Quest Switzerland. When not campaigning for humanist and secular issues he works as a knowledge management consultant. He will act as conference host.
Razie Brownstone is 90 years old and has recently started to use the internet. Soon she discovers explanations about the world which contradict her Jewish beliefs. She decides to test her God and prepares bacon for the first time in her life.
Animator and filmmaker Sol Friedman has created a wonderful short (8mins) portraying Razie’s embracing of a natural world view. It will be shown during the morning break.
Nazmiye Oral and her mother Havva live in the Netherlands. While the younger of the two enjoys the country’s Western lifestyle, the older continues to follow the Muslim traditions of Turkey, her country of origin. They discuss faith, sexuality and values in the intimate surroundings of their living room – sometimes in anger, sometimes full of love for each other.
We’ll be showing the film version of the theatre play by the same name, in which the two protagonists delve into their family history. Nazmiye and Havva Oral will be present and take questions from the audience after the screening.
Saturday, 21 March 2020, Kunsthaus Zürich auditorium.
Apostasy day is a Freethinkers Association of Switzerland. project. We campaign for humanist values and a secular society.