ABSTRACT
Religion and laughter are different kinds of human phenomena: one involves an upturned vision, the other a bodily reaction. Religion seriously addresses questions of ultimate concern; laughter is mostly unserious. In other words, religion and laughter should not go well together. But they do; there is scarcely a religion that does not include laughter in one form or another, be it in myths, rituals or theological treatises. In many religions, laughing gods, tricksters, holy fools, carnivals, comedies and clowning are stock in trade. The ludicrous makes a travesty of the sacred; when, for a short while, laughter sweeps away the holy cosmos, the divine order is exposed as an arbitrary construct.
