What if heaven were like The Office?

"What if all the problems on earth were not caused by a spiteful deity, or karma, or fate, but just office politics and the Peter Principle?" FIlmmaker Francis Stokes asks and answers that question in his Internet comedy. From the Chicago Sun-Times, God, Inc. puts Office humour in heaven:

A few years back, the singer Joan Osbourne wondered aloud, "What if God was one of us?"

Now independent filmmaker Francis Stokes, in his wildly popular Web series "God, Inc.," is asking a similar kind of existential question: What if God's office was like one of ours?

Or, more specifically, what if heaven was like "The Office," with wan worker bees alternately uninspired, bullied or desperately trying to claw their way up (Jacob's) corporate ladder.

You might want to start with episode one, "In the beginning, there was paperwork," but my favourite is episode five, "Beating the Muslims (Not Literally)."

Some of the funniest moments in "God, Inc." are produced by the "Publicity" department, a k a world religions.

For three years running, the Muslim publicist has had the best numbers (because, he says, "My marketing strategy is the one, true marketing strategy"), winning converts hand over fist, and annoying the pious (and obnoxious) Esther, who's in charge of "Really Christians." (Not to be confused with Andy, a slackery dude who does P.R. for the "Sort-of Christians," who, he explains to Sarah, are the ones who go to church on Christmas and Easter and kind of believe. Sort of.

To try to shake up the populations of the world's religions, the office manager, fearsome Piper, starts a contest to see, in a week, which publicist can come up with the most new converts. The winner gets a box of steaks, which doesn't make the Hindu publicist very happy.

What does it mean for the price of maple syrup?