Religious conviction
Michael Vestey
Although I am an atheist I will happily attend church weddings, funerals and baptisms without any qualms at all, joining in the hymn singing and appreciating the sense of occasion whether it's sad or joyful. I admire people's faith in God and sometimes wish that in the presence of such spirituality some of it might rub off on me. Alas, it never quite sticks. The more ancient the church or cathedral the better. In Italy, for example, one can marvel at the finest church architecture and art in the world and I shall be there next Easter solely to see the religious festivals.
So I was taken aback last week when I read that 100 prominent atheists had written to the BBC urging it to end the exclusively religious nature of the Thought For The Day slot on Radio Four's Today programme and demanding that it be opened to secular opinions. It seemed to me to be remarkably intolerant to press for the removal of what purports to be two-and-ahalf minutes of religion from a three-hour programme, particularly as there is very little religion on BBC radio; the Daily Sen ice is on long wave only each morning and there is Sunday Worship, of course, but there is less religion than there used to be. The letter was sent by the British Humanist Association. the National Secular Society and the Rational Press Association, which all sound rather absurd bodies.
Having said that, I have never particularly liked Thought For The Day which is often bland and platitudinous and full of the sort of progressive sentiments that I would have thought many humanists approved of. You know, for example, that at least once a week President George W. Bush will be criticised for something, the war against terrorism will be opposed, asylum seekers will be praised and so on. It was only when I saw some of the names of the signatories — Harold Pinter. Ludovic Kennedy, Polly Toynbee, Tony Banks, MP and Michael Foot — that I decided, for all its faults, Thought For The Day must be saved in its present form.
It is true that one has to endure the thoughts of Elaine Storkey of a charity called TearFund who wondered why Iraq should not be allowed to possess weapons of mass destruction when Britain and the United States have them. Something seemed wrong, she said, when we insist others should not have something we have. Her theology told her that double standards were at work. You have to wonder about these people. They really do equate a cruel tyrant such as Saddam Hussein with a democratically elected president of the United States, especially if he's a Republican. They appear to see no difference between them. Indeed, she thought 'all are sinners, not just those in Baghdad'. It's a point of view, of course, but this kind of tosh is just the sort of thing I listen to Thought For The Day to hear, laughing uproariously in the bathroom mirror, my shaving brush held aloft with glee.
Then there was Canon David Winter last Saturday morning telling us that amidst all the bad news some good news could be found. Indeed, it was, he added, 'sensationally good news'. What could this be? It was that North Korea was to play South Korea at football. After the World Cup 'people in the north saw life in the south and decided it wasn't all bad'. The football match offered hope of reconciliation, he thought. Well, well, another classic Thought For The Day banality.
Sometimes, one hears some common sense. On Monday morning this week a Methodist minister, Leslie Griffiths, noting the church service in Soham after the abduction and murder of the two little girls, pointed out that people tend to turn to religion at moments like this, even if they manage without it for much of the time. That was why, he said, the spat about Thought For The Day was 'such a sad affair'. The item 'could be said to stand for this programme as a church, synagogue or mosque does for its neighbourhood, offering a helping hand, a different perspective or, even, God willing, a deepening of faith for the day ahead'. I agree with him, though it doesn't work for me.
Although quite a few Today listeners emailed their support for the humanists others didn't, including the man who wrote, 'There's nothing more sanctimonious than a rabid humanist in full throat.' He was perhaps referring to Anthony Grayling who appeared on the programme to say that Thought For The Day 'premises a handful of antique myths', a view countered by Rabbi Lionel Blue who thought myths were not to be dismissed too lightly as they sometimes contained great wisdom.
Another reason I hope the religious nature of the slot remains is that if it did become more secular we would have to listen each morning to lectures from the Pinters, Toynbees and Foots and that would be too much to bear.
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