BBC's Pause for Thought

^{Dear SMART: I thought you might be interested in the following correspondence I had with the BBC regarding their “Pause for Thought” radio programme. Pause for Thought is a 2 minute “warm and fuzzy” for religion that is aired twice every day on BBC Radio 2. In my reply I borrowed some wording from the SMART website. I hope you don’t mind!}

^{John Gibb, Southampton, England}

^{(from BBC in blue)}

^{Dear John,}

<sup>Thank you for your message regarding 'Pause For Thought'. I am sorry that you feel like this about the programme. We have taken note of your views, and always take our listeners opinions extremely seriously. However, we have many letters from listeners who value Pause For Thought and enjoy it very much.

Regards,
Lucy</sup>

^{Lucy Greenwell
Unique
London}

^{Dear Lucy:}

<sup>Thank you for responding so quickly to my email to Janice Long. Please excuse my ignorance but I don’t know your title at the BBC or what the word “Unique” has to do with “Pause for Thought.”

Your comment about the many letters you receive in favour of Pause for Thought is interesting. When I was young, 50 odd years ago, religion permeated every aspect of society and the BBC broadcast many hours of religious programming every week. Much of that has now disappeared in sync with religion’s dwindling number of followers. Religious people must now be very grateful to receive even 2 minutes a day on Radio 2 - and I’m sure they let you know!</sup>

^{Pause for Thought is religious propaganda – pure and simple. Yes, the programmes are often ostensibly about worthy human traits: empathy, slowness to anger, honesty, unselfishness etc. But the link to religion is always there. This connection is totally erroneous! Religion masquerades as a force for good but is in fact a pernicious evil. It is like a disease. It infects people’s minds and robs them of the freedom to determine their own destiny. It breeds intolerance, it stunts intellectual growth and it keeps its victims in a child-like state of dependency. And that is just on a personal level!}

^{Globally, religion spawns fanaticism. Religious fanaticism is the driving force behind much of the terrorism that threatens us all. To try to eradicate individuals who believe they will be rewarded in heaven the instant they detonate themselves is like swatting at individual virus carrying mosquitoes. Instead, we should be “spraying” the religious “swamps” that breed these fanatics. The “spray” in this case is education. We need to counter the propaganda that these usually young and impressionable men are being fed by their religious leaders. Educated people are much more likely to question the validity of religious dogma and far less likely to allow themselves to become brainwashed couriers of death.}

^{By giving free, unchallenged airtime to religion the BBC is being part of the problem and not the cure.}

^{Pause for Thought should be removed immediately – letters of support notwithstanding.}

^{If this is not possible then equal air time should be allowed so that the ridiculous assertions spouted by some of the presenters can be challenged and their stupidity and/or hypocrisy exposed.}

^{If this is not possible then there should also be an alternative Pause for Thought – one that promotes worthy ideals but with no mention of religion.}

^{If this is not possible, at the very, very, least, each Pause for Thought should be preceded by the statement, “The views expressed in this programme do not necessarily reflect those of the BBC.”}

^{When John Lennon sang “Imagine…. no religion” he wasn’t wrong, he was just ahead of his time. I believe that time has come. "You may say I’m a dreamer but I’m not the only one. I hope some day you’ll join us and the world will be as one.”}

^{John Gibb}

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