There are some great prizes being given away on television like $1 million, new cars, or vacations. But one new game show in Turkey is beating them all out. They’re giving away God. Yup. The Creator.ShortNews reports:
New Game Show Will Try to Turn Atheists Into Believers
Kanal T, a television station in Turkey, is preparing to launch a new game show in September which features spiritual guides from four faiths that will attempt to convert atheists into believers. Winners go to Mecca, Jerusalem, Tibet, or the Vatican.
Not everyone is on board with “Penitents Compete,” with a Muslim representative in Turkey saying: “Doing something like this for the sake of ratings is disrespectful to all religions. Religion should not be a subject for entertainment programs.”
A Kanal T spokesman said: “We are giving the biggest prize in the world, the gift of belief in God. 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.”
But overall I’m cool with it. The winner gets God. It’s not like God is relegated to one of the “lovely parting gifts” for the losers. God is the grand prize. But that brings to mind a point that may not have been worked out yet. I wonder what the losers get. Let’s decide what the loser gets? Any recommendations?
Maybe a date with Richard Dawkins?
July 7, 2009 at 4:17 pm
"We are giving the biggest prize in the world, the gift of belief in God. 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."
What rational person is going to be converted from atheism by a statement like this?
The world's religions all contradict one another on certain issues. If one religion is as good as another, shouldn't they all be compatible (like the 23 Catholic Churches) rather than irreconcilably contradictory?
July 7, 2009 at 5:45 pm
I agree with Brian. This is just preposterous. The "winner" may not get God at all if said winner goes for one of the heresies instead of the Gospel. Besides that, the whole concept is ridiculous. CS Lewis demonstrated the foolishness of it with the example of praying for everyone in one hospital and nobody in a second hospital in the attempt to measure the efficacy of prayer. If the whole point of prayer is to connect with God, then "prayer" for the purpose of mere experiment is not really prayer at all.
Likewise, the point of living the Gospel is to connect with God; and to lead others to connect with Him. Doing this for fabulous prizes instead of for God is a fool's errand, a self-contradiction, done for one's own glory instead of the Kingdom of Heaven. It may well be better for the losers of such a game than the winners.
July 7, 2009 at 7:11 pm
I say that the should get a Rosary and a pamphlet as a parting gift, just in case they get a long, dark night of the soul.
And come on guys, this may be as cheesy and tacky as an NBC variety show, but it's no Da Vinci Code.
Or, to put it another way: Man must drink a glass of water every day to live, but give him all the water he'll ever need at once and he'll drown. So perhaps a goofy step in the right direction is better than no step at all.
July 7, 2009 at 7:14 pm
This is being done in Turkey. Have you no sense of history or irony? NEVER TRUST THE INFIDEL. This will simply be yet another Islamic propaganda programme.