Do we need a humanist Thought for the Day?

There is no need for humanist voices on Radio 4’s Thought for the Day (Report, 13 November; Letters, 13 November). Radio 4 already broadcasts A Point of View every week. In the 10 years that strand has been running there hasn’t been a single theist contributor. This can’t be a coincidence; it must surely be an undisclosed editorial choice.

Together with its repeat, A Point of View is broadcast for 18 minutes every week, which is longer than all the Thoughts for the Day combined. Just like Thought for the Day, sometimes it’s good and sometimes it’s risible. I don’t want it dropped, or opened to religious contributors. Broadcasting is not a wise ground on which to stage religious battles. Let all speak. But perhaps we should just label the strands more honestly – Religious Thought for the Day and A Secular Point of View.
Andrew Graystone
Manchester

• Surely, in an increasingly secular world, to have a brief Thought for the Day with a religious input hardly seems an imposition of views. For humanists to whinge about this is akin to rock music fans complaining that Jazz Hour excludes them. Also, despite their protestations, it would appear that the vast majority of voluntary work to help other human beings is staffed by those with a strong religious belief. Fair words butter no parsnips.
Ken Gambles
Knaresborough, North Yorkshire

• I couldn’t agree more with the views of humanists concerning Thought for the Day. If the BBC wants to justify its religious preferences then it should call the programme Religious Thought for the Day. Likewise the so-called Songs of Praise should either reflect its title or be renamed Songs of Christian Praise given that it adheres exclusively to the Christian faith.
Carole Underwood
Kendal, Cumbria

• Of course Thought for the Day should be open to humanists for their contribution to the stream of voices, religious and non-religious, commenting on the important ethical issues of our time. No religion or ideology has a monopoly on truth, no matter how loud the voices, how certain the viewpoints. Surely we should look beyond the divisions in an increasingly tribalistic world and see what is good and life-affirming in all faith and non-faith traditions? Bring it on! Let’s have some thoughts for each day that lift our spirits to face whatever that day brings.
Rev Adrian Alker
Chair, Progressive Christianity Network Britain

• Not only are the majority of contributors to Thought for the Day Christians, they are almost exclusively Anglicans, especially bishops, who presumably have little else to do with themselves when not exercising their privilege – unique among British clergymen and -women – of sitting in the House of Lords.

Speaking as a Scot and a lapsed Presbyterian, the continuance of this programme is a daily reminder of the southern metropolitan bias of the BBC.
Harry Watson
Edinburgh

• In response to the letter from the great and the good, can I, as a more humble atheist, request that the BBC don’t commission an atheist Thought for the Day. The self-appointed spokespeople of the godless from the humanists or the Secular Society will give us three minutes of homilies while trying to shoehorn a simplistic moral aphorism into a current news story. I currently have one spot a day to remind me that religious certainty is the route to smugness and tedium.
Dr Christopher Fasey
Leigh-on-Sea, Essex

• The main problem with Thought for the Day is not that it provides an unchallenged religious slot but that usually it is drivel. I do not see how handing the slot to humanists or agnostics will improve matters.
John Clark
Bristol

• I take Thought for the Day as a signal to stop listening and get up.
Peter Lowthian
Marlow, Buckinghamshire

• It is equally important to include humanism in RE agreed syllabuses as many students subscribe to “religious” values but, in my experience, can feel excluded if a humanist approach is not included in study and discussion. Many students in adulthood will choose humanist rites of passage, from a naming ceremony to a humanist funeral.
Liz Byrne
Letchworth, Hertfordshire

• Join the debate – email guardian.letters@theguardian.com

• Read more Guardian letters – click here to visit gu.com/letters

• Do you have a photo you’d like to share with Guardian readers? Click here to upload it and we’ll publish the best submissions in the letters spread of our print edition