Thought for Today ... that’s enough religion
Radio 4’s Thought for the Day segment on its Today programme has come under attack – from the BBC’S own presenters. In an interview to mark the show’s 60th anniversary, John Humphrys and Justin Webb said that they were tired of hearing the message that “Jesus was really nice”.
FOR listeners of the Today programme on Radio 4, Thought for the Day provides a quiet moment of reflection and an acknowledgement of the positive role that faith can play in our lives.
The presenters, however, think otherwise. In a joint interview to mark the show’s 60th anniversary, John Humphrys and Justin Webb said that they are tired of hearing the message that “Jesus was really nice”.
The sermon is “deeply, deeply boring” and irrelevant in a country that has few practising Christians, Humphrys said.
“It seems to be inappropriate that Today should broadcast nearly three minutes of uninterrupted religion, given that rather more than half our population have no religion at all.
“Certainly very few of them are practising Christians … we have Hindus of course [on the segment], and we have the occasional Muslim, the occasional Jews, but by and large it’s Christian. Why?” he asked.
Humphrys said he would have “less of a problem” if the slot was secular, featuring input from atheists and agnostics as well, and said he regularly thinks: “Dear God, we’ve got to cut a really fascinating programme short because we’re going to hear somebody tell us that Jesus was really nice …” Webb complained that all of the sermons were “roughly the same – ‘If everyone was nicer to everyone else, it would be fine’ – but from my cursory glance around the world, I think a lot of religious people don’t want to be nice to each other … It really annoys me.”
Nick Robinson, their fellow presenter, said he enjoyed listening to Jonathan Sacks, the former chief rabbi. But, asked whether there were enough contributors with similarly interesting and profound things to say, Robinson replied: “There are not.” Mishal Husain was more tactful, saying that Thought for the Day provided “punctuation” in the schedule.
Hearing it on her days off was a reminder that it was 7.50am and “I need to be out of the house”, she said.
The only presenter to stay out of the discussion was Sarah Montague.
The Today team were interviewed for Radio Times – the first occasion they have ever been in the same room at the same time, given their rota arrangements.
Sarah Sands, the programme’s editor, said earlier this year that Thought for the Day should include humanists, as religion was “robust enough to have challengers”.
But the Rt Rev Stephen Cottrell, Bishop of Chelmsford, told The Daily Telegraph: “Millions of people in the UK understand and inhabit the world through the lens of faith. Thought for the Day is the one slot in BBC Radio 4’s schedule where this way of seeing the world is given expression.
“It only works because it is a specifically religious piece.
“As such, it is highly valued by people of all faiths and, if diluted, it would become nothing more than just another comment from those whose voices already command the airwaves.” A BBC spokesman said last night: “Thought for the Day is a long-standing part of the Today programme’s schedule and is an important part of Radio 4’s religious content – and it will continue to be so. The segment features speakers from the world’s major faith traditions and regularly provokes a range of different views.”
‘It seems to be inappropriate that Today should broadcast three minutes of uninterrupted religion’