David Monkcom

Author

David was born in Hampshire, England, in 1950. His family were members of the Plymouth Brethren, a fundamentalist Christian movement that kept aloof from mainstream society and verged on being a sect. Getting away from this environment and getting over the indoctrination he had received was a long process, mentally and emotionally challenging.
In the early 1970s David studied European languages at Oxford University, then spent ten years or so teaching in high schools. In the mid-1980s, he moved to Brussels, Belgium, to become a translator, editor and speechwriter for the European Commission (the body that puts forward EU legislation). He is married and has two daughters.
Given his upbringing, and his narrow escape from an Islamic terrorist attack in 2016, David is keenly aware of the damage fundamentalism can cause to individuals and to society. His experience has given him a passion for rational, open-minded dialogue on religious questions, as opposed to irrational dogmatism. In his book ‘Beyond Belief’, published in September 2023, David tells his personal story and leads the reader through a searching conversation about faith and what (if anything) justifies our beliefs.