When politicians start bandying Bible texts around, the British often go straight into cynical gear. It's just how we are. What about when journalists start doing the same? God forbid. But for some reason, nobody told Mark Thompson. During the most recent Faith and Life in Britain lecture at Westminster Cathedral, Mark went straight for the jugular, using the parable of the sower as his springboard. And yet, somehow, he pulled it off. I was pleasantly surprised by his talk. Watch this video of his speech to judge for yourself. Did you know, for example, that the term broadcasting has a biblical flavour about it?
According to Mark's explanation of the parable, broadcasting is a method of sowing seed over large swathes of ground. Television, he said, reminded him of that story, in that you just never know how people are going to respond to your programmes. Especially when they are edited like the trailer for A Year With The Queen, I suppose. Overall, however, I thought Mark's insights into how the BBC currently deals with religion illustrated well the mindset change that has taken place among some hard-nosed 'religion is dead' hacks over the years. The prize of the night, however, went to the Guardian's religious affairs correspondent, Riazat Butt, for asking Mark a question anonymously in hopes of getting a scoop. Marks out of ten for effort.
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