As 2009 comes to an end and various organizations turn their attention to the year in review, we at TransMissions would like to draw your attention to what are arguably the top religious viral videos of 2009.

Dean Obeidallah, Maysoon Zayid and Aron Kader created the Number 3 video after four members of congress claimed that Muslims aimed to take over the U.S. "Convert to Islam, win a prize!" says Kader's sign as he offers toasters to would-be converts as Obeidallah and Zayid count them up. This video can't become viral anymore because it has been removed from YouTube, but you can read the story here.)

In viral video Number 2, Reg Tigerman and Matt Johnson debut Twitteleh, a special version of Twitter created as a way for you to communicate with your Jewish mother. It asks you to answer these three questions throughout your day: Where are you? What have you eaten? And are you wearing a sweater?

The Number 1 top religious viral video of 2009 is actually not one but a whole cadre of viral videos that began with Jill and Kevin's big day.  Joyful rather than humorous is the apt descriptor here, at least until you start viewing the memes that the wedding dance has spawned, such as the JK Divorce Dance, the wedding dance as performed by Australia's Dancing with the Stars, and the dance performed by the anchors at WIS-TV (Columbia, SC), which was shown immediately after the original participants appeared on the Today Show.  The dance even appeared in Jim's and Pam's wedding from The Office.

A recap of this video wouldn't be complete without a mention of the one controversy it has generated.  The couple danced to a song by Chris Brown, who was convicted of domestic abuse earlier in 2009 following accusations by his girlfriend, fellow R&B singer Rihanna.  Brown's career tanked, but the wedding dance-song pumped life into "Forever (on the Dance Floor)," which continues to generate strong sales on iTunes. 

Once the wedding dance video went viral, Jill and Kevin included a link for donations to help end domestic violence. As of early December 2009, more than $26,000 had been donated to the Sheila Wellstone Institute through the wedding dance video. So even in its viral afterlife, this video is still producing smiles and touching lives.

Each of these videos demonstrate that despite social stressors like the recession and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, we can find ways to laugh, both at ourselves and with each other, about the religious traditions and cultures that enrich our lives.  Here's to a new year filled with more of us who can find joy and humor in the everyday moments of the world we share!

Want more?  Here are two older videos that are worth seeing again: a compilation of funny church moments and Family Guy ripping on religion.