PASTOR AL is very upset. “Some people celebrate the Resurrection at Easter, and that’s the way it should be,” Al announces in a popular new internet video. “Other people celebrate the Easter Bunny. And I’ve just had it with that bunny.”

Thus begins an epic confrontation between man and rabbit that is helping to attract tens of thousands of visitors to GodTube, a new Christian website modelled on YouTube, the video-sharing network.

While the millions of people who visit YouTube are urged by the site’s trademarked slogan to “Broadcast Yourself”, Christians flocking to GodTube find a different injunction: “Broadcast Him”.

To the delight of Chris Wyatt, a former television producer who dreamt up GodTube while studying at the Dallas Theological Seminary, the new website is attracting up to 60,000 visitors a day and is well on its way to becoming the most visited Christian site on the internet.

It is also attracting plenty of heathens, drawn by an unexpected phenomenon: America’s evangelical Christians have the reputation of being a dour lot, but word is rapidly spreading on the internet that God can be funny, too.

To be sure, many of GodTube’s videos are solemn affairs containing earnest sermons about abortion, evolution and the dangers of satanism. Titles include “Why I am a Christian”, “Pregnant Women and Cocaine” and “Hell’s Best-Kept Secret”. In a video entitled “Is God Better Than Sex?” an evangelist named John Piper declares that “we are so awash [in depravity] that we have become fish”.

There are also numerous music videos featuring Christian rock groups, yet many of the most popular offerings use humour to make their points. “GodTube’s videos are no more stupid than any of YouTube’s,” declared Wired, the technology magazine. “But they sure as hell are a heck of a lot funnier.”

When Pastor Al — which may be a punning nom-de-Tube or his real name — decides to take on the Easter Bunny, he is attempting to make a serious point about the commercialisa-tion of Easter and the weakening of its religious roots. So he decides to stage a boxing match with a man dressed in a rabbit suit.

“So what’s Easter to be?” challenges Al. “A holy day or a holiday?” The rabbit promptly kicks him and beats him over the head with a carrot to the tune of Kung Fu Fighting.

Not all the humour is intentional. In one of the website’s most-watched videos, Ray Comfort, a New Zealand-born evangelist who lives in California, employs a banana to demonstrate the genius of God’s creation.

“Notice how gracefully it fits in the human hand,” declares Comfort. “The maker of the banana, almighty God, has made it with a nonslip surface.”

Comfort goes on for several minutes, seemingly unaware of the dangers of double-entendre in his reverent handling of the banana.

Several of the GodTube videos have provoked vigorous debates among Christian and nonreligious bloggers. Other videos have attracted attention simply by being funny. In a spoof rap song called Baby Got Bible, a singer dressed up as a gangster spouts lyrics such as: “A word to the Christian sister / I can’t resist ya.” Another line compares women to Bibles: “I like ’em in leather and bound.”

Among the best moments in a compilation of amusing accidents in church, a vicar drops a communion wafer down the cleavage of a congregant, then gets his hand slapped when he tries to retrieve it.

One happy viewer noted in a discussion on the site: “Who says Christians are prudes and don’t have a sense of humour?”

GodTube is unlikely ever to rival YouTube in terms of internet popularity — the original site is now part of the Google online empire and is valued at more than a billion dollars. Yet many Christians appear delighted that there is now a corner of the internet where they can go for entertainment without risk of encountering mayhem or vice.

One of the most popular videos on YouTube last week featured Bruce Willis blasting his way through a trailer for a new episode of the Die Hard series. No prizes for guessing whether Willis survives a frenzied assault with machineguns and hand grenades; but to see who wins the battle between Al and the Easter Bunny, you’ll just have to visit GodTube.

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