Transcript of Thought For the World's thought for the day

Tim Mills

25th February 2008

There has been some debate recently about why humanist and other non-religious voices are excluded from the Today programme's "Thought for the Day" slot. The key question is this: "Would allowing non-religious voices in the slot ruin its distinctiveness?"

What is distinctive about Thought for the Day? It's not one particular religious perspective, for many are heard. It's not even that every speaker refers to God. Many do; some don't. What is distinctive - the reason I enjoy listening to it - is that the slot gives a spiritual perspective on an event or issue of the day.

So the question now becomes, "Do humanists have a spiritual perspective to contribute?" It's easy for people - even humanists - to think that we don't. We humanists have a love-hate relationship with the word "spiritual". If I claim that I am a spiritual person, people will wrongly assume I believe in the supernatural - God, life after death, and so on. But if I claim that I am not a spiritual person, I risk being seen as shallow, as emotionally out of touch.

Clearly, one can live a meaningful life, be inspired, create works of art and literature, and still not believe in God or any of the other supernatural trappings of religion. That's what humanism is all about. And that's why humanists should not be afraid to call ourselves spiritual. It also means that we have a great deal to contribute to Thought for the Day, alongside our religious neighbours.

I recently attended the 80th birthday party of a long-time humanist. Rather than gifts, he collected donations for relief efforts in Darfur. What would someone like that say when we learn of renewed hostilities in a war-ravaged corner of the world?

I would love to hear a humanist celebrant, who has performed weddings and funerals, talk about how we can deal with grief in the wake of some horrible slaughter in Iraq, or on a university campus somewhere.

And perhaps we could even hear the spiritual side of someone like Richard Dawkins as, with his extensive knowledge of our evolutionary connections with the rest of life, he reflects on how such knowledge can inform our compassion for the natural world around us.

Thought for the Day is a precious interlude of spiritual contemplation in an otherwise hectic life. Its value stems from the fact that it strives to include a wide variety of spiritual voices from different traditions. Surely adding one more voice to the chorus could only enhance the music.

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