My reply to the Controller of Radio 4 Mark Damazer:
Dear Mr Damazer
Thank you for your response to my correspondence. However I am astonished at its contents. In your opening paragraph you endorse the assertion that faith confers additional authority to the speaker and that morality is inevitably linked to religious belief.
Let me quote you: “Their authority is drawn from faiths that have survived the centuries, including periods of persecution and intense scrutiny and still proved themselves valid”.
As a private individual you have every right to hold these views but as the controller of BBC Radio 4 this partisan view is in opposition to your public service obligation of neutrality, objectivity and fairness. One is left in no doubt that the “authority is drawn from faiths” in your opinion justifies a ban on those who have no faith contributing to this programme.
You go on to say “So if you change the commissioning brief to allow in secular voices it would no longer be Thought for the Day” again your prejudice is staggering. The secular voice would include those who are atheist, agnostic and humanist, who are every bit as qualified and concerned to comment on current events in the context of an ethical and moral perspective as those of religious faith.
You continue “and I hear no appetite for such a change from Radio Four”. Perhaps you should visit the BBC forums and message boards where this complaint is regularly expressed.
You say “and serve the audience by giving them a chance to hear a perspective from the great faith traditions that have shaped our society and continue to wield enormous influence over current events”. These great faiths were also responsible for 9/11, 7/ll and countess other atrocities throughout human history and yet you still assert their moral authority.
As regards the extent of religious belief in the UK you state “The last census showed 71% declaring themselves Christian” and “In a survey a few years ago Radio Four discovered that one in four of its audience go to a worship”. I am happy to accept this statistic if it would result in TftD being delivered by a contributor who does not have a faith agenda on one day of every week that the programme is broadcast.
I ask you once more to change your mind
Yours sincerely
Graham Davis
Friday, 17 October 2008
Thought for the Day
After 2 years of writing to the BBC I have received a reply from the Controller of Radio 4 Mark Damazer, it is nothing short of extraordinary:
Dear Mr Davis
In response to your query about Thought for the Day on Radio Four, this reply is on behalf of everyone at the BBC you have contacted.
TfTD is commissioned as a theological reflection on current events. It is not an opinion piece. All contributors are told to ground their 'thought'
in their own theological tradition, using the words of scripture or liturgy that have been worn smooth as a pebble by centuries of repetition and devotion. Their authority is drawn from faiths that have survived the centuries, including periods of persecution and intense scrutiny and still proved themselves valid. It is therefore a unique voice on the BBC. I would contend that the BBC should strive to maintain its 'uniqueness' in an increasingly overcrowded market place and serve the audience by giving them a chance to hear a perspective from the great faith traditions that have shaped our society and continue to wield enormous influence over current
events.
So if you change the commissioning brief to allow in secular voices it would no longer be Thought for the Day and I hear no appetite for such a change from Radio Four.
I do not accept that the majority of the country are atheistic or agnostic.
The last census showed 71% declaring themselves Christian and another 8% spiritual. Since then with immigration continuing apace from countries more religious than our own I see no reason to think the religious majority has declined. In a survey a few years ago Radio Four discovered that one in four of its audience go to a worship service every week so we know there is a lot of interest in the subject.
Secularism has not swept religion aside as some would have hoped, indeed some academics are writing about the new visibility of religion, albeit more fractured and fragmented than before. With religion so high on the agenda it would be a strange time to change the one place where it is possible to hear the intelligent religious voice in a secular setting and understand something of why millions if not billions of people still put faith at the centre of their lives.
Yours sincerely
Mark Damazer BBC Controller Radio 4
Dear Mr Davis
In response to your query about Thought for the Day on Radio Four, this reply is on behalf of everyone at the BBC you have contacted.
TfTD is commissioned as a theological reflection on current events. It is not an opinion piece. All contributors are told to ground their 'thought'
in their own theological tradition, using the words of scripture or liturgy that have been worn smooth as a pebble by centuries of repetition and devotion. Their authority is drawn from faiths that have survived the centuries, including periods of persecution and intense scrutiny and still proved themselves valid. It is therefore a unique voice on the BBC. I would contend that the BBC should strive to maintain its 'uniqueness' in an increasingly overcrowded market place and serve the audience by giving them a chance to hear a perspective from the great faith traditions that have shaped our society and continue to wield enormous influence over current
events.
So if you change the commissioning brief to allow in secular voices it would no longer be Thought for the Day and I hear no appetite for such a change from Radio Four.
I do not accept that the majority of the country are atheistic or agnostic.
The last census showed 71% declaring themselves Christian and another 8% spiritual. Since then with immigration continuing apace from countries more religious than our own I see no reason to think the religious majority has declined. In a survey a few years ago Radio Four discovered that one in four of its audience go to a worship service every week so we know there is a lot of interest in the subject.
Secularism has not swept religion aside as some would have hoped, indeed some academics are writing about the new visibility of religion, albeit more fractured and fragmented than before. With religion so high on the agenda it would be a strange time to change the one place where it is possible to hear the intelligent religious voice in a secular setting and understand something of why millions if not billions of people still put faith at the centre of their lives.
Yours sincerely
Mark Damazer BBC Controller Radio 4
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