| Kippreport.com

A question of faith

July 5, 2009 11:40 by Dana El Baltaji

We don’t watch game shows anymore. They’re not very exciting. But Turkey’s “Penitents Compete” may change all that.

The object of the game is to get a group of atheists to believe in God. The show will feature a Muslim imam, a Christian priest, a rabbi, a Buddhist monk and 10 atheists, reports UK-based daily The Guardian.

And the prize is “the gift of belief in God,” explained Seyhan Soylu, Kanal T’s chief executive. The winner also gets an all expenses paid trip to a holy site of the winner’s choice.

The show has obviously garnered criticism for being blasphemous: “Doing something like this for the sake of ratings is disrespectful to all religions. Religion should not be a subject for entertainment programs,” said Hamza Aktan, chairman of the High Board of Religious Affairs in Turkey.

The show’s executives couldn’t have chosen have a more sensitive theme. All they need to do now is marry off a Turkish convert to a divorced Jew and BOOM! we’ve got a ratings winner.

The show airs in September. And yes, we’ll be watching.

Tags: game show, Penitents Compete, Turkey