Have you heard of The Book of Mormon Musical yet? Essentially, the production is a satire of Mormonism that makes fun of many of the fundamental beliefs that make up the religion. The story is of two ambitious missionaries, Elder Price and Elder Cunningham, who are called to serve in the hostile Northern Uganda. As any pair of young missionaries, they are ready to change the world! They’re attitude soon becomes discouraged, however, when they are confronted by the warlord ruling the area (whose name you can look up on your own time).
Initially I, being a member myself, was reasonably offended when I heard about it. While I haven’t had the opportunity to watch the musical on Broadway, the music exaggerated and mocked many of my personal core beliefs. I was recently talking about it with a friend, however, when I dramatically readjusted my perspective.
We discussed how many members are overly sensitive to any attack on their faith. While many would argue that they have deserved this right, we concluded that the best thing to do is to learn to laugh at yourself. Watching the ‘I Believe’ clip again with that in mind made my day! It seems that if only a few doctrinally inaccurate statements were corrected, the song would be legitimately inspirational to me!
While not factually accurate, and containing quite a bit of offensive material, I feel that the production was of benefit to the LDS faith. The Book of Mormon was a huge hit, winning eight Tony Awards. This musical has the potential to expose millions to a much more realistic view of Mormonism. I’ve seen many reviews wherein people say that they would now invite missionaries inside when they came knocking, even simply out of curiosity. As the church is accepted into pop culture, the truth of what we believe will be much more widely accepted into society. My hope and belief is that we are leaving the era of ‘cult’ and ‘Mormon’ being synonymous, and entering a time when people will begin to accept Mormonism as a real, powerful branch of Christianity.
