Former head of BBC calls for atheists on Radio 4 God Slot – Lord Birt, the former Director General of the BBC, has called for atheists to contribute to Radio 4′s Thought for the day.
I personally don’t listen to the BBC’s ‘thought for the day’, although I do find it sad that such an already marginalised Christian voice should be under assault. However, my main concern is that atheists don’t turn this programme into simply another ‘there is no God’ monologue. How boring and tedious that would be.
It comes as no surprise to me that atheists should campaign so hard to hijack a rare BBC Christian slot, when they could have targeted so many different areas of the BBC. Oh my goodness maybe atheists are not impartial!
Lord Birt said the BBC must “loosen the stranglehold” of established religious organisations and “embrace” the humanist movement.
He spoke in debate held in the Moses Room at the House of Lords on the eve of the BBC Trust’s deliberations on whether to allow non-religious contributors to the Today programme’s religious slot.
Secularists claim the three minute slot – which is only open to representatives from the main faiths – discriminates against non-believers. They have complained to the Trust, the governing arm of the corporation, which is expected to deliver its response next week.
Lord Birt, who was head of the corporation between 1992 and 2000 appeared to agree that there needed to be a greater range of views.
He said: “The BBC must one day soon loosen the stranglehold of the established religious organisations and more fully embrace the humanist movement.”
He described the humanist tradition as “a loose network of individuals broadly exercised by questions of the spirit, concerned to optimise the sum total of human happiness here on earth; individuals naturally respectful of others, wedded to rationalism and to scientific rigour, revering all life, unafraid to proclaim and to celebrate the joy of existence and the richness of human expression.”
When plans for a non-religious Thought for the Day on Radio 4′s Today programme were mooted earlier this year, it sparked criticism from faith leaders. They said that in an increasingly secular climate, it was “vitally important” that religion retains its voice.
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Tags: Christianity, Media