[Buddha-l] convert the nonbeliever game show

[Dan Lusthaus]

Reality is stranger than fiction.
Dan


Last update - 15:40 03/07/2009
An imam, a priest, a rabbi, and a Buddhist monk meet 10 atheists
By Reuters

What happens when you put a Muslim imam, a Christian priest, a rabbi and a
Buddhist monk in a room with 10 atheists?

Turkish television station Kanal T hopes the answer is a ratings success as
it prepares to launch a game show where spiritual guides from the four
faiths will seek to convert a group of non-believers.

The prize for converts will be a pilgrimage to a holy site of their chosen
religion -- Mecca for Muslims, the Vatican for Christians, Jerusalem for
Jews and Tibet for Buddhists.

But religious authorities in Muslim but secular Turkey are not amused by the
twist on the popular reality game show format and the Religious Affairs
Directorate is refusing to provide an imam for the show.

"Doing something like this for the sake of ratings is disrespectful to all
religions. Religion should not be a subject for entertainment programs,"
High Board of Religious Affairs Chairman Hamza Aktan told state news agency
Anatolian after news of the planned program emerged.

The makers of "Penitents Compete" are unrepentant and reject claims that the
show, scheduled to begin broadcasting in September, will cheapen religion.

"We are giving the biggest prize in the world, the gift of belief in God,"
Kanal T chief executive Seyhan Soylu told Reuters.

"We don't approve of anyone being an atheist. God is great and it doesn't
matter which religion you believe in. The important thing is to believe,"
Soylu said.

The project focuses attention on the issue of religious identity in European
Union-candidate Turkey, where rights groups have raised concerns over
freedom of religion for non-Muslim minorities.

Detractors of the ruling AK Party government, which is rooted in political
Islam but officially secular, accuse it of having a hidden Islamist agenda,
a charge it denies.

Some 200 people have so far applied to take part in the show and the 10
contestants will be chosen next month.

A team of theologians will ensure that the atheists are truly non-believers
and are not just seeking fame or a free holiday.