Sunday

My old reviews of Radio 4's Sunday sometimes used to quote the Spectator's Damian Thompson saying "Radio 4's Sunday programme offers perhaps the most undiluted liberal bias to be found anywhere on the BBC", and I'd often note the programme's heavy tendency to make certain types of campaign the starting point for its discussions. 

Today's edition, for example, had sections on (a) a campaign to challenge the government's handling of the arrival of "unaccompanied child refugees from Europe" (by people who want the government to bring in more migrant children), (b) a campaign by retired bishops condemning the present House of Bishops calling for not leading on issues like same-sex marriage and (c) a campaign (of sorts) by the Archbishop of Canterbury to 'dethrone Mammon'. The programme's website shows it was also going to include (d) a campaign against 'excessive pay deals' for the bosses of FTSE 350 companies, but that got dropped.

All very Sunday!

There was also a section on "a pioneering NHS project that is using faith and belief as part of its mental health treatment for Muslim patients" (Islam on the NHS!), which is also very Sunday -especially as the project was given an entirely uncritical gloss by the BBC reporter (Alex Strangwayes-Booth). 

However, we did also hear about some less positive aspects of using the Islamic faith. We heard first about how the blasphemy trial of Jakarta's Christian governor "is testing Indonesia's pluralist constitution and multi-faith society" and then how "fans of Bollywood movies in Pakistan will not be able to watch an Indian blockbuster after the country's film board banned the movie for its apparently unflattering depictions of Muslims", both reported with a high degree of BBC impartiality. 

Plus there was a lively debate between two Christians about Christianity's relationship to violence. 

I still think Damian Thompson had a point about Sunday.