Pause for Thought radio scripts

I have just finished four scripts for Pause for Thought for BBC Radio 2. I’ll be recording these on Monday 15 March. Three of them will air on 5, 6 and 7 April, but I’m not sure when the fourth one will be broadcast.

The scripts are ‘Baha’i-lite’. I’ve been writing ‘pause for thought’ type scripts for many years. I did several series on the BBC World Service, but the ones I’ve been doing for the last few years go out sometime before 6.30am on BBC Radio 2’s Sarah Kennedy show. I used to write about the Faith much more directly than I do now. Apparently Sarah Kennedy’s listeners can’t take anything too heavy at that time of the morning, so the scripts have to have a story - preferably personal to me - and make a moderate moral point.

The problem is that I really prefer BBC Radio 4, much more heavyweight. My thinking and writing style is much more Radio 4 than Radio 2, so I have to put myself in a particular frame of mind to write these scripts. This means they take a long time to write and the fee I get paid for writing and recording them comes down to a rather pathetic hourly rate.

Anyway, to give you a sense of what they’re like, here’s one I made earlier…

Technorati Tags: Baha’i, Bahai, BBC, religion, scripts

Climate change ? agriculture

Later today I?ll need to pop out to buy another loaf of bread, a couple of litres of milk and something for dinner. As I pick up the plastic wrapped items from the supermarket shelves, I probably won?t give more than a passing thought to the produce the food. The food?s just there. All I have to do is pay, cart it home and eat it.

Actually, I should give them more than a passing thought. Agriculture is the foundation of our life ? largely unseen and disregarded, but essential. And every time I drive to the supermarket and back to buy the food produced by the farmers I am actually undermining this foundation.

During the 20 minutes it takes me to drive to and from the supermarket, my car is pumping greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Those gases make a major contribution to climate change.

Climate change affects all of us. Already the south east of England is in drought after an unusually dry winter. Other parts of the world have suffered unprecedented floods or vastly destructive wildfires. And over the next century or so millions may find themselves pushed from their homes by rising sea levels.

All of this will have a major impact on agriculture. There?s a real risk that we or our children or grandchildren will go short of food.

So what can we do?

Bah??u?ll?h, founder of the Bah??? Faith, teaches that we must work together create a peaceful and just global civilization. We need to apply spiritual values in a practical way.

An interesting example comes from a Bah???-inspired project in the African country of Chad.

The project trains communities in improved fishing practices, fish farming, and the preservation of fish through smoking and curing. And it promotes composting, reforestation, and wildlife protection.

But that?s not all. The communities may start with fish farming, but they soon realize their children aren’t educated. So they save the money they make through fish farming and decide to create a community school. Next, perhaps, they realize they have a problem with health. So the project assists with health education. In this way, the village gradually raises itself up.

The project has started more than140 community groups. The groups learn how to govern themselves using the kind of participative democracy favoured by Bah???s. A number of the groups have branched out into other endeavours, such as women’s literacy classes and village granaries.

Empowering people and helping them to help themselves like this is an expression in action of the spiritual values that the Bah???s involved live by. And it?s a smart way to help protect the environment and reduce climate change.