Game show looks to convert atheists
7 July 2009 by Stardust
A Turkish television station is launching a game show where a Muslim imam, a Christian priest, a rabbi and a Buddhist monk all try to convert a group of ten atheists.
Game show looks to convert atheists
“Doing something like this for the sake of ratings is disrespectful to all religions. Religion should not be a subject for entertainment programs,” High Board of Religious Affairs Chairman Hamza Aktan told state news agency Anatolian after news of the planned program emerged.
Whoever said we must respect religion of any kind? While we may respect people’s rights to believe in whatever delusion they choose, no one is obligated to respect any delusional beliefs of any kind (unless one is living in a theocracy).
I would also like to point out to these folks that religious services in themselves are often basically “spiritual entertainment extravaganzas” especially for the Christian fundamentalist megachurches. Ritual, music, singing are all forms of entertainment in disguise as “worship”.
If you are a “true atheist”, going on a goofy program isn’t going to change your mind. Unless you want to lie just to get a free trip to a religious site out of it. But, they think they have that covered:
A team of theologians will ensure that the atheists are truly non-believers and are not just seeking fame or a free holiday.
A team of delusional folks who can’t tell reality from fantasy are going to be able to identify “true non-believers” . . . yeah, ok.
“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.
Ok, I believe in the religion of myself and I am God. Can I have a trip to my sacred site in the Hawaiian Islands now?
7 July 2009, on 5:12 pm
Richard Dawkins should go on that show. It would be pure comedy.
7 July 2009, on 5:41 pm
Jesse, that really would be hilarious! It would turn from “Convert the atheist” to “School the theist!”
7 July 2009, on 7:12 pm
So, if the Muslim imam loses, does he try to kill the consestents? Wouldn’t he be compelled to do so, according to the Koran?
Put Dawkins, Hitchens, and Harris on there! Let them eat cake!
I wonder if the brainiacs (heh) at NBC, CBS or Fox are bidding for the rights to an American version. you know they haven’t had an original idea in decades. If they do, I might try out. My goal would be to either unconvert the priests, or just expose them as nothing but political hacks, which is what they really are.
7 July 2009, on 7:18 pm
This is a joke…right? [snark]
If not…
What totally bullshit nonsense!
Something stuck in my craw, right away with that opening description…
“…a Muslim imam, a Christian priest, a rabbi and a Buddhist monk all try to convert a group of ten atheists.”
Wait just a Cosmological minute…
How does the Buddhist monk fit into that ridiculous equation. Buddhists, themselves, don’t actually believe in any Creator god. Buddhists, even Tibetan Buddhists, are essentially atheists. That particular sect of Buddhism may believe in Reincarnation…but not in any gods! The Dali Lama has stated that ‘fact’ in at least one interview that I watched.
What about the Hindus? They, on the other hand, believe in all kinds of gods. Lesser, of course, from the ‘One’ real source…that’d be Brahma.
My guess is, the programs designer idiots want to steer clear of polytheism and “stick it to us”, so to speak, with their monstrously psychopathic notion of the Abrahamic Tyranny.
And, also from the article:
“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.
HUH?…SAY WHAT?…
May I respond to “chief executive Seyhan Soylu”? (that reference reminds me of Chief Inspector Dreyfus in the Pink Panther series…
Hmmm…does Soylu’s one eye twitch?…and is he, every day, in every way…getting better and better?
I’m guessing…Coitenly NOT!!!
Anyway; here’s my, albeit futile, retort….
Hey fucktard asshole…We atheists don’t in any way “approve” of your arrogant self-righteous delusional bullshit.
And your idiotic, blatantly unfounded NOTION that somehow your amazingly fucktard “God” is somehow “great”. That totally imagined notion, in reality, is SO obviously and outrageously ridiculous in light of what we now know from Science about the Evolution of the Universe. There are so many reasons, just looking at what has transpired on this planet alone, to PROVE that Hitchens nailed it in the title of his book…”(Your Fucking Imaginary) God is NOT great”; aimed, of course, directly at the retarded Islamic assholes who constantly jabber that total, utter, insane bullshit.
[My apology to Hitch for tampering with his title. If it were my book; that addendum would be in small print...?]
Actually, considering the insipid, so-called “Prize”…WTF!…are there any atheists actually stupid enough to really want to go on that show? Talk about Sado-Masochism!
Sorry, Stardust…I had to get at least SOME of my outrage at this story’s complete, and outrageous stupidity off my chest.
Do I feel better now?
Not really!
7 July 2009, on 8:02 pm
Go ahead and vent, Chuck…that’s why we’re here! I can’t wait to see video clips of this program. More to mock!
7 July 2009, on 10:50 pm
Da Rat Bastid:
If there is such a show in the offing it will feature Ted Haggard, Fred Phelps, Pat Roberts and Rick Warren.
7 July 2009, on 11:51 pm
What! No Farakkhan!?!?!
8 July 2009, on 6:49 am
What I would like to see is religious folks trying to convert each other. There could be spin-offs where the various sects of one religion could try to prove which version of their religion is the “True version”. That would keep them busy for eternity and they wouldn’t have time to bother with us. It could prove to be quite entertaining!
8 July 2009, on 6:50 am
I’m absolutely positive that ‘DoG’ Himself will not make an appearance on the show!
8 July 2009, on 8:28 am
DoG never makes personal appearances. He lets his little flawed creatures speak and do for him.
8 July 2009, on 8:51 am
“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.”
Sure – because nobody has ever had a significant disagreement, much less fought a war, over the specifics of religious belief… Right.
And if belief in God is the key, what is the Buddhist doing there?
8 July 2009, on 10:35 am
“A team of theologians will ensure that the atheists are truly non-believers and are not just seeking fame or a free holiday.”
What, do they use Tricorders? (Geek alert)
““We are giving the biggest prize in the world, the gift of belief in God,” Kanal T chief executive Seyhan Soylu told Reuters”
Then why the need for a 7 day, 6 night trip to Hawaii?
“…a Muslim imam, a Christian priest, a rabbi and a Buddhist monk…”
If they all walk into a bar for this game show, it’s a great lead in for an hillarious joke!
BTW–”which of these things is not like the other…?”
““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.”
Yes, ecumenicallism: because the enemy of my enemy is my friend. Until we convert all the atheist…then we can go back to the really important business of killing each other over who’s invisible friend is best. And then over who’s interpretation of scripture is the best…
8 July 2009, on 12:53 pm
Face it, folks…
due to thousands of years of totally made-up, various religions…the majority of Earthly inhabitants are, to at least SOME degree, mentally ill; some more than others, of course.
IMO, it’s reached a critical stage; in that, because we humans finally DO have the capacity to destroy all life on this planet with Nuclear Weapons, all it’ll take is ONE of these nutcases to start the chain reaction.
“Case in point”?…if you haven’t checked out fstdt.com (Fundies Say The Darndest Things)…particularly the DEFINITELY insane “Rapture Ready” variety of fundie comments…take a gander at this latest page for starters:
http://fstdt.com/fundies/latestcomments.aspx?archive=1
WARNING:
It can be quite addictive, reading that shit…as I can attest from my companion’s somewhat frequent relaying (from her desktop computer, across the room) of some of the most outrageous items.
In other woids…don’t spend too much time on the Site. Small doses, I think, are enough to establish my above point…?
It’s actually somewhat hard to imagine, certainly in any detail, just HOW insane religions have always been; and how much absolute misery and wasted lives have resulted from their ignorantly spawned, ultimately stupid existence. Not to mention (Oops!) all the Wars and other conflicts that HAVE been and continue to be waged, that can easily be traced back to one or another collection of addictive religious bullshit insanity.
Personally, the older I get, I find myself turning more and more rapidly into…perhaps more accurately than just simply an “atheist”…
an “anti-religionist/border line, totally cynical “Misanthrope”.
What!…Signed…
With (a still stubborn remnant of addicted brotherly) Love, ChuckA?
And what?…I should SMILE whilst saying that?
Oh…ALRIGHT!
There!…is that better?
8 July 2009, on 1:11 pm
By the way…the somewhat newly updated, above linked, Site moved (from .com to .net); the Home page, of which, covers a lot more than just the religious fundies:
http://fstdt.net/
Have fun?
9 July 2009, on 12:26 am
Oh, yeah, and also…
““We don’t approve of anyone being an atheist. ”
That really stings. After all, most atheists are looking for the approval of a delusional bigot.
9 July 2009, on 1:37 am
I’ll take “Kiss my heathen ass” for $400, Alex.
9 July 2009, on 9:30 pm
Without “Belief” there can be no CONTROL…………………….
10 July 2009, on 6:35 am
“We are giving the biggest prize in the world, the gift of belief in God.”
I’d rather have the money.
10 July 2009, on 10:30 am
A Muslim imam, a Christian priest, a rabbi, a Buddhist monk and a baby seal walk into a club…
Thank you ladies & genitalmen, I’m here all week!
God is an artifact.
10 July 2009, on 11:14 am
I’ll take “Kiss my heathen ass” for $400, Alex.
Love it !
10 July 2009, on 12:06 pm
Intriguing. Being a foreign program, I would suspect that 10 atheist might actually have a chance. Bring that type of television to the United States, and you know the producers of the show would cut the microphones of the atheists so they can’t get their entire point out, edit out all their best slams, and give the average American viewer that which he/she is dependent upon – a nice, warm, fuzzy faith-based feeling inside.
Hey, we should find a way to get Heddle on there!
10 July 2009, on 11:16 pm
Waking from my usual late afternoon nap (beauty sleep?), as my consciousness gradually returned to the somewhat horrifying realization of my continued Earthly residence in an aging apelike body…I was reminded of yet another strange combination of News items.
) in great detail.
I’m limiting the number, of course, for (questionable) sanity’s sake, to three items.
1) The continuing insanity regarding the Iranian story; where the demonstrators against the fucktard Ayatollah’s corrupt governmental control still don’t “get it” when they’re shouting, through the night, of all things…”God (Allah) is Great”…(HUH?…SAY WHAT???)
2) The “human rights” sympathy story from China; concerning the completely anachronistic (and completely bullshit religious oriented) Uighur Muslim business woman leading the demonstration against the, oh-so-terrible, “godless” (”oooOOOH…Booga, Booga!”), Communist government.
3) President Obama and family paying “respect” to the aged, ex-Nazi, former head of the Catholic Inquisition…who, like the Ayatollah in Iran…still believes completely in one of the utterly ridiculous Bronze Age bullshit versions of man’s incredibly stupid mythologies.
[Does anyone else see an insane similarity in those three stories...or am I just nuts in my own peculiar way? I digress (regress?)...]
With that realization; instead of rolling over, completely giving up, and continuing to nap, I decided to get up and go on the computer to make this (rather absurd?) comment…AND…to fulfill my original intention of posting an old, but still interesting, link to a really nice expose of the Bible…
OK…Babble?
Before I go any further, here’s the link I had in mind…
http://www.biblicalnonsense.com/
It’s Dr. Jason Long’s “Biblical Nonsense” book Site; complete with a totally FREE down-loadable (and freely shareable) Zip file of the complete book.
[Incidentally, it's been online since...2005?]
Dr. Long, IMO, completely rips the Bible (a new ass?
[Be sure to check the somewhat Dawkins related(?)..."The Darker Side of God".]
Also, be sure to check out the “Letters Of Disapproval”, which he answers in, I think, rather “satisfying” detail.
Cutting to the “chaste”…
Back to that # 3 item above. Personally, (and as a long ago brainwashed ex-Catlick) I can’t imagine, standing in front of that totally delusional, anti-choice, anti-contraception fucktard without SOMEHOW pointing out how totally absurd and out of whack he and the similar fucktard in Iran are in this time…on this little dinky Milky Way speck…in the immensity of the known Universe…in this, the year 2009…
as we (relatively un-evolved) ape-men (and ape-women) count time!
Or, maybe, MUCH more simply put…
[cue extremely loud Echo/Reverb]
WTF-F-F-F-F-F…???
On that note (a broken, low E thud, on a very old Fender-Rhodes piano)
Happy Weekend, GifSters!
11 July 2009, on 12:11 am
Likely because it’s easy, cheap, & free.
& the consolation prize is…what? Will the atheists be able to even leave the country?
I wonder if we’d be allowed to bring our notes onto the show?
12 July 2009, on 12:10 am
I just wanted to say,
Suck it innocent lord Jesus
Yes suck it
Oh yes
suck it innocent one
splash
all over your face
You’re so innocent Lord Jesus
Oh Yes
12 July 2009, on 2:02 am
Assuming the contestants are given a real opportunity to voice their side of the argument, and there was a guarantee that no one would be cut off or interrupted…I’d do it in a heart beat. Seriously, without just waltzing into a church or babble study group, I’ve been itching to go at it not just with a xian, but a representative of all the major delusions. It would be entirely too much fun to go at it and knock out all three of ‘em at once.
I say three because as far as I’m concerned, the Buddhist is a fraud. I have never, ever, in all my research about religion, found anything aspect of the Buddhist lifestyle that requires proselytizing. We all know those people generally don’t worship a deity, so it goes without saying that one would never go around preaching and trying to win converts to Buddhism. To have a monk arguing with an atheist about the necessity of belief in the invisible sky daddy makes me question the legitimacy of the entire program…not that I expected anything legitimate from anyone religious…save for their intolerance.
13 July 2009, on 1:03 pm
I couldn’t help but see in the picture the message God=hope. I use to believe that without God I had no hope.
Today things are alot different for me. I no longer get my hope from a non-existent God. I have hope today without my belief in God. By looking over my past and realizing that I have changed and grown, I find hope for the future. When I live fully in each moment, I open myself to joys that might otherwise escape me.
13 July 2009, on 5:59 pm
I open myself to joys that might otherwise escape me.
True that! I grew up in a family of ascetic do-gooders and once I got out, I realized that my relationships became more genuine, food tasted better, music sounds better, the air smelled sweeter, art is to be appreciated, and I found comfort in skepticism. And I’m a nicer, more tolerant person. I ran from Jesus to get these things, and it sounds like you did too. Welcome!