I guess we shouldn’t be too surprised to see this in Turkey, the only country that has a lower rate of acceptance of evolution than the United States.
A new reality show called “Penitents Compete” (when translated) will soon premiere on Turkish television.
The premise:
Each week, a different group of atheists will appear in front of the religious leaders [a Muslim imam, a Christian priest, a Jewish rabbi and a Buddhist monk]… if an ex-atheist is “persuaded” to start following one of the religions, he or she will have the chance to travel to that religion’s center, whether Jerusalem for Christians and Jews or Mecca for Muslims or Tibet for Buddhists.
The producers of the show have a team assembled to double check your atheist credentials, too.
Advertisements for the program say that contestants have a chance to win the “biggest prize ever” (i.e. God/Salvation).
I actually think this could be an interesting show if the atheists can voice their opinions and objections well. Let the country hear about the problems with faith. And if one or two people end up converting at the end, so be it. We could take the hit.
I also think there should be bonus prizes for any atheist who can convince the religious leaders to leave their faiths.
Some religious groups are objecting to the show… maybe because they know they’ll end up sounding ridiculous. Making a case that someone was born of a virgin, died, and got resurrected three days later is quite a hard sell to a bunch of logical people.
The yet-to-air program has already drawn reactions from many people, mostly Christians. [Hakki] Devrim, a television commentator and columnist for daily Radikal called the idea absurd and said such a show insults religion.
“Religion is not a science, and it is not open to discussion,” Devrim said, adding that the program offers atheists a chance to voice their own thoughts.
“If I had to describe it with a word, it would be ’unsuitable,’” said the columnist, who advised [TV station] Kanal T not to take the risk of airing such a show in Turkey.
“It’s not worth the risk,” he said.
Yep. How dare atheists get a voice!
And since when is religion “not open to discussion”? What the heck are they afraid of?
Let’s bring this show to America. You know the ratings would be high. You could place bets on whether each contestant will be swayed… Have Rick Warren and Richard Dawkins make guest appearances…
You *know* it’d be better than “The Bachelorette.”
And since “Survivor” hasn’t called me back, this may be my only shot to be a reality TV star.
(via Atheism Examiner)
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