I was up last night wondering why there isn't a series on television that allows me to show off my greatest talent: singing Buddhist hymns.

Finally, someone has granted my wish: Master of Music, a new competition series on India's Aastha channel, will pit singers against one another as they sing their favorite hymns from the Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh and Jain faiths. Finally, rather than listening to some awful Elton John tune you can rock out to "Vishnu Aarti:"

Maat-Pita Tum Mere, Sharan Gahun Kiskee Tum Bin Aur Na Duja, Aas Karun Jiskee, Om Jaye Jagdish Hare . . .

Christians are in a disagreement over whether or not "a la carte" cable, the ability to pick and choose which stations you want to have rather than buying "packages" of various channels, is a good thing. Some argue it's a means of protecting children and families from channels that carry "inappropriate" programming, but evangelicals behind such religious-themed networks as the Trinity Broadcasting Network and Pat Robertson's Christian Broadcasting Network claim people could cut those networks out just as easily as networks such as MTV. The response to this, of course, is that only certain Christians watch these networks anyway, so why does it matter? Colby May, an attorney for the Faith and Family Broadcasting Coalition which represents the two aforementioned networks, is against the concept of "a la carte" cable, claiming the by having Christian stations as part of the lineup increases the chances of people serendipitously stumbling across them and "[changing] their life for the better." Dan Isett of the Parents Television Council argues, however, that allowing viewers to pick and choose could create diversified programming and ultimately help such stations.

[via Huffington Post]