What is it about those in charge which makes them think they're experts on morality. Especially when they're devoutly religious. Tony Blair is convinced about the importance of religion and its role in guiding his life and work. He connived with the Americans in starting a war, while giving lectures on faith in politics.
BBC Director-General Mark Thompson is well known for his deep religious convictions, and his speech to the theology think tank Theos may have left the audience with the impression that faith and morality go together hand-in-hand.
According to Mr Thompson: "quite simply religion is back." People of faith - Christians, Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs - are, he says, all increasing in number as a proportion of the population whilst atheism is on the wane. In consequence, Mr Thompson believes the media can't avoid religion if they want to reflect the world.
If there's any truth in Thompson's suggestion that religion is growing in popularity, it didn't seem that way from a Newsround report on Sunday 28 September. Apparently churches in England Scotland and Wales are trying to get kids to attend Sunday services, but it seems most kids aren't interested. Maddy, who was presenting Newsround that day, said churches "are especially worried that Christian kids are going less than ever before." Three kids interviewed on the programme said they wanted to play football at the weekend, and were too busy to go to church.
Religion and Honesty are not always good companions despite Biblical Law forbidding falsehood. Anyway I've seen evidence which indicates a decline in religious belief, so I've written to Mark Thompson asking the sources for his claims and hope to hear back by the end of this week.
More on Mark's lecture:-
No comments:
Post a Comment