[Closed] Radio 4 - what's with the God bothering?

Thought for the day. Grrrr.

Thought for the day really annoys me. it's just a bunch of words spoken, by some religous person, in an order that doesn't make much sense to my working class ears.

It's when they make some ridiculous connection between a popular news story and something in the bible that always winds me up on thought for the day. Tend to find the non-Christian ones a lot more tolerable.

Thought for the day really annoys me. it's just a bunch of words spoken, by some religous person, in an order that doesn't make much sense to my working class ears.

What are working class ears?

Always stick on Radcliffe and Maconie of an evening after listening to R4 for most of the day (apart from The Archers and Libby 'Luvvy' Purve's Midweek). I'll tolerate TFTD in a morning but not a full hour of it. Church singing as well 😡

I think we should be allowed a humanist slot in the God slot for balance...they would like that seeing as they want tolerance
😈

It is blooming annoying but mercifully shorter than the Archers

Radio 4 - what's with the God bothering?

I was just about to post the same question?, just in the door fae work and about to make my tea wi R4 on in the background as usual and all i hear is some deluded warbling about someone going for a walk and flying up to the sky carried by a cloud but that's ok as he will return one day in the same way.

Oh will he now?, are you 100% sure about that?, in the words of my late neighbour who would often hold discourse over the fence on religious dogma, amongst varies other topics - "gerraaway wi ye ya ****'n edjits, s'a story n' a bloody shit yin at that".

Needless to say i i made the international rescue sign of the beast (praise be to iron maidens eddie - forever we follow) and the radio mysteriously changed onto 6music instead, if the ex-pope makes the sign then you know there must be something in it.

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edit : i see "f e c k n" is still banned, huh? - R4 allows it and they also allow god......... 😉

Maybe we should ban both...? (-:

(*grumbles about swear filter avoidance*)

😳 , c'mon though..... why is that such a "bad/banned" word?. It is a commonly used colloquialism for a descriptive noun that has other, more violent connotations i grant you but the slang term i used is heard on TV and radio on a daily basis?.

If we really do decide to ban the use of "God" as a word on stw then i dunno where the world is heading.........

K'ching.....gotcha 😆

Sorry....i was bored...., i'll take myself away and sit on the naughty step.

I can't say I've noticed r4 being particularly religious although its target audience I guess is likely to be more religious than say r1, having said that I can't stand gqt and is always turned off, I do like the archers so what do I know! 🙂

'Arse! F e c k!'
Good enough for Sunday evening family viewing... 😉

TBH i never understood why that word was allowed in general use as everyone knows what it really fraking means

It is frelling stupid

never understood why they were allowed on shows either tbh

One for the Sci-fi fans]

I listened to R4's Ascension Day programme whilst driving, nowt wrong with it, thought it quite a good listen all told. I do wish they would be more diverse though, could of had another Religious POV on after it..
TFTD is a good solid listen IMO. Far better than the Archers rubbish.

dont knock ascension day

i get a day off work here in Norway cause of it

I'm a born again Christian and even I absolutely detest thought for the day.

c'mon though..... why is that such a "bad/banned" word?.

Search me, it's before my time. There was probably a reason for it.

Dunno but I called someone who deserved it a cnt once and got an email saying there was no need for it.

So, you know, pay the penance.

Edit: Anyway, I like what some Buddhist text has to say.

🙂

iirc drac posted up about this at the time and the reason was that it was basically used to insult folk and or to swear at folk- mods did debate it apparently
**** off
you stupid **** er [EDIT if you type it with er it allows it but given post below from Mr mod I changed it - Not sure if your comment was to me or him above]

you dumb ****

that basically

I may be mis recalling this so apologies if i am but think it makes sense to have made this decision

There is no need for it, that's what the 'report post' button is for.

And don't try to evade the swear filter or you'll get another one.

Taken. Not being deliberately belligerent.

Moving on.

Operating under a royal charter from the Queen who is also the head of the Church of England it's just what you'd expect. Anything different would be treason wouldn't it?

Seriously, there is a lot of whining about this and it is slowly removing my tolerance. There is a lot more non-religious content on R4 than religious content. Just listen for a full day and/or have a look at the schedule to see. Radio isn't just about fulfilling your own agenda - it is there to appeal to people with varied life perspectives/philosophies.

Grow up and stop bloody whinging. It's not all about you.

it is there to appeal to people with varied life [s]perspectives/philosophies[/s] fairy belief systems.

FIFY

To be fair,

If it's a celebration of one day, I'm not sure as I have much of a problem with it. It's no different than Easter, say. There's plenty of radio output I've no time for personally, the incessant football reports for a start.

In related news, have you scrolled through the DAB stations these days? It's a religious paradise, every second station is something worshippy. So there's presumably demand for it.

Grow up and stop bloody whinging. It's not all about you.

This is the answer to about 80% of the posts on here 😀

Nice one Surfer. Nothing like ridiculing the beliefs of others to make you feel better about your own inadequacies eh?

Thought for the day really annoys me.

Someone expressing views not your own? How awful!

I listen to it as many of them (admittedly mostly the non-Christian ones) are interesting, and even the cheesy stupid ones are an insight into that religion. But then I would appear to be a lot more open minded than much of STW, going by these threads!

But then I would appear to be a lot more open minded than much of STW, going by these threads!

Unless we get to discussing diets, Eh?

Being open minded is not the same as being easily convinced!

Nice one Surfer. Nothing like ridiculing the beliefs of others to make you feel better about your own inadequacies eh?

I feel quite superior actually 🙂 you know like a higher life form and that

Someone expressing views not your own? How awful!

I listen to it as many of them (admittedly mostly the non-Christian ones) are interesting, and even the cheesy stupid ones are an insight into that religion.

The fact that they do not allow any non religious contributors seems at odds with this though. Why should the non-religious not get a chance to contribute an opinion, like Channel 4 does?

I just tried to find the Kenny Everett sketch where the bloke in the bowler hat, 'outraged of Tunbridge Wells' type, says:

You've got a knob. Use it!

The fact that they do not allow any non religious contributors seems at odds with this though

Fair point, but you could argue that it's non-religious all day long.

I like TFTD, I am not religious, but it does sometime make me think about a topic I wouldn't have otherwise considered.

I don't really mind which faith is being represented, they are a nice break from the political interviews 😀

I have tried listening to other radio stations on my commute and to be honest only Radio 4 sets me in the right frame of mind for work.

There is a lot more non-religious content on R4 than religious content

it is there to appeal to people with varied life perspectives/philosophies.

the incessant football reports for a start.

BURN THE HEATHEN BURN HIM NOW

but you could argue that it's non-religious all day long.

They legally have to do a God slot but not an atheist or humanist slot. they have daily act of worship and longer one on Sunday and a few other programmes ....you could argue it i guess but it would be weak.
Religious radio and tv stations exist as do other ones that cater for fiction. 😉

Thanks for the reminder of what is often a short valuable piece for reflection. So from Iplayer this morning, following commnets on the wisdom of Mandela, I heard

"For a society to avoid the ravages of injustice, it must attend to the wisdom that it's older members draw reflectively from their memories as well to the aspirations of its youth."

Followed by a one sentence prayer on this topic. Thoughtful words and the religion hardly thrust down anyone's throats. And people object?

But this topic does bring out lovely paradoxes such as banning the word God and my favourite STW religious thread paradox - "tolerant of all but the intolerant" (or words to that effect). Passed on to an English teacher recently!

religion hardly thrust down anyone's throats. And people object?

Tolerant of all but the intolerant was used by me in respect of neo nazis I have never seen it on a religious thread tbh.
Hope they understood it seeing as you seem to be struggling with it.

What would they think if every day on the news programme it was replaced by a why you should be atheist slot and a musing from Whoppit or Dawkins?

TFTD isn't telling you you should be a Christian though.

Calm down JY. 😉 Actually if I recall correctly you did re-use it recently on a religious thread and it bought a smile to my face. A nice alternative to "all Cretans are liers, said the Cretan." I understood what you meant, but enjoyed the unintentional paradox more, as did my colleague.

Given the the vast majority of media time is spent "thrusting" secular ideas down peoples throats and force feeding young people with sexual imagery and false ideas of future success (BB, BGT, Apprentice etc) a [i]very small [/i]balance seems wholly appropriate (wow, that is almost Daily Wail, so I will await Norman and his two footed, studs up challenge soon!).The fact that a few minutes slot of contemplation from different religious leaders causes such angst proves my point exactly.

Remind me when it is broadcast and how often during the day? And compare that with the quantity of secular messages. Hardly an imbalance? But for the same idea put more eloquently:

"...it must be possible to remain a committed atheist and nevertheless find regions sporadically useful, interesting and consoling - and be curious as to the possibilities of importing certain ideas and practices into the secular realm....the error of modern atheism has been to overlook how many aspects of the faiths remain relevant even after their central tenets have been dismissed."

Chapter 1. Religion for Atheists. Alain de Botton.

molgrips -

But then I would appear to be a lot more [s]open[/s] closed minded than much of STW, going by these threads!

....the error of modern atheism has been to overlook how many aspects of the faiths remain relevant even after their central tenets have been dismissed

Bloody nonsense!

The error of critics of 'modern atheism' is to assume that an absence of belief in which ever of the religious ideas prevalent at the time somehow equates to a single mind-set which can be criticised in such a throwaway manner.

Philosopher, my arse.

I don't understand this "modern" atheism reference.

Is there some difference between atheism today and atheism from history?

One word of 'god' on stw then molgrips and teamhurtmore are on it like the religious police trying to beat us all into submission

Poor comparison is there a lot more dedicated atheism or humanist slots

I'm not convinced that's fair. Atheism is the absence of belief, as we've argued at length here previously; so b; extension the "atheist slot" on the radio is the other 99% of Radio 4's output which doesn't mention religion, n'est-ce pas?

...it must be possible to remain a committed atheist and nevertheless find regions sporadically useful,

Clutch those straws baby, clutch them!

I was going to say that I thought this was a bit weaselly; it essentially says "ok, we realise that we're not going to convince you about that messy 'god' thing, but can you do what we say and reinforce our organisation anyway please?" But then Crikey made what is perhaps a better point there.

Don't jump to conclusions IR, that is very close-minded. My view is much closer to de Botton's and I find much of value from different religions and secular notions - i do not believe in the exclusivity of either. Hence TFT, or isn't is called (more provocatively 😉 ) Prayer for the Day, is often worth listening to. Today's version proves this point exactly IMO.

To coin a dreadful Americanism, I was grateful for the heads-up or reminder to listen to the replay today.

Cougar, don't forget that those words come from an atheist! The subtitle of the book is "A non-believer's guide to the uses of religion."

Oh, and,

and be curious as to the possibilities of importing certain ideas and practices into the secular realm

... implies a theistic monopoly on 'certain ideas'. I'd love to know what these certain ideas are which are wholly exclusive to religion and ignored by atheists. The only ones I can think of offhand, we ignore for a reason.

But then I would appear to be a lot more open closed minded than much of STW, going by these threads!

Ooooohhhh...

Philosopher, my arse.

Touche!

One word of 'god' on stw then molgrips and teamhurtmore are on it like the religious police

Thought police, please.

Cougar, you can satisfy you "love to know" for £6.98 on Amazon!

And big leap from "CURIOUS to the POSSIBILITES.." to ideas of theist monopolies. Still I will leave you to choose whether to read what he says!

One word of 'god' on stw then molgrips and teamhurtmore are on it like the religious police

Thought police, please.

Lol 🙂

There is much of value in religions, largely because historically, religions have been the vehicle by which morality has been expressed and codified. Religions have also played an enormous part in creating and regulating the societies and cultures we live in.

But from those beginnings as a method of tribal identification and control, we now live in a different world, and should be able to view religion in a different way, recognising it as a social construct, recognising the way it has shaped our societies, and not accepting it without criticism.

Thought for The Day is an anachronism as long as it only accepts religious viewpoints, and the defence of such an anachronism is itself indefensible.

See? I can do this stuff as well as Alain (without reference to any "his last name is Bottom!" juvenility'...

Crickey, don't be silly, I am not a kid. Bottom was due to bloody auto-correct and edited Immediately when spotted and before your post.

Crickey, don't be silly, I am not a kid. Bottom was due to bloody auto-correct and edited when spotted. Thank you.

I didn't notice what you'd written... He always make me chuckle because of his faux seriousness and his name!

Cougar, don't forget that those words come from an atheist! The subtitle of the book is "A non-believer's guide to the uses of religion."

It doesn't really matter what the author believes, I could publish a book called "a Christian's guide to Islam" if I liked.

Nevertheless. Without reading the book I'm not really equipped to comment on its content, so I can only really respond to quotes as presented.

Cougar, you can satisfy you "love to know" for £6.98 on Amazon!

I guess when I said "love to know", I really meant "am vaguely curious." (-:

And big leap from "CURIOUS to the POSSIBILITES.." to ideas of theist monopolies.

You misunderstand. He's apparently "curious to the possibilities of importing certain ideas into the secular realm," he's not curious to the possibilities that there might be these "certain ideas" we don't already have, it's implied that this is already fact. (and it'd be a short book if page two was 'sorry, there aren't any. The end.')

That's what I was picking up on, that theism has exclusive claim to certain ideas. What would they be? Being nice to each other? Having a moral compass? Getting together as a community? If he has some blinding insight into what religion-exclusive ideas are missing from a secular existence, I'd [s]love[/s] be mildly interested in an example.

TFTD isn't telling you you should be a Christian though

so I will await Norman and his two footed, studs up challenge soon!)

And compare that with the quantity of secular messages

"atheist slot" on the radio is the other 99% of Radio 4's output which doesn't mention religion, n'est-ce pas?

What would be the point of a cookery programme mentioning religion - would it matter?

For crying out loud, not fish sandwiches again! Got any wine?

Say the film Die hard is suddenly an atheist film

Bad example. (-:

What would you say is an atheist film? Something that outwardly criticises religion? That actively mentions how all the characters don't believe in something? Is Dogma an atheist movie, perhaps? What about a movie that doesn't mention religion at all?

You seem to be confusing an absence of a belief in something with a belief in something else. Atheism doesn't necessarily imply militant Atheism. Either I'm misunderstanding your point or we might have to agree to disagree here.

TFTD isn't telling you you should be a Christian though.

It is often sanctimonious and condescending and there is a clear message that morality stems from religious adherence. To say this isnt the case is quite wrong.
Believers are better people, Anne Atkins said so!

Junkyard - lazarus
You cannot claim that everything that does not mention god is atheism

Very true, which is why I dont. BTW, apologies if comments were seen as sarcastic - not intended. If it was the intolerant bit, I do think that this was a genuinely interesting comment - totally straight there. If it was calm down, then that was just your previous post seemed slightly agitated!!

Crikey - fair enough re Bottom stuff! There are times when auto-correct is a pain (how many times does Grum get referred to as Grim on here?). I have only seen de Botton briefly on TV and read his book subsequently. Since it is currently on the shelf alongside Titch Nhat Han (comparing Buddhism and Christainity), Pope JPII (more restrictive), Dawkins, Russell, Nietsche and others, I have a habit of recoiling against accusations of being a religions policeman or of thrusting religions views down others.

You seem to be confusing an absence of a belief in something with a belief in something else.

Your right they have no interest in spreading their message that is why they are national radio telling you about their religion

We've done this before. Telling someone about something is not the same as trying to get them to agree with you.

If someone tells me about say Ramadan, I don't think they are trying to convert me to Islam. I'd be interested because it's part of the world in which I live.

surfer - Member
It is often sanctimonious and condescending and there is a clear message that morality stems from religious adherence. To say this [s]isnt the case is quite wrong.[/s] is having an opinion that should be respected and vice versa

Isnt that better?

All this talk of cookery programs suggests that it might be time for lunch. Bon Appetit!

johnhe - Member

I'm a born again Christian and even I absolutely detest thought for the day.

I am a [s]lapsed[/s] massively backslidden hands-aloft Pentecostal, and I love TFTD, especially the ones that are not Christian. You don't have to agree with the Hindu bloke that was on this morning, but surely it is interesting or heaven forbid helpful to have an angle on a contemporary issue that represents the beliefs and values of other non-atheist minorities of the world's population.

I find much of value from different religions and secular notions

Not really sure if the Humanist or Atheist TFTD on for example, disbility discriminiation or the 'canonisation' of celebrities would differ very much at all from the values/morality that inform the rest of R4's output.

Hey, how's about we have an Atheist and/or Humanist 'thought for the day' thread on here. If it works, lets petition R4 to let them on too. 😀

No because some opinions should only be ridiculed.

No because some opinions should only be ridiculed.

Like that one? 🙂

If only I could get a few minutes on a nationwide radio program to share the joy mm.....

You do see the irony in that dont you Molly

If you rise to become spiritual leader of millions of people worldwide then I'm sure they'll let you on, surfer.

If you rise to become spiritual leader of millions of people worldwide then I'm sure they'll let you on, surfer.

I had no idea that sanctimonious trout Anne Atkins was so popular, are you including Twitter ?

is having an opinion that should be respected

No.

Respecting the right to have an opinion is different from respecting that opinion. Much as it'd like to have us believe, religion does not get an automatic get-out-of-jail free card for its hoary ideas.

If your opinion was that all the darkies and poofters should be rounded up and shot, should we respect that opinion? You're welcome to think it, but if you think it won't be challenged you're very much mistaken.

If you thought the moon was made of cheese, should we respect that opinion? Or would we be justified in ridiculing it? (Which is different from ridiculing the person holding it, of course.)

If you rise to become spiritual leader of millions of people worldwide then I'm sure they'll let you on, surfer.

Telling someone about something is not the same as trying to get them to agree with you.