Game show seeks to convert atheists
2009 July 4
Turkey TV plans a reality show in which leaders of various faiths try to convert atheists.
Show’s producers deny it cheapens religion, then say this:
“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.
wow – the TV show idea doesn’t surprise me so much, but I am actually amazed that someone in Turkey would so openly say that it doesn’t matter what religion someone would adopt. I know it is among the most “secular” of Muslim countries, but still, that kind of statement I find nearly inconceivable anywhere but North America or Western Europe, with the added caveat that atheism and agnosticism are also more culturally acceptable than I suspect they would be in Turkey (although atheism is perhaps looked down upon more in the United States compared to Canada/Western Europe).