One of the things that religious people do, IMHO, is take themselves too seriously. Not all religious folk, mind you, but definitely the extremist kinds. I recognize that to them – be they Fundamentalist Christian, Orthodox Jew or the Saudi Arabian form of Muslim – religion is literally life and death. But to me, a God who could crank up the evolutionary cauldron that resulted in aardvarks and giraffes has to have a sense of humor. It isn’t God who has caused all the problems in, say, the Middle East, it is people’s interpretations of God. And these are folks who seriously need to lighten up.

Ergo, I offer you the GodLovesMEBest videos from the YouTube Channel, a series that bills itself as a “new television satire” examining the craziness of extremist religious views. I watched two of the videos and found them really funny, but then again, I also liked God, Inc. , which some of my friends found really offensive. (more…)

Don't you want to be as happy as this guy? (Source: Getty Images)

As promised in my Monday post, today we at God Blogging are attempting to launch a local Happiness Project. I’m following the starter kit advice from Happiness Project founder Gretchen Rubin for the topic of the first meeting, which is right now, virtually through this blog. (Yes, you’re at a meeting!) I’m looking for lots of participation, so if you read this blog and think “Hey, I’d like to be happier!” or “I know someone who should be happier!”, then jump in and add your resolutions in the comment section and send this blog to all your unhappy friends and family members.

If a large enough group forms here (and there is a valid vote of the people), we can take the next step and meet in person. Background on the original Happiness Project is at the end of this post, but for now, let’s start the meeting.

According to Gretchen (I’m thinking maybe we should get little wristbands that ask: “What would Gretchen do?”), the goals of a Happiness Project are to identify elements of your life that you want to change; find concrete, measurable resolutions that, if kept, will help you bring about that change; hold yourself accountable for keeping your resolutions; and decide whether you want to adjust, toss, or re-commit to a resolution. (more…)