Turkey's Government Unhappy With Planned Reality TV Show Aimed At Conversion

Turkey's Religious Affairs Directorate is refusing to send an imam to appear on a new reality television program being launched in September by Istanbul-based television station Kanal T. Reuters last Friday reported that the planned show, Penitents Compete, will feature a rabbi, an imam, a priest and a Buddhist monk, each of whom will try, on camera, to convert ten atheists. The atheists will be pre-screened for non-belief by a team of theologians. Each convert will win a trip to his or her new religion's holy site-- Mecca, the Vatican, Jerusalem or Tibet. Hamza Aktan, chairman of Turkey's High Board of Religious Affairs, said: "Doing something like this for the sake of ratings is disrespectful to all religions. Religion should not be a subject for entertainment programs."