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Does this BBC article seem biased against atheism?

It's hardly a 'burn the infidels' story however, the BBC has a regulatory obligation to present different cultural and religious views and other beliefs - specifically covered in section 9 of the BBC Charter:

"9. Representing the UK, its nations, regions and communities
(1) In developing (and reviewing) the purpose remit for representing the UK, its nations, regions and communities, the Trust must, amongst other things, seek to ensure that the BBC—
(a) reflects and strengthens cultural identities through original content at local, regional and national level, on occasion bringing audiences together for shared experiences; and
(b) promotes awareness of different cultures and alternative viewpoints, through content that reflects the lives of different people and different communities within the UK.
(2) In doing so, the Trust must have regard amongst other things to—
(a) the importance of reflecting different religious and other beliefs; and
(b) the importance of appropriate provision in minority languages."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbctrust/assets/files/pdf/about/how_we_govern/charter.pdf
 
Richard Dawkins, the Pope of Atheism

Does this BBC article seem biased against atheism?

The author is biased against Atheism or he wouldn't start off his article introducing Richard Dawkins as "the unofficial pope of Western atheism". Dawkins is no such thing, and there is no such office. The suggestion that Atheism would have a pope is a sly attempt to signal that Atheism is, after all, a form of religion. That's one place the bias creeps in.
 
FG10 said:
It's hardly a 'burn the infidels' story however, the BBC has a regulatory obligation to present different cultural and religious views and other beliefs - specifically covered in section 9 of the BBC Charter:

"9. Representing the UK, its nations, regions and communities
(1) In developing (and reviewing) the purpose remit for representing the UK, its nations, regions and communities, the Trust must, amongst other things, seek to ensure that the BBC—
(a) reflects and strengthens cultural identities through original content at local, regional and national level, on occasion bringing audiences together for shared experiences; and
(b) promotes awareness of different cultures and alternative viewpoints, through content that reflects the lives of different people and different communities within the UK.
(2) In doing so, the Trust must have regard amongst other things to—
(a) the importance of reflecting different religious and other beliefs; and
(b) the importance of appropriate provision in minority languages."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbctrust/assets/files/pdf/about/how_we_govern/charter.pdf
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I look forward to the piece extolling the virtues of Sharia law some time soon. Until then we'll just have to make do with today's BBC magazine headline article: The Calling; Why do Men Become Catholic Priests? An article explaining the selfless and noble work performed by these fine indeviduals.
 
TomPaine said:
Does this BBC article seem biased against atheism?

The author is biased against Atheism or he wouldn't start off his article introducing Richard Dawkins as "the unofficial pope of Western atheism". Dawkins is no such thing, and there is no such office. The suggestion that Atheism would have a pope is a sly attempt to signal that Atheism is, after all, a form of religion. That's one place the bias creeps in.
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Are you aware of the meaning of the word "unofficial"?
 
Seeing as how atheists still represent a tiny minority of the human adult population worldwide, it doesn't surprise me that atheists wouldn't be considered more than marginal.

Is there a lack of understanding? Absolutely. Atheists and theists on JREF (a place where atheists can feel more welcome to discuss their position and experiences more openly than most venues) still throw insults back and forth on a daily basis. As far as open, non-inflammatory communication goes, we're nowhere near where we need to be.
 
Bad Lieutenant said:
The queen doesn't have a choice about being the head of the CofE - because her ancesters though it best to keep control of the unweildy monster the monarch automatically has the title. That doesn't mean she has to sing it's praises - a "it's a dirty job but somebody's got to do it" approach would be just as understandable (moreso given the atheism of the vast majority of her subjects).

The official state religion part is also a hangover from the days when brits actually believed in god and so should obviously be downplayed, ignored and disestablished ASAP in line with the democratic state.

That course of action would be understandable - the UK isn't a very religious country at all these.

How didn't you notice?
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She's only head of the COE because Henry VIII wanted to get his leg over.
 
Bad Lieutenant said:
I look forward to the piece extolling the virtues of Sharia law some time soon. Until then we'll just have to make do with today's BBC magazine headline article: The Calling; Why do Men Become Catholic Priests? An article explaining the selfless and noble work performed by these fine indeviduals.
Click to expand...

Fill your boots:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/islam/beliefs/sharia_1.shtml
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/people/features/ihavearightto/four_b/casestudy_art07.shtml
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b010t69b
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/hardtalk/9384094.stm

Amazing what a few seconds in Google produces!
 
OCaptain said:
Seeing as how atheists still represent a tiny minority of the human adult population worldwide, it doesn't surprise me that atheists wouldn't be considered more than marginal.
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In the UK, atheists are not a tiny minority. Yes, we have a state religion, but it is more of a social club than a religion. I have a reasonably large circle of friends but only know two people who are religious.
 
Multivac said:
In the UK, atheists are not a tiny minority. Yes, we have a state religion, but it is more of a social club than a religion. I have a reasonably large circle of friends but only know two people who are religious.
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So, with your greater numbers and visibility in the UK, what kinds of movements toward a civil discourse have you managed? ( corporately, not you personally)
 
I didn't see that article, but I did listen to You and Yours phone-in on Tuesday, and thought it was very pro-religious.
 
When a professional news outlet chooses a picture shot from that angle, it's always deliberate. They know perfectly well how it looks.

That aside, the article is not so much biased as specious nonsense. The first things the author brings up are Christmas and Easter, i.e., the pagan festivals of winter and spring.
 
PixyMisa said:
When a professional news outlet chooses a picture shot from that angle, it's always deliberate. They know perfectly well how it looks.

That aside, the article is not so much biased as specious nonsense. The first things the author brings up are Christmas and Easter, i.e., the pagan festivals of winter and spring.
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There's also the chocolate cake simily. :mad: :)

It was good how they published that comment at the bottom of the article though talking about the pagan festivals. Those darn Xtians stole them! All that would be needed is to change the names (back?) - the Easter Bunny and Santa Clause have got **** all to do with Christianity afterall.
 
I guess organisations such as the BBC can never win when publishing/broadcasting content. Some atheists (here anyway) are seemingly convinced that the BBC has some kind of Christian agenda - yet Christians are just as irked about the BBC's seemingly atheistic agenda (such as the BBC using CE/BCE alongside AD/BC, broadcasting "Jerry Springer The Opera" under threat of blasphemy laws, broadcasting a series called "The Bible's Buried Secrets" which explored the claims of atheist Dr Francesca Stavrakopoulou, the reduction in religious broadcast content etc).

As an atheist myself, I would much rather have the rich cultural output of the BBC that, on the whole, balances the needs of its demograph with impartiality than the overtly Christian output of organisations such as Fox News.

So there is occasionally content that irks us - I can live with that!
 
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FG10 said:
[....]
As an atheist myself, I would much rather have the rich cultural output of the BBC that, on the whole, balances the needs of its demograph with impartiality than the overtly Christian output of organisations such as Fox News.

So there is occasionally content that irks us - I can live with that!
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As an American ex-pat currently resident in Central Europe, I'll second that--especially the bit about Fox News. :)
 
The BBC is the state media though; it's not analagous to FOX news. I wouldn't mind anything like as much, if at all, if it was ITV bigging up christianity and slagging off new atheism left right and centre. The FOX news analogy is a straw man, from where I'm sitting.

There's been a change recently; the conservative establishment is painting new atheism in a bad light - fighting to promote/preserve the religious/Christian establishment. I am convinced - the BBC is not impartial these days about this; it's bent out of shape.
 
On the BBC magazine.net frontpage today there're 3 picture-linked items painting Christianity in a good light (and swiping at new atheism a bit) - the latest being popular comedian Frank Skinner declaring his catholicism and discussing Christian art. And that's not including the item bigging-up the crucifix touting rappers. There are no other items on theism/atheism.

Doesn't seem very balanced to me. These days anyway.
 
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