by Tim Wyatt, The Critical Friend
The once banally dull Thought for the Day has unexpectedly prompted a spicy backlash from Christian conservatives; and how did a leading theological college collapse so spectacularly?
Thought for the Day is a Radio 4 institution, which has been going since 1939 under various names (it was first started a few months into the Second World War). Then known as ‘Lift Up Your Hearts: A thought for the day’, it has always been a few minutes of religious (originally just Christian) reflections just before 8am. A period of stillness amongst the busyness of breaking news and the ferocity of political rowing that makes up the rest of the morning slot on Radio 4.
Except, last week, it got quite political and quite spicy. Krish Kandiah was on the rota on Wednesday. Kandiah is an interesting figure in his own right, having done many things throughout his career. He has been a theologian and college principal, he’s a writer and author, an evangelist and speaker. He founded a pro-adoption Christian charity, is a long-time foster carer, and he’s chaired official government panels on social care. He’s a bit of a social media influencer and a columnist. And most recently he’s founded and led the Sanctuary Foundation, a refugee charity mostly working with those fleeing the war in Ukraine.
It was in this last capacity that he gave Thought for the Day last week. You can listen to the whole thing here. He began by explaining that almost all fears are learned behaviours, not innate, and yet many of them (whether about upcoming exam results or anxieties about our children) are misplaced. And then it got controversial. He pivoted to quoting Robert Jenrick, the Conservative MP and shadow justice secretary, who had written he did not want his daughters to “share a neighbourhood with men from backward countries who broke into Britain illegally and about whom we know next to nothing”.