Game Show: "Who wants to be a Buddhist?"

Reuters (FaithWorld blog); Linda Holmes (Monkey See NPR blog)

Turkey’s Kanal T television station has come up with “Penitents Compete.” Spiritual guides from Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, and Judaism try to convert a group of atheists. But Muslim religious authorities refuse to provide an imam for the show, which they say will cheapen religion. More>>

It may come as a comfort, if you are poised on the edge of despair...to consider that appalling mass-entertainment ideas are apparently something that unites people around the world. Unites them in the spirit of...you know, despair.

It is in this spirit that I pass along the news that Turkey will soon have a game show that will take 10 atheists and hook them up with four spiritual guides — a Buddhist monk, a priest, a rabbi, and an imam — who will try to convert them.

If successfully converted, winners get the prize of a pilgrimage to Tibet, the Vatican, Mecca, or Jerusalem. One also wins the game-show prizes of belief/salvation. "A team of theologians will ensure that the atheists are truly non-believers and are not just seeking fame or a free holiday." More>>