RELIGION ON THE AIR
SIR,—A body named "The British Institute of Public Opinion" has taken a poll to obtain a popular answer to the following: "No discussions on atheism have been broadcast by the B.B.C. Would you approve or 'disd approve if such talks were broadcast?" The results were: 49 per cent. approve, 39 per cent. disapprove, 12 per cent. " don't know." This seems to be the first time that such a vote has been taken. One may be critical of the word " atheism." Actually the B.B.C. rsfuse the air to anyons whose views are not " within the main stream of the Christian tradition." "Freedom of religious thought" would have been a fairer phrase. Had that been used it is fairly certain that a much larger majority against present B.B.C. policy would have resulted. The question, as actually put, fails to tell thiose who received it that as well as " atheism," Christian Science, Spiritualism, pantheistic thought, -Positivism, &c., are vetoed, and Judaism and Unitarianism are very rarely allowed. Even the important eschatological theology of Dr. Albert Schweitzer may not
Lynwood, Ripon.
Previous page
