In an amusing new ad for Norway’s postal service — one that you’d never see replicated in the United States — a mail carrier delivers a letter to the beautiful biblical Mary and then a “miracle” happens nine months later.

Makes a lot more sense than a “virgin birth.”

The ad ends with a voiceover saying that might not be what happened — so don’t get mad, Christians — but Posten has “always been an important part of Christmas.”

Clever. Edgy, and totally designed to provoke a response, but clever. It’s already being called “blasphemous” by a religious leader, and implied as such by right-wing websites.

But if you can’t make fun of the most irrational Christian myth there is, then the problem’s on your end. The ad is harmless. At worst, it suggests a plausible (and entertaining) alternative for a literally unbelievable story that people know very well. Laugh it off and move on with your life. Or just send a package to Norway and watch that movie about a gay Jesus on Netflix.

