Posted by Jason on: 05.28.2008 /
I stumbled upon a story the other day and it initially made me laugh.
Britain’s first interfaith game show is to be launched, pitting Jews against Muslims, Sikhs against Christians and Hindus against Buddhists, with contestants competing for cash prizes.
The idea of a game show, a tawdry spectacle and weak entertainment at the best of times, representing the dialogs between faiths seems unusual and possibly insulting for believers.
Faith Off, the working title of a series on the Islam Channel, will attempt to promote good relations and mutual respect between Britain’s religious communities. Two teams of four will go head to head in each episode, answering quick-fire and general knowledge questions in the eight-part series hosted by the Muslim comedian Jeff Mirza.
Then, I thought, maybe it’s not such a bad idea. Religions do tend to see themselves as separate and better than their rivals. They do tend to take themselves very seriously. Maybe a game show will actually help religion’s followers to see some of the funny things about their faiths. Maybe they’ll see similarities between their own faith and the faith of others. Maybe, just maybe, it’ll actually make people less hostile to different views of religion.
“You learn about religions at school and then you forget, so it’s about transferring the basic blocks of knowledge … It’s also about learning the similarities between religions, instead of focusing on the differences.”
Read the full article
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Comment by: Ir (Helen)
1 05/28/08 5:10 AM | Comment Link |That would be awesome. Humor and fun certainly can help diffuse tension - I hope it works.
I didn’t know there was an Islam TV channel in England. Is there also a Christian channel?
Comment by: Chris Kirk
2 05/28/08 6:05 AM | Comment Link |While I’m not fan of another reality television program, I think anytime you can get diverse groups of people together and talking it can have a positive effect.
Comment by: Jason
3 05/28/08 9:59 AM | Comment Link |Helen, we have The God Channel among others. I think they have something to do with religion. I’m not allowed to watch them though because I get all shouty and argumentative. Like the TV can hear me :roll:
Chris, one would hope so.
Comment by: Rev. Dan
4 05/30/08 10:15 PM | Comment Link |Are they bold enough to have an atheist on, or is it just for those who conform to old mythologies? :)
Comment by: Jason
5 05/31/08 10:06 AM | Comment Link |Rev. Dan, as far as I know the show is still in the “pitching for money” stage but having an atheist team would be a fun idea. I bet that atheists would have a better general knowledge across multiple faiths than many members of one particular faith.
Comment by: Mike O
6 06/2/08 5:47 AM | Comment Link |Now that would be interesting! I’m always surprised at how much atheists know about Christianity. I’d be interested to see if that carries over into other faiths as well.
I just heard of the God channel for the first time yesterday at church. I’m not a fan of Christian broadcasting in general, so Jason, I think you and I could do the shouty and argumentative thing together. I talk to the news man sometimes. And sometimes I say mean and hurtful things to the commercials - it’s a guilty pleasure.
Comment by: Jason
7 06/2/08 11:05 AM | Comment Link |Mike, it’s always worth knowing something about what you’re rejecting.
The God Channel though…urgh. It’s like watching a show where they take out chunks in the middle where they arrive at conclusions. Like a detective show where you watch the beginning and end but miss the middle. It’s infuriating.