According to Mark Thompson, that's what his mother said to him in 1979 when he announced that the Beeb had given him a job. And if he's to be believed, this is no longer the case, if in fact it ever was.
At a talk held by the public theology thinktank Theos last night, the Director General of the BBC spoke about faith, morality, the media - and how journalists should 'be themselves'. Photo: rsambrook
BBC broadcaster Jeremy Vine chaired the session, which took place at Millbank in London. Over the course of the event, Thompson shared his thoughts on the relationship between religion and the media in the 21st century and took questions from the floor.
Some of his points were quite intriguing. Thompson argued that the real turning point in terms of coverage of religion was not September 11, 2001, but the publication of The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie in 1988. That was when media types woke up to the fact that religion was not dying a death and that to do their jobs properly, they would need to get their heads around issues of faith. His advice to journalists to 'be themselves' - rather than pretend that they didn't have any personal religious beliefs - was also refreshing to hear.
However, much of Thompson's speech had been made before; for example, in his lecture at Westminster Cathedral earlier this year. And often, it felt more like a defence of the BBC rather than an attempt to grapple with the real issues at a pan-industry level. Not only that, he stumbled onto quite shaky ground at several junctures.
His claim, for example, that the BBC's 2008 dramatisation of the gospel story, The Passion, was 'faithful to the gospel narrative' was more than a bit of a stretch. The programme was rightly applauded for its innovative approach to the biblical narrative and its screening in prime time was a real success. Nevertheless, it shamelessly promoted the 'vision theory' of the resurrection of Jesus without an awareness of the flaws of this approach.
Thompson's claim - which I've heard parroted by others at the BBC - that interest in faith is actually growing among commissioners and controllers is certainly not what I've heard. A well-placed source within the BBC told me that far from having an open door policy towards religion, many commissioners have their doors firmly shut. Also, the BBC is far from being a homogeneous organisation. Many may have opened their minds, but others - particularly at senior levels - have not.
Moaning aside, I was encouraged by Thompson's final point that religion is essentially about storytelling - and that Christians have to find new ways of telling those stories. Amen to that, Mark. We'll certainly try.
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