We can debate the existence of god for ever and it is usually a fruitless task for the atheist as it is all but impossible to reason a person out of an opinion that they didn’t reason themselves into in the first place. Belief in god is a statement of faith not reason.
As regards Radio 4 Thought for the Day (TftD) I sense we may be on the edge of a breakthrough. If there are to be non-religious contributors I think they should come from all walks of life and have expressed their humanity either in their work or their public statements. You may be surprised that I have not included Richard Dawkins, whilst I have the highest regard for him I think this might further antagonise those that we have to convince.
Ayaan Hirsi Ali
Woody Allen
Martin Amis
Lord Avebury
Baroness Blackstone
Professor Colin Blakemore
Dr Susan Blackmore
Warren Buffett
Billy Connolly
Daniel Dennett
Jonathan Edwards
Stephen Fry
Richard E. Grant
Professor A C Grayling
Susan Greenfield
Germaine Greer
Rt Hon The Lord Hattersley
Sam Harris
Professor Steve Jones
Sir Ludovic Kennedy
Professor Sir Harold Kroto
Brian Eno
Ian McEwan
Richard Feynman
Bob Geldof
Ricky Gervais
Eddie Izzard
Neil Kinnock
John McCarthy
Sir Ian McKellen
Jonathan Meades
Sir Jonathan Miller
Desmond Morris
Baron O'Neill of Clackmannan (Martin O'Neill, former MP)
Professor Sir Roger Penrose
Steven Pinker
Terry Pratchett
Philip Pullman
James Randi
Claire Rayner
Salman Rushdie
George Soros
Lord Dick Taverne
Laurie Taylor
Polly Toynbee
Professor Lewis Wolpert
The TftD brief should remain the same; to comment on current events within a moral and ethical context. And before anyone says “do you seriously expect George Soros to turn up at Broadcasting House and do a 3 minute Thought?” No I don’t but maybe the producers could pre-record an occasionally more generic Thought from those outside the UK.
