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TFTD campaign

For news of events, petitions and campaigns that may be of interest to humanists and secularists.
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Alan C.
Posts: 10356
Joined: July 4th, 2007, 3:35 pm

Re: TFTD campaign

#81 Post by Alan C. » August 20th, 2009, 6:32 pm

Latest post of the previous page:

You might like this quote Nick, from a post at Freethinker.
Broga
Thought for the Day recently were typically sly: if you cannot find an explanation then it has to be god. Didn't hear it myself. My wife did and apart from misquoting Conan Doyle, Atkins was as vile and fuckwit as usual. How much longer is this going on? She has to be removed and that sick santimonious verbal sewage with her.
From this article.
Abstinence Makes the Church Grow Fondlers.

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jaywhat
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Joined: July 5th, 2007, 5:53 pm

Re: TFTD campaign

#82 Post by jaywhat » September 23rd, 2009, 6:33 am

I see in Alan's Media Scan yesterday that the BBC are having a public debate on TFTD and its lack of humanist perspectives/speakers.

>>The motion will be proposed by Dr Andrew Copson, the Director of Education and Public Affairs at the British Humanist Association. He will be joined by comedienne Ariane Sherine, who masterminded the "atheist bus campaign" and delivered an experimental secular Thought for the Day on Radio 4’s PM programme.

Opposing the motion will be Canon Giles Fraser, who is a regular Thought for the Day contributor and was recently appointed Canon Chancellor of St Paul’s Cathedral. He will be joined by Rt Rev Nick Baines, the Bishop of Croydon.

The debate will be chaired by the distinguished broadcaster Edward Stourton, who as presenter of Today on Radio 4 has introduced many Thoughts for the Day.

The debate will take place on 8 October at the London Institute of Contemporary Christianity.<<


So it is chaired by that religious, pompous dickhead Edward Stourton of the Today programme. No problem then.

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Alan H
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Re: TFTD campaign

#83 Post by Alan H » September 23rd, 2009, 7:36 am

jaywhat wrote:...that religious, pompous dickhead Edward Stourton of the Today programme. No problem then.
You don't like him much, then?
Alan Henness

There are three fundamental questions for anyone advocating Brexit:

1. What, precisely, are the significant and tangible benefits of leaving the EU?
2. What damage to the UK and its citizens is an acceptable price to pay for those benefits?
3. Which ruling of the ECJ is most persuasive of the need to leave its jurisdiction?

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jaywhat
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Re: TFTD campaign

#84 Post by jaywhat » September 23rd, 2009, 11:09 am

He's all right - as religionists go !

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atw60444
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Joined: January 2nd, 2008, 8:57 am

Re: TFTD campaign

#85 Post by atw60444 » December 2nd, 2009, 8:16 am

Hi everyone. Not been around here much!
I spotted this on Derren Brown's Twitter feed this morning http://cli.gs/96qbZ
"John Humphries Favours An Atheist Version of Thought For the Day"

Jon

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jaywhat
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Re: TFTD campaign

#86 Post by jaywhat » December 2nd, 2009, 2:56 pm

The comments on that link made me see red but there you go .....

As for Humphries, why does he not do something about it then?

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Val
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Re: TFTD campaign

#87 Post by Val » December 31st, 2009, 9:38 pm

I am with Sandy Toksvig on t.f.t.d. I gives us a three minute window to use the hair dryer without missing anything worth hearing.

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Alan H
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Re: TFTD campaign

#88 Post by Alan H » December 31st, 2009, 10:08 pm

:hilarity:

But what would I do?
Alan Henness

There are three fundamental questions for anyone advocating Brexit:

1. What, precisely, are the significant and tangible benefits of leaving the EU?
2. What damage to the UK and its citizens is an acceptable price to pay for those benefits?
3. Which ruling of the ECJ is most persuasive of the need to leave its jurisdiction?

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Alan C.
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Joined: July 4th, 2007, 3:35 pm

Re: TFTD campaign

#89 Post by Alan C. » December 31st, 2009, 10:24 pm

Alan H wrote: :hilarity:

But what would I do?
Gerra shave...........................Scruffy bugger! :D
Abstinence Makes the Church Grow Fondlers.

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Alan H
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Re: TFTD campaign

#90 Post by Alan H » April 5th, 2012, 12:40 pm

Time to resurrect this...

Evan Davis: open up Thought for the Day to non-believers
Presenter and atheist Davis argues it's time to stop restricting the slot to people of faith
Vote in the poll...
Alan Henness

There are three fundamental questions for anyone advocating Brexit:

1. What, precisely, are the significant and tangible benefits of leaving the EU?
2. What damage to the UK and its citizens is an acceptable price to pay for those benefits?
3. Which ruling of the ECJ is most persuasive of the need to leave its jurisdiction?

Fia
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Joined: July 6th, 2007, 8:29 pm

Re: TFTD campaign

#91 Post by Fia » April 5th, 2012, 1:27 pm

Wow, yeses at over 95% :clap:

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Dave B
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Joined: May 17th, 2010, 9:15 pm

Re: TFTD campaign

#92 Post by Dave B » April 5th, 2012, 1:29 pm

Voted.

Hmm, 95+% yes

From what I have heard from the BBC types that have the say in this matter even a 200% YES vote would not be a strong enough argument.

How do we organise an email deluge to the person who makes the decision I wonder?
"Look forward; yesterday was a lesson, if you did not learn from it you wasted it."
Me, 2015

Nick
Posts: 11027
Joined: July 4th, 2007, 10:10 am

Re: TFTD campaign

#93 Post by Nick » April 5th, 2012, 1:45 pm

Voted! The good news is that at least some of the presenters seem to be in favour of a wider range of contributors. I would expect them to have some influence on such matters.

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Dave B
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Re: TFTD campaign

#94 Post by Dave B » April 6th, 2012, 10:16 am

The following has been posted on Gary Stagg's Blog on the Telegraph website

Mr Stagg, why should "Thought For The Day"(TFTD) exclude anyone with a valid thought to offer people? I am sure that the BBC has enough clever people (though I sometimes wonder) to select those with something uplifting or inspiring to others. Would they allow a self-selection free-for-all? I very much doubt it.

The slot does give the impression that the those in the BBC with the control over it consider that only the religious are capable of good thoughts. You are very dismissive of "secularists" and many people, especially on the BBC forum boards, think of atheists as the Hitlers, Mussolinis, Pol Pots and Stalins of the world - if you have no faith in a non-corporeal entity then you must be bad.

But just as the atheists have their mad and bad people so does religion in the form of radical fundamentalists of many varieties, killers and torturers who do so in the name of their god. Just as religion has a great number of good people so does atheism and not just the more "organised" varieties such as Humanism.

Allowing the non-religious access to TFTD might promote the idea that not all atheists are radicals such as Richard Dawkins and that some may be as philosophical as Terry Pratchett (don't laugh, listen!.)

Once the BBC has an "Epilogue" slot at the end of transmission (now it never ends) that included captains of industry, scientists etc. That was very good, except that, like "Prayer for the day" it was, perhaps, at the extreme of the day when few are listening closely. TFTD suffers the possibility that it is transmitted during the getting ready for work or school period - only those with a little leisure get to listen and consider perhaps. I know of one who uses that slot to have his shave so he does not have to "endure" it.

"Thought", even the "good" variety, is not the preserve of the religious and just as we decry the wasted resource in those countries who do not allow women to have an education the disallowing of the non-religious world - which exists and flourishes - to offer its positive ideas is another waste. I would not want to hear anything from those who offer only anti-religious propaganda but I would like to hear from those who offer thoughts on how humanity can be made more humane, even if they think that it is only Humanity that can find the answer to its own ills.
Last edited by Alan H on April 6th, 2012, 11:00 am, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: to remove duplicate text!
"Look forward; yesterday was a lesson, if you did not learn from it you wasted it."
Me, 2015

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Tetenterre
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Re: TFTD campaign

#95 Post by Tetenterre » April 6th, 2012, 11:07 am

[original comment deleted]
Comment irrelevant now dupes have been edited :wink:
Steve

Quantum Theory: The branch of science with which people who know absolutely sod all about quantum theory can explain anything.

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Dave B
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Re: TFTD campaign

#96 Post by Dave B » April 6th, 2012, 11:23 am

Ooops, never noticed duplicate text - or was that the link? I pasted that three times before it got onto the post in the right place and did not spot it elsewhere. Something strange did happen there . . .
"Look forward; yesterday was a lesson, if you did not learn from it you wasted it."
Me, 2015

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Alan H
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Joined: July 3rd, 2007, 10:26 pm

Re: TFTD campaign

#97 Post by Alan H » April 6th, 2012, 11:47 am

For some reason, there were three copies, so I deleted the last two.
Alan Henness

There are three fundamental questions for anyone advocating Brexit:

1. What, precisely, are the significant and tangible benefits of leaving the EU?
2. What damage to the UK and its citizens is an acceptable price to pay for those benefits?
3. Which ruling of the ECJ is most persuasive of the need to leave its jurisdiction?

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Dave B
Posts: 17809
Joined: May 17th, 2010, 9:15 pm

Re: TFTD campaign

#98 Post by Dave B » April 6th, 2012, 11:48 am

Ooer!
"Look forward; yesterday was a lesson, if you did not learn from it you wasted it."
Me, 2015

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Alan H
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Re: TFTD campaign

#99 Post by Alan H » September 9th, 2012, 11:35 pm

Thought for the Day will not be opened to atheists, says BBC religion chief

The BBC will resist calls to include atheists on Thought for the Day, the corporation’s head of religion has said.

Aaqil Ahmed disclosed he has reviewed Radio Four’s 'God slot’ in response to complaints that it was “too religious”.

However, the daily homily on the Today programme is intended to provide a “religious” perspective on the news and should not be opened up to people of no faith, Mr Ahmed has concluded.

“We should always analyse whether we should continue with something and in the last year or two we’ve had some very detailed thoughts about this and we’ve decided to continue as was,” he said in an interview with The Sunday Telegraph ahead of a major conference this week on religion in Britain hosted by the BBC.

He added: “People have complained, as they have the right to, and I have taken a view that at this moment in time as far as I’m concerned we stay as we do.
“It is a specific slot within the Today programme which is a reflection from a religious perspective on stories of importance in the news.”

At the conference, Re:think, the BBC will also unveil new figures showing that the number of people in Britain who affiliate with a religion has dropped from 68 per cent in 1983 to 53 per cent last year.

The figures also show a significant gap between younger and older members of society, with 77 per cent of people over 66 saying they are religious compared to 35 per cent of people aged between 18 and 25.

Mr Ahmed’s ruling on Thought for the Day is likely to anger secularist campaigners, including the National Secular Society (NSS), who have repeatedly called for an overhaul of the programme, which features a religious leader speaking each morning between Monday and Saturday.

The NSS has stated that contributors often make “contentious remarks and claims” and use the platform to “lobby” for the passage of particular legislation.

“Only on this programme are such controversial views allowed to pass unchallenged,” its website says. “We argue that this contradicts everything that the BBC is supposed the stand for: fairness, balance, a voice for everyone in the country and for a wide range of views to be made available to all.”

Recent contributors to Thought for the Day have included the Bishop of Norwich, the Rt Rev Graham James, discussing the Prime Minister’s ministerial reshuffle.

In Tuesday’s programme Bishop James observed that just as Church ministers kneel when they are ordained, new members of the Government will kneel as they are appointed to the Privy Council.

“You don’t feel very powerful when you’re on your knees,” he said. “I’m glad this tradition continues in government, especially when service and power have become so connected.”

Last week the slot was also occupied by religious leaders including the Rev Giles Fraser, the former canon chancellor of St Paul’s Cathedral, Akhandadhi Das, a Hindu theologian, and Prof Mona Siddiqui, a Muslim academic.

As Thought for the Day is classed as a religious feature, it falls within Mr Ahmed’s remit even though it is part of the Today programme.

Mr Ahmed, the BBC’s first Muslim head of religion, said it was natural that Christians should make up the majority of speakers on Thought for the Day.

He said: “The state religion is still Christianity and the vast majority of people in this country come from a Christian background.

"I don’t think it’s unreasonable to suggest that in percentage terms you are probably going to have more Christians than you’re going to have Jews or Hindus. I think that makes a lot of sense.”

At this week’s event, which is the BBC’s inaugural religion and ethics conference, Lord Sacks, the Chief Rabbi, will take part in a debate with Prof Richard Dawkins, the outspoken atheist, on the relationship between religion and science.

On Wednesday Mr Ahmed, who was appointed to run the BBC’s religion and ethics department three years ago having been religion commissioner at Channel 4, will take part in a discussion with other television executives called 'Rethinking the God slot’.

He will make it clear that he wants the corporation’s religious programmes to appeal to as broad an audience as possible, including atheists.

While he will retain traditional religious programmes such as Songs of Praise, he will increasingly commission shows that deal with faith in broader contexts, such as Dead Good Job, an observational series starting this week about the work of undertakers across different religious communities and people no faith.

He said: “When we say 'rethinking the God slot’, it is to say there’s probably a lot more religion on television than people realise, it’s just not classed in the old-fashioned sense as, 'it is at this time, therefore it’s a God slot kind of programme’.

“The old fashioned concept of, 'it’s Sunday, it’s this time of day, every channel has got some kind of programme about Christianity’...those days are gone.

“People are fascinated by religion and you don’t have to know that you’re watching a specific programme about religion.”

Mr Ahmed, whose appointment in 2009 was criticised by some commentators because he is a Muslim - and even prompted complaints to the BBC - pledged earlier this year that Songs of Praise would remain a Christian programme and would not become multifaith.

In 2010 he accused members of the Church of England of “living in the past” by comparing the number of hours currently given to religious broadcasting to equivalent figures from the 1980s.
Alan Henness

There are three fundamental questions for anyone advocating Brexit:

1. What, precisely, are the significant and tangible benefits of leaving the EU?
2. What damage to the UK and its citizens is an acceptable price to pay for those benefits?
3. Which ruling of the ECJ is most persuasive of the need to leave its jurisdiction?

Nick
Posts: 11027
Joined: July 4th, 2007, 10:10 am

Re: TFTD campaign

#100 Post by Nick » September 10th, 2012, 11:17 am

Thanks for that, Alan. :)

Some comments: Why is Dawkins called "outspoken", whereas Lord Sachs, for example, is not? Grrr!!
At the conference, Re:think, the BBC will also unveil new figures showing that the number of people in Britain who affiliate with a religion has dropped from 68 per cent in 1983 to 53 per cent last year.

The figures also show a significant gap between younger and older members of society, with 77 per cent of people over 66 saying they are religious compared to 35 per cent of people aged between 18 and 25.
Andrew Copson spoke eloquently about these stats on Sunday BBC TV, and pointed out that they are part of a continuation of such surveys over the years. WHat stands out is not that people become more religious as they grow older, but that each age-group is becoming less and less religious as time goes by.
Mr Ahmed, the BBC’s first Muslim head of religion, said it was natural that Christians should make up the majority of speakers on Thought for the Day.

He said: “The state religion is still Christianity and the vast majority of people in this country come from a Christian background.
Come from.... but have left? And there are many, many times the number of non-believers compared to Jews, Sikhs, Hindus, Buddhists, etc.
"I don’t think it’s unreasonable to suggest that in percentage terms you are probably going to have more Christians than you’re going to have Jews or Hindus. I think that makes a lot of sense.”
So why exclude atheists?
At this week’s event, which is the BBC’s inaugural religion and ethics conference, Lord Sacks, the Chief Rabbi, will take part in a debate with Prof Richard Dawkins, the outspoken atheist, on the relationship between religion and science.
Looking forward to it!
He will make it clear that he wants the corporation’s religious programmes to appeal to as broad an audience as possible, including atheists.
Then it will have to include the atheist perspective. (To be fair, Radio 4's Sunday programme does, though to a limited extent.)
Mr Ahmed, whose appointment in 2009 was criticised by some commentators because he is a Muslim - and even prompted complaints to the BBC - pledged earlier this year that Songs of Praise would remain a Christian programme and would not become multifaith.
A Muslim Songs of Praise ! How the Christians would howl!

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Tetenterre
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Re: TFTD campaign

#101 Post by Tetenterre » September 10th, 2012, 4:13 pm

Nick wrote:Some comments: Why is Dawkins called "outspoken", whereas Lord Sachs, for example, is not? Grrr!!
Two questions:

#1. Do you think this may answer your question?
#2. Why not? :wink:
Steve

Quantum Theory: The branch of science with which people who know absolutely sod all about quantum theory can explain anything.

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