Memorandum by V Howe
As a keen BBC listener, I object to much of
the policy on religious broadcasting. The question should not
be whether different faiths figure sufficiently in BBC programmes
and services, but why on earth they are given such prominence
in our overwhelmingly secular society. For instance the dogma
spouted on the Today programme's Thought for the Day slot
is invariably irrelevant to my life, and thus irritating in the
extreme. I have long since given up trying to find any meaning
in the prattlings of Rabbis and Bishops. Where is the representation
of more positive atheists like Humanists? The BBC singularly fails
me in this important area. As for the question "how should
faiths be represented in BBC programmes, services and governance?"
My answer is a resounding not at all. If the BBC really want to
connect to the licence fee payer they will do me a favour and
jettison the religious cant. And if the BBC want to know how to
better involve the public in its decision making processes they
could stop assuming clerics represent us. In fact these reactionary
patriarchs do not have the influence they claim and it is dangerous
to encourage them. Instead the BBC should include atheists and
humanists.
I despair of the journalistic hand wringing
that seems to inform much current affairs broadcasting. Sometimes
it seems as if the BBC is so desperate to avoid offending some
people, in a misguided effort at showing respect to all, that
all rational thinking has gone out of the window. The BBC should
formulate a policy that embraces our proud traditions of tolerance
without getting into such a muddle.
2 September 2005
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