Thought for the Day
This article needs additional citations for verification. (December 2010) |
Religious | |
Running time | 2 minutes, 45 seconds |
---|---|
Country of origin | United Kingdom |
Language(s) | English |
Home station | BBC Radio 4 |
Hosted by | Varies |
Audio format | Stereophonic sound |
Website | Thought for the Day homepage |
Podcast | Thought for the Day podcast |
Thought for the Day is a daily scripted slot on the Today programme on BBC Radio 4 offering "reflections from a faith perspective on issues and people in the news",[1] broadcast at around 7:45 each Monday to Saturday morning. Lasting 2 minutes and 45 seconds, it is a successor to the five-minute religious sequence Ten to Eight (1965–1970) and, before that, Lift Up Your Hearts, which was first broadcast five mornings a week on the BBC Home Service from December 1939, initially at 7:30, though soon moved to 7:47. The feature is mainly delivered by those involved in religious practice; often, these are Christian thinkers, but there have been numerous occasions where representatives of other faiths, including Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, Sikhism and Jainism, have presented Thought for the Day.
Notable contributors to the slot have included major religious figures, including
Other contributors include Anne Atkins, John L. Bell (Iona Community), Rhidian Brook, Tom Butler (former Bishop of Southwark), Dr Elaine Storkey (Philosopher and theologian), Canon Giles Fraser (Inclusive Church founder), Richard Lord Harries of Pentregarth, James Jones (former Bishop of Liverpool), Mona Siddiqui (Muslim professor), Michael Banner (ethicist), Indarjit Lord Singh of Wimbledon (Sikh parliamentarian), Jasvir Singh and Canon Angela Tilby.
Format
Thought for the Day contributions often follow a similar format: starting with a contemporary issue of public interest or concern, possibly drawn from the news, or from sport, the arts, science or some other area of public life as a lead-in to a spiritual or religious reflection. A report by the Christian think tank Ekklesia described the link between the topical lead-in and the spiritual reflection as usually taking one of the following forms:[2]
- Directional link: the contributor uses the theological content to comment on the issue in question.
- Meditatory link: the contributor moves from the contemporary topical issue to the theological issue in a way that inspires reflection but does not try to give a moral or message about the original issue.
- No link: this is usually done when the contributor picks a topic that is already directly spiritual or religious in nature.
Some Thought for the Day contributions can be more explicitly evangelistic while others are more personal, and others have been positively inter-religious with contributors praising faiths different from their own. Leslie Griffiths, a Christian contributor to the programme described his view of the role of faith in contributing to Thought for the Day as follows: "I'm a Christian and the essence of my Christianity gives me the angle from which I want to reflect, but it is the lens rather than the subject itself. I don’t want to talk about Christianity, I want as a Christian to talk about the news".[2]
Controversial broadcasts
Thought for the Day has included both traditionalist and more radical voices, and at times those selected to present in the slot have gone beyond providing spiritual instruction into directly criticising government policy and other social issues.
In 1971, the Methodist minister
In 1979, a broadcast by Labour MP Tony Benn was delayed. Benn attacked the BBC for delaying the broadcast and told the press that he had been censored. It later turns out that the Conservative MP Rhodes Boyson had also been asked to prepare a script for Thought for the Day but was unable to do so. Fearing an accusation of bias in broadcasting Benn and not Boyson, they delayed Benn's broadcast until after the political conference season.[4]
During the 1980s, increasing social problems in the inner cities led the Church of England to produce a report, Faith in the City. This laid a large portion of the blame for the social issues on the policies of the Conservative government of Margaret Thatcher. A number of Anglican bishops appeared on Thought for the Day speaking out against Thatcher's social policies including Tom Butler, Jim Thompson and Richard Harries. To protect against accusations of bias in the run-up to the 1987 General Election, David Hatch told producers: "I don't want some lefty bishop on Thought for the Day queering our pitch".[4]
In 1990, Canon Eric James had planned to use a Thought for the Day slot to defend those protesting the poll tax, and planned to speak in positive tones of "the spiritual value of revolt". The segment was set to be broadcast on the first day of the Labour Party conference, but James resigned from the programme and told the Church Times that he had faced censorship.[4]
In 1992, Dr Elaine Storkey in her Thought for the Day took the Saudi Arabian judiciary to task after a brief BBC World Service report that Saudi Arabia planned to hang a Christian Filipino preacher on Christmas Day. Pastor Wally Magdangal had allegedly been flogged and tortured for preaching Christianity. The item became featured on news throughout the day, and was taken up by Amnesty International and other international groups. The pastor was later released.[5]
In 1996, the writer
List of presenters
Presenters of the segment have included:[7]
- Anne Atkins
- Reverend Dr Michael Banner
- Jonathan Bartley (Ekklesia founder)
- Vicky Beeching
- Reverend John L. Bell of the Iona Community
- Canon Dr Alan Billings
- Rabbi Lionel Blue
- Vishvapani Blomfield[8]
- Rhidian Brook
- Bishop Tom Butler
- Akhandadhi Das (ISKCON)
- Reverend Joel Edwards
- Pope Francis
- Reverend Dr Giles Fraser
- Richard Harries, Baron Harries of Pentregarth
- Canon Eric James
- The Right Reverend Graham James
- The Right Reverend James Jones
- Hardeep Singh Kohli
- Satish Kumar
- Reverend Colin Morris
- Abdal Hakim Murad
- Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor
- Reverend Dr John Polkinghorne
- Brian Protheroe[citation needed]
- The Chief Rabbi Rt. Hon Lord Sacks
- Professor Mona Siddiqui
- Indarjit Singh, Baron Singh of Wimbledon
- Professor Russell Stannard
- Dr Elaine Storkey
- Canon Angela Tilby
- Reverend Dr Sam Wells
- Reverend Professor David Wilkinson
- The Right Reverend Dr Rowan Williams
- Reverend Lucy Winkett
- The Most Reverend Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury
- Professor Linda Woodhead
- Jasvir Singh[9]
Pope Benedict XVI
After months of negotiation between the
Other versions and adaptations
The Radio 4 Thought for the Day format has been copied onto some other BBC channels, notably local radio. An example is
Criticism
In 2002, 102 people put their names to a letter to the
An "Alternative Thought for the Day" was offered by
References
- ^ "BBC - Religion and Ethics - Programmes". BBC. Archived from the original on 13 October 2007. Retrieved 15 January 2008.
- ^ a b Clifford, Lizzie (2012). "'Thought for the Day': Beyond the god-of-the-slots". Ekklesia. Retrieved 25 November 2013.
- ^ "RELIGIOUS BROADCASTING: DR. COLIN MORRIS". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). House of Lords. 24 March 1971.
- ^ ISBN 9780199248810.
- ^ "Saudis Relent, Will Not Hang Christian Pastor".
- ^ Brown, Andrew (11 October 1996). "Church rounds on BBC over anti-gay 'Thought for the Day'". Archived from the original on 7 May 2022. Retrieved 9 November 2013.
- ^ "BBC Radio 4 - Thought for the Day - Clips". bbc.co.uk. 2013. Retrieved 25 November 2013.
- ^ "Vishvapani Blomfield". The Guardian. 2013. Retrieved 25 November 2013.
- ^ "Jasvir Singh". Thought for the Day. 22 August 2015. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
- ^ Willey, David (24 December 2010). "Pope thanks UK with Radio 4 Thought for the Day address". BBC News. Retrieved 25 November 2013.
- ^ "Pope to deliver Thought For The Day on Christmas Eve". BBC News. 22 December 2010. Retrieved 25 November 2013.
- ^ Dawkins, Richard (24 December 2010). "A shameful Thought for the Day". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 November 2013.
- ^ Dawkins, Richard (14 August 2002). "Secular Thought for the Day". BBC Radio 4. Retrieved 25 November 2013.
- ^ "Atheist gives Thought for the Day". BBC News. London: BBC. 14 August 2002. Retrieved 25 November 2013.
- ^ "Atheist presents alternative Thought for the Day, thanks to Tim Berners-Lee". The Guardian. 26 December 2013. Retrieved 6 January 2014.
- ^ "Thought of the day". Retrieved 16 March 2023.
- ^ Burrell, Ian (26 December 2013). "Unholier than thou: BBC denies atheist traditional slot on Thought for the Day". The Independent. Archived from the original on 7 May 2022. Retrieved 7 January 2014.
- Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 7 January 2014.
- Queensland Times. Retrieved 7 January 2014.
- ^ Hearty, Rev. Dr. Peter. "Peter Hearty brings you POTD". www.platitudes.org.uk. Retrieved 14 June 2018.
External links