The Good Atheist

Turkey is a secular country the same way America is; they try to divide church and state, but in the end the two get mixed up in each others business all the time. Both countries rank similarily low in percentage of people who believe in evolution, which is not a possitive sign. With Turkey under heavy scrutiny since their bid to become part of the European Union, what better way to show everyone you aren’t a religious wacko country than by creating a TV show where you convert atheists to God?

With atheism on the rise worldwide, producers for Kanal T in Istambul want to cash in, and have decided to make a gameshow where they try to covert 10 atheists to some kind of religion. They will feature a Muslim imam, a Christian priest, a Buddhist monk, and finally a Jewish Rabbi, with the “winners” getting a payed trip to their new religion’s holy site.

Personally I find the show pretty insulting, but I’m actually a little worried that the vetting process will favor those “atheists” that are already believers that want to get a free trip (how can we really be sure they are non-believers?). With that said, however, I would love for a smart and educated atheist to completely destroy the arguments of the show’s religious figures. Of course, the problem is that many unstable people still feel that atheism is a sin, and I worry for the safety of any atheist on the show who “fails” to covert. They would effectively be painting bulleyes on their backs.

All told it’s a pretty lame idea, and I don’t doubt that everyone is going to be offended at the end of the day. I guess we’ll have to wait and see what happens!