July 25, 2003
Taking Faith out of a Faith Perspective
Thanks to Serge at a conservative blog for peace for noticing an article in the Daily Telegraph that I missed.
If you can't get to it without registration, the gist of it is that the BBC is purging presenters from Radio 4's Thought for the Day programme for being too religious. Thought for the Day is, according to the BBC website, "a two minute reflection on the news from a faith perspective." The agnostic who is the Beeb's head of religion and ethics, Alan Bookbinder, said that religious voices often sounded "mundane and muted".
Of course they aren't getting rid of all the religious presenters. According to the Daily Telegraph, they have recently added "Abdal Hakim Murad, a leading commentator on Islamic issues, Jeevan Singh Deol, a fellow in Indian history at the university of Cambridge and a specialist in Sikh issues, and Shagufta Yaqub, the editor of the Muslim publication, Q News." There is also increasing pressure on Mr Bookbinder to include atheist views.
I suppose they will have to re-write their description of the programme to read something like: "Thought for the Day is a two minute reflection on the news from a non-Christian or lack of faith perspective." But then how is it any different from the rest of their programming?