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MediaGuardian, 2002-08-14
For the first time, an atheist has delivered an alternative Thought for the Day on the BBC Radio 4
Today programme.
Oxford University's professor for the public understanding of science, Richard Dawkins, used his two-and-a-half
minute slot today to argue that science gave a better explanation of the wonders of life than religion.
His appearance came a day after a letter to BBC governors from more than 100 public figures demanded Thought for the Day
be opened up to secular and atheist thinkers.
Thought for the Day has been part of the Radio 4 schedules for decades and the BBC is looking at ways of
"refreshing" the slot, broadcast from Monday to Saturday during the Today programme.
...
Unlike the rest of Today, Thought for the Day is made by the corporation's religion and ethics department rather than news
division.
Prof Dawkins's broadcast did not replace the regular daily slot - provided today by columnist Anne Atkins - but ran an hour
afterwards as an unofficial "Thought".
In it, the atheist scientist argued the belief that God was responsible for the wonders of creation or could protect us from
disasters like earthquakes or plane crashes was an "infantile regression".
Today's generation were privileged to live at a time when science had managed to explain many of the mysteries of life, he said.
"We have been born and we are going to die but before we die we have time to understand why we were born, time to
understand the universe into which we were born and, with that understanding, we finally grow up and realise there is no help for
us outside our own efforts," he said.
"Humanity can now leave the cry-baby phase and finally come of age. That is a thought for more than one day."
Prof Dawkins was one of 102 people who put their name to the letter to the BBC governors, drawn up by by the British
Humanist Association, the National Secular Society and the Rationalist Press Association.
Also signing their names were former Labour leader Michael Foot, jazz singer George Melly, playwright Harold Pinter, MP
Tony Banks and broadcaster Sir Ludovic Kennedy.
It read: "By resolutely retaining the ban, the BBC is discriminating against the non-religious, and thus giving the
impression of promoting religion as the one source of ethics. We call on the governors to end this ban."
Webmaster's comment:
It's about time the religious monopoly on this kind of philosophical reflection was broken.
Notice that this slot is produced by the BBC's dubiously named "religion and ethics" department.
perpetuating the misconception that the religious somehow have more expertise in matters of ethics than do the
non-religious. In fact, the term "religious ethics" is often an oxymoron.
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