Here's a novel idea for a TV show

The premise: strand ten atheists in a room, and throw in a leader/preacher from the four major religions: a Muslim imam, Christian a priest, a Jewish rabbi and a Buddhist monk.

The goal: get a new convert from the godless folks every show, and further allure the nonbelievers towards faith with the prize of a pilgrimage to the holy site of their choice: Mecca for Muslims, the Vatican for Christians, Jerusalem for Jews and Tibet for Buddhists.

The result: a very entertaining (and amusing) game show packaged as Penitents Compete which is to air on Turkish TV sometime soon.

"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.

So the biggest gift in the world is a brainwashing societal poison*? Great. So much for the gold-and-diamond necklace I was gonna give to my girlfriend on our date. Pfft. Should've brought some religious brochures.

I suppose it probably hurts the show's image if the TV channel's actual chief executive preemptively asserts they are against atheism. Kinda like fatties contesting at a show that aims to thin 'em up, with a host that actually hates their overlarge guts. Pooh.

It's also pointless to merely pretend to be godless; a "team of theologians" will ensure that the participants are true atheists and not just faithful hopefuls who are keen on a free pilgrimage and shot to fame. Shoot, there go my vacation plans.

... Still sounds better than the large majority of shows on TV. (Seriously, if I hear another commercial on G4TechTV praising Hurl as the "greatest show on TV" I might do just that myself.

* I will admit that, perhaps, Buddhism isn't exactly the worst religion one could join. If they, y'know, had to. Plus a trip to Tibet sounds neat ...