Atheist: Religion number three, lets say I go out for a night of hard drinking and partying, then find myself in the morning with a hangover and a new sex partner. What would you do to save me and cover up the evidence so my husband doesn’t find out.

Ah, should read the other comments before posting. lol

First episode screened last night in the UK, it was about the Alpha course, an evangelical course designed to convert people. Was very interesting. It followed a bunch of agnostics (some from christian backgrounds) through the course. Speaking in tongues freaked a few of them out, one guy got lovebombed and wants to do another course. You could see that many of them wanted to believe but couldn’t suspend disbelief.

Next week the show goes to a British Muslim girls school. I’m looking forward to this as faith schools are one of much huge problems with our current educational system.

Turning this slightly what could be the atheist equivalent to Jerusalem or Mecca? Athens springs to mind. Others?

Athens sounds good to me. Who would want a free trip to the Middle East? Yikes!

Turning this slightly what could be the atheist equivalent to Jerusalem or Mecca? Athens springs to mind. Others?

I’d be pretty pissed if that were the case. All the trouble, just to send me home to Athens again? It’s enough to make me disbelieve in god all over again.

Quick! Someone archive that line! Since the Argument From Authority is a valid debate tactic in religion, we need to save this as proof the next time someone tries to insert religion into science classes!

“The Constitution provides for freedom of religion, and the Government generally respects this right in practice; however, the Government imposes some restrictions on Muslim and other religious groups and on Muslim religious expression in government offices and state-run institutions, including universities, usually for the stated reason of preserving the secular state….The Constitution establishes the country as a secular state and provides for freedom of belief, freedom of worship, and the private dissemination of religious ideas. However, other constitutional provisions regarding the integrity and existence of the secular state restrict these rights…. While most…secular countries have religious schools and educational system[s], one in Turkey can only have religious teachings after a state decided age…The establishment of private religious schools and universities (regardless of what religion) is forbidden.”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam_in_Turkey

I bet the show will not have a pro-religion bias. It’s actually a great idea.

“It’s not worth the risk,” [Devrim] said.

What does this reality-show-naysayer mean by this?

I’m assuming he means the risk to religion…what other risk could he mean? (The risk to the atheist??) And if he means the risk to religion, does he mean the risk of religion ending up looking silly? Or, perhaps the risk of people who are already followers of his religion converting to another religion, or losing their faith?

Carlie asked, above:

Yeah, what’s the prize if you don’t convert? Seems like a stacked deck, here. Big vacation trip, or…nothing?

How about if they offered something comparable (in worth/cost) to those who didn’t convert…the cash value of the trip? A comparable trip to a hotbed of atheism? (where would that be? A visit w/ Dawkins in the UK? TAM 7 in Las Vegas?) Or, perhaps they could offer 72 virgins (male, female, or both, depending on the “loser’s” preference)…!