Thought for the Day, 13 June 2007

The Rev. Joel Edwards

Today, the Churches Media Council concludes its 40th annual conference. Some 300 people from across the United Kingdom will have met to talk about broadcasting and ask some pretty key questions about its future and in fact, the place of religion within it.

And this year we had a brilliant theme: A future and a hope.

But in case you're wondering this was not a self preservation society of Christian broadcasters. We were opened up to some fairly robust challenges from the new technologies to issues of freedom of speech.

The whole question raised a very central issue: if we are talking about a future and a hope, whose future and hope should we be concerned with anyway?

And how do Christians bring up the subject without evoking all sorts of fears and apprehensions about proselytising at the tax payer's expense? As we all know if you want to start a good debate, the relationship between religion and public services is as good as it gets. It still causes palpitations for politicians, policy makers and public service providers.

And you can understand why.

It's not just that there is still so much cynicism about religion from powerful decision makers. And it's not just because the persistence of religion can be an irritant to many people of no faith. But it's also because religion itself can come across as protectionism in the public square. But religion is at its best when it's looking out for everyone else's future.

A future and a hope was what God promised to the Jewish exiles who were dragged off to Babylon - a minority in an alien culture. But there was a catch: their future and hope was bound up in everybody else's well-being. "If Babylon prospers, you'll be OK". That was God's message to them.