Surprise has greeted the appointment by the BBC of a Head of Religion and Ethics who is without religious faith. Mr Alan Bookbinder, the son of a Jewish father and a Roman Catholic mother who describes himself as "an open-hearted, open-minded agnostic", is the first non-believer in the post.
"I am a passionate believer that spiritual and ethical issues are central to people's lives," he said, adding that the marriage of his parents - both of whom had a firm belief in their own religions - meant that "from an early age I had experience of some of the tensions that strong faith throws up".
The last incumbent, the Rev Ernest Rea, resigned last December, accusing the BBC of sidelining religion and "dancing to a secular tune".
Reaction to the appointment of Mr Bookbinder (45), a programme-maker responsible for award-winning series such as The Human Body and Brain Story, was mixed. A spokesman for the Church of England was "moderately relaxed" about the news.
A senior Anglican figure said: "To be committed to that job you need to believe not only in the validity of the subject but also in its supreme importance. God cannot be treated as one manager among many at the executive board table."
The head of the Catholic Communications Centre said he would give Mr Bookbinder "the benefit of the doubt at this stage". The Chief Rabbi, Dr Jonathan Sacks, said that "an unconventional choice may be precisely what religion needs if it is to regain its force in a secular age".
I understand that the BBC is to announce a number of other senior appointments this week, and I can already reveal a number of these, among them the appointment of Mr Cuthbert J. Entwistle as Head of Sports.
Mr Entwistle (54) candidly admits he is without any sporting faith whatever. He has however an "open-hearted attitude" towards "football and all that" and is the son of a runner-up in a schools tiddlywinks championship (his mother) and a lower league lacrosse player (his father).
A Football Association spokesperson expressed doubts about the appointment. "A person in this position needs to believe not only in the validity of football but also in its supreme importance. God - I mean Alex Ferguson - cannot be treated as one manager among many at the executive board table."
The Evangelical Sporting Alliance warned that the appointment might drive sport believers to alternative forms of communication such as niche channels.
Some surprise is also bound to greet the appointment of Ms Harriet Mouse as the new Head of Light Entertainment. Ms Mouse is a member of an obscure religious sect, the Heavy Gang, which abhors all forms of levity and is dedicated to "seriousness in all its forms". She is highly respected in her own academic field, particularly for her three-volume History of the British Snail, and believes she can "shine a new light" in the entertainment area.
Others were not so confident. The well-known sitcom creator Mike Little said the BBC was now "dancing to a religious tune". Informed of this, Ms Mouse defended herself by firmly asserting she did not even know what dancing was.
An Equity spokesman said his organisation retained an open mind on the appointment, and recognised the new head's wish to "find new and imaginative ways to explore entertainment issues" and would look forward to working with her.
Ms Mouse emphasised that while she herself was an agnostic as far as entertainment went, her father had always wanted to be a stand-up comedian, while her mother made a speciality of telling jokes at funerals. "From an early age I had experience of some of the tensions that strong entertainment throws up."
More controversy will probably be aroused by the appointment of Mr Obadiah Bodley as the new Head of Current Affairs. Mr Bodley (78), a recluse living in an underground cave on the Yorkshire Moors for the last 60 years, admits he has not the slightest idea of what has been going on in Britain or anywhere else for over half a century.
When I talked to Mr Bodley, I had to explain to him the terms "press conference", "talking heads", "controversy" and "round-table discussion", but he insisted he could "bring an old, inward-looking eye" to his new job, and would be refreshingly closed to different points of view.
A well-known current affairs presenter who had thought himself in line for the job was scathing about Mr Bodley, but the latter drew support from the Chief Rabbi, who said that "an unconventional choice may be precisely what current affairs need if they are to regain their force in an entertainment age".
The last I saw of Obadiah Bodley, he was deep in discussion with Mr Entwistle and Ms Mouse about their new-found responsibilities, and there is little doubt that the BBC can congratulate itself on its brave and innovative appointments.
bglacken@irish-times.ie