New York Times bestselling author Katherine Stewart will deliver the closing session at Humanists UK Convention 2025, warning of the dangers posed by well-funded religious nationalist movements to democratic institutions in the US and their potential ramifications for the UK, in her talk, ‘Money, lies, and god’. The event will take place at the Octagon Centre in Sheffield from 13–15 June 2025.
Tickets for Humanists UK Convention 2025 are on sale now – and running low.
Katherine Stewart is a leading voice on the role of religious nationalism in contemporary American politics and the threat it poses to democratic norms. Her most recent book, Money, Lies, and God: Inside the Movement to Destroy American Democracy (Bloomsbury, 2025), meticulously investigates the networks of ‘dark money’ – untraceable funds often from evangelical sources – that bolster these movements and their assault on secular governance. Stewart’s previous work, The Power Worshippers: Inside the Dangerous Rise of Religious Nationalism, garnered significant acclaim, receiving the Religion News Association’s first place award for Excellence in Nonfiction Books and the Morris D. Forkosch award for Best Book in Humanism, and served as the basis for the documentary feature God & Country, produced by Rob and Michele Reiner.
The erosion of democratic values in the US has the potential to embolden similar movements in the UK and elsewhere, posing a threat to liberal democracies globally. Stewart’s work exposes the sophisticated strategies employed to undermine the separation of church and state, advance reactionary, socially conservative agendas, and consolidate power within religious factions. In 2024, she was recognised for her incisive work with the Freedom From Religion Foundation’s Freethought Heroine of the Year award.
Humanists UK Chief Executive Andrew Copson said:
‘Katherine’s work offers a vital and timely warning about the well-organised and well-funded assault on secular democracy, not just in the United States, but with implications for us all. Her investigation into the ‘dark money’ fuelling religious nationalism is essential to understanding the threats we all face. Humanists UK is proud to host Stewart and facilitate a crucial conversation about defending the values of reason, secularism, and human rights in the face of these rising challenges.’
Humanists UK Convention 2025 will bring together humanists from across the country for a weekend of science, politics, culture, and comedy. The event will be held at the Octagon Centre in Sheffield from 13–15 June 2025. Katherine Stewart joins a diverse line-up of speakers, including physicist Dr Helen Czerski; journalist Ian Dunt; tech entrepreneur Sara Wahedi; happiness economist Professor Lord Richard Layard; anthropologist and author of The Evolutionary Origins of the Modern World, Professor Harvey Whitehouse; historian and editor of The Free Speech Wars, Dr Charlotte Lydia Riley; philosopher and author of What Is Humanism For?, Professor Richard Norman; Authoritarian Century author Dr Azeem Ibrahim OBE; folklorist and cultural anthropologist Deborah Hyde; AI, Faith & Civil Society Commissioner Professor Kate Devlin; and many more.
Humanists UK Convention 2025 | Sheffield
13 June 2025, 19:00
The Octagon Centre, Clarkston Street, Sheffield, S10 2TQ
Notes
For further comment or information, media should contact Humanists UK Director of Public Affairs and Policy Richy Thompson at press@humanists.uk or phone 0203 675 0959.
Humanists UK is the national charity working on behalf of non-religious people. Powered by over 130,000 members and supporters, we advance free thinking and promote humanism to create a tolerant society where rational thinking and kindness prevail. We provide ceremonies, pastoral care, education, and support services benefitting over a million people every year and our campaigns advance humanist thinking on ethical issues, human rights, and equal treatment for all.