The conversation is not ridiculous because the god that is promoted on those 40 steps does not focus anyone's attention on the Almighty God, but rather on man and his ways of trying to please God. Part of our warfare here is to exalt high the name of Christ Jesus and expose false teachings. It is very obvious. I realize that you won't agree.
There is a big difference between emotional happiness and the true joy of the Lord. A big difference. Sometimes the first is the result of the second, but the second is never the result of the first. One is temporal, the other is eternal. One can be videotaped, explained and relayed, but the other (1 Peter 1) is unable to be uttered in words, so high and wonderful that it is. It carries us through the emotional highs and the lowest of life's lows.
Do you really think the average believer is that stupid, or the Holy Spirit that impotent to fail to glorify Christ through such activities? Get a grip. The God I serve isn't that fragile.
Here's a revelation: God doesn't need you self appointed deputies to run around and nitpick your fellow believers who are actually accomplishing something. Why don't you try loving a sinner or a backslider instead, and revealing Jesus to them? There are scores of lost people out there looking for something, and they don't even know what it is. The harvest is ready.