Smile from Heaven

The collection of jokes in the book represents the tradition of spiritual and self-sacrificial humor. There is a proverbial saying in Russia - force a fool to pray to God and he will beat his forehead. Many anecdotes portray in a comic light just this pseudo-piety, the eternal human intention to follow the letter of religion to the detriment of its spirit while remaining the same stingy, calculating, deceitful, vain and lustful creatures that care not a bit about their own inner...
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The collection of jokes in the book represents the tradition of spiritual and self-sacrificial humor. There is a proverbial saying in Russia - force a fool to pray to God and he will beat his forehead. Many anecdotes portray in a comic light just this pseudo-piety, the eternal human intention to follow the letter of religion to the detriment of its spirit while remaining the same stingy, calculating, deceitful, vain and lustful creatures that care not a bit about their own inner transformation. Religious anecdotes mock blind imitation of the authorities, literal (and often absurd) interpretation of the Scriptures, inappropriate claims to sainthood, and an insatiable desire to use God and religion in self-interest. Religious humor awakens respect and compassion toward those people who profess another faith or hold different views and opinions, and belong to diverse races, nations, classes and civilizations. It teaches us to love and appreciate religion in ourselves and not ourselves in religion - an attitude needed in our contemporary world, stricken by the fever of religious intolerance and fanaticism.