{"id":654,"date":"2011-04-23T13:35:22","date_gmt":"2011-04-23T17:35:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/yearofsundays\/?p=654"},"modified":"2011-04-23T13:35:22","modified_gmt":"2011-04-23T17:35:22","slug":"year-of-sundays-project-who-what-why","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yearofsundays\/2011\/04\/year-of-sundays-project-who-what-why.html","title":{"rendered":"Year of Sundays Project: WHO? WHAT? WHY?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Since we’re new to beliefnet.com, I figured it might be a good idea for us to introduce ourselves.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Amanda P. Westmont and Joel Gunz. We might be impious delinquents, but at least we're adorable together! <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

So, HI! I’m Amanda P. Westmont. This is the bio Joel wrote for me when we started this project back in January:<\/p>\n

Amanda has been a professional blogger since 2003, producing content for Disney\u2019s Family.com, as well as AlphaMom.com, ClubMom.com and FoodLushBlog.com. With well over a million page views, her personal blog, mandajuice.com<\/a>, has enjoyed wide success. Though she hates the term \u201cmommy blogger,\u201d she digs being recognized in airports. A self-proclaimed Kindlevangelist, Amanda released her first novel, GRAVY, exclusively on Kindle<\/a> and Nook<\/a>. Her erotica series is due out this summer.<\/p>\n

And here’s the bio for my partner-in-crime, Joel Gunz:<\/p>\n

As a professional journalist, humorist and advertising writer, Joel\u2019s by-lined work has appeared on McSweeney\u2019s Internet Tendency<\/em> and in The Oregonian, Commerce Magazine, Northwest Palate<\/em> and other periodicals. He is author of two additional blogs exjehovahswitnessportland.blogspot.com<\/a> and alfredhitchcockgeek.com<\/a>. The latter, which enjoys a large international following, has been dubbed \u201cThe best Hitchcock blog on the Internet\u201d and has landed him two appearances at The 39 Steps on Broadway<\/em>. He is a very good kisser.<\/p>\n

(Okay, so that last sentence was all me.)<\/p>\n

WHAT<\/strong> the hell are we doing here?<\/p>\n

Every week for a year, we\u2019re going to visit a different church. Then we\u2019re going to write about it. Be sure to read both of our columns \u2014 otherwise God, Allah or the giant Kool-Aid guy will either smite you or bust through your living room wall and hand you a sugary beverage, depending.<\/p>\n

Since we\u2019re both the kind of impious delinquents who get our thrills pissing people off, this blog won\u2019t be for the religiously faint of heart. If you\u2019re a believer, you might want to slip on a pair of steel toed boots before visiting our page. As a former lifetime member of the Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses, Joel admits he may have issues with religion in general and Amanda admits she just has issues. So accept our apologies in advance for any snark, sarcasm, cynicism or otherwise bitter remarks. Hey, if you were forbidden to masturbate for 30 years, you\u2019d get a little edgy too.<\/p>\n

We write our reviews with one criterion in mind. Regarding humankind\u2019s amazing variety of music, Duke Ellington famously said, \u201cif it sounds good, it is good.\u201d That\u2019s the benchmark we will use to evaluate every religious service we attend. You\u2019re invited to agree, to disagree, or, if you really don\u2019t like what we write, to start your own blog. What we do promise is to be as honest as we can about our experiences.<\/p>\n

Like the legendary New Yorker<\/em> film critic Pauline Kael, who held Big Hollywood pictures up to a higher standard than their lower-budget competition, we expect bigger things from bigger churches.\u00a0 Yes, Pope Benedict XVI, we\u2019re talking to you.<\/p>\n

Also, a word about how we approach churches. We\u2019re hardly stealth. We make it a point to introduce ourselves to the leadership and explain our mission. We believe that God, if he or she exists, probably has a secure ego. We doubt that his (or her) feelings could possibly be hurt by anything we could write.<\/p>\n

WHY<\/strong> are we doing this?<\/p>\n

Because it\u2019s fun.<\/p>\n

Because Margarita Monday was already taken.<\/p>\n

Because Joel thinks Amanda looks cute in her Sunday Go To Church dress.<\/p>\n

Because we think it might be good for the kids.<\/p>\n

Because everybody says they\u2019re going to do it, but nobody ever does.<\/p>\n

Because there are worse ways to nurse a hangover.<\/p>\n

Because, for Joel, it feels oddly naughty.<\/p>\n

But for Amanda, it feels oddly nice.<\/p>\n

Because, though we suspect that God is dead, it can’t hurt to hedge our bets.<\/p>\n

Because we thought that if we could actually get through 50 posts, we could write a book.<\/p>\n

Because sometimes you need a break from sex and happy hour.<\/p>\n

Because we made a pact that if we break up, we\u2019ll still write this damn thing.<\/p>\n

Because Amanda needs a reason to buy old lady hats.<\/p>\n

Because Baptists can\u2019t have all the fun, Buddhists can\u2019t have all the peace, Jews can\u2019t have all the guilt, Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses can\u2019t have all the apocalypse fantasies and Catholics can\u2019t have all the cute altar boys.<\/p>\n

And because, frankly, we\u2019re a little jealous of the people who believe.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Since we’re new to beliefnet.com, I figured it might be a good idea for us to introduce ourselves. So, HI! I’m Amanda P. Westmont. This is the bio Joel wrote for me when we started this project back in January: Amanda has been a professional blogger since 2003, producing content for Disney\u2019s Family.com, as well…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":388,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[50],"tags":[56,51,59,58,60,57,5,53,52,54,55,61],"class_list":["post-654","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-year-of-sundays","tag-a-year-of-sundays","tag-about-us","tag-agnostic","tag-amanda-p-westmont","tag-atheist","tag-joel-gunz","tag-sunday","tag-what","tag-who","tag-why","tag-year-of-sundays-2","tag-yearofsundays"],"yoast_head":"\nYear of Sundays Project: WHO? WHAT? 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