minute secular thought pieces were recorded at Bush House with Christopher Templeton, Nicolas Walter and Anthony Grey. However, the BBC commented that it wanted to keep Thought for the Day a unique offering of a faith perspective within an otherwise entirely secular news programme. The last secular Pause for Thought was recorded for BBC World Service in 2002. An "Alternative Thought for the Day" was offered by Unitarian minister Andrew Pakula on Boxing Day 2013, at the request of guest editor Sir Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the World Wide Web and a Unitarian himself. Berners-Lee had wished Pakula to present his thoughts within Thought for the Day, but the BBC hierarchy claimed this was not appropriate, since Pakula describes himself as an atheist. Instead he was allowed to deliver his message an hour earlier, with a theistic Unitarian minister appearing in the actual Thought for the Day slot. Pakula used his message to reflect on the underlying meaning of Christmas. In a brief discussion with Today host Mishal Husain, Pakula said, "The BBC talks about not allowing people of 'no faith' to present Thought for the Day, well, what does 'no faith' mean? Here I am, I'm a minister of religion, leading a congregation talking about peace and love, and I'm considered a person of no faith because I say I'm an atheist." The controversy was covered in Britain's main broadsheets such as The Guardian, The Independent and Daily Telegraph and as far afield as Australia. Since 2007, the website Platitude of the Day has offered a daily humorous, critical counter to Thought for the Day. References External links Thought for the day Thought for the day British religious radio programmes BBC Radio 4 programmes