Game of monopoly

The BBC is considering opening 'Thought for the Day' to contributions from secularists and humanists. That's good news. The Controller of Radio 4, however, says the argument is finely balanced. I can't see why. For him, it's the benefits of the wider range as against the distinctiveness of the slot. But, billed as it is as being about religion and ethics, the programme's distinctiveness is tied to its subject matter. How can the Beeb justify allowing a monopoly to those who are religious, as if atheists and agnostics had no views worthy of a hearing about religion, or about ethics, or about the relationship between these two? A Church of England spokesman is quoted as saying that 'Thought for the Day' is 'one of the few protected spots in the schedule where religious views on issues of the day can be expressed openly' - suggesting, bizarrely, that in all other BBC programmes, or areas of life, religion has to conceal or muffle its voice. Not true. In this report, we are told: 'faith leaders have criticised the move saying that in an increasingly secular climate, it was "vitally important" that religion retains its voice'. That is, again, special pleading. Religion retains its voice; it will continue, indeed, to be heard on 'Thought for the Day' even if other voices start getting to be heard there too.