Freedom of Speech and Conscience conference at the West Suffolk College

Do we have the right to say what we want and how do we avoid offending people?

These are the issues under the spotlight at a conference on the Freedom of Speech and Conscience at West Suffolk College.

The conference, which is free to attend, on Friday, February 16, is being organised by the Religious Studies department of the University of Suffolk at West Suffolk College.  It will explore the problems of how one person’s freedom to speak can harm another.

The speakers include Gurmeet Sually, chair of the Ipswich Interfaith and Community forum, Rev Canon Tim Jones from  St Edmunds Cathedral and Janus van Helvert, a Buddhist practitioner among others.

Organiser Robin Herne, lecturer in Ethics and Religious Studies said; “Mark Twain said that Americans have freedom of speech, freedom of conscience, and the good prudence never to practice either. This conference will examine what it means to have the freedom to believe as we please and the freedom to speak as we choose – and how we reconcile these two when, as so often, they come into conflict”

The conference runs from 10 am to 4pm and will include workshops and a plenary to explore all the ideas that have been raised.

Please contact  Robin.Herne@wsc.ac.uk if you would like to attend