I saw the musical The Book of Mormon on Broadway in New York City last week with my daughter. Of course I was interested just from the title because I have read The Book of Mormon, Another Testament of Jesus Christ many times. It is a book with powerful words that can change people from bad to good. So, I wondered what the play would contain.
I was surprised that the history in the musical was mostly correct. It explained about Mormon, Moroni, Joseph Smith, the golden plates, and even some of the history of the people who wrote it, coming from Israel, Nephites and Lamanites, their wars, and so forth. There was a lot of artistic license, but the basic story was true. There was one part that wasn’t true -- that Joseph Smith was the only one who saw the plates. Actually, there were many witnesses who saw and held the plates from which the book was translated, they signed their names and in spite of not staying with Joseph Smith or the church they continued to affirm throughout their lives that it was true. Since these are in the front of the book, either the writers of the play didn’t read it, or they just lied.
The two words that characterize the play are ignorant and obnoxious. The play was definitely humorous, and I believe that there is value in sarcastic whit, like Mark Twain who states truths in a humorous way. This makes us think. I must admit, I laughed a lot! However, mixed-in with a little real humor was a lot of obnoxious 10-year-old boy potty talk. It seems that most people don’t grow up, finding such things funny, however, those who are mature just find them obnoxious. I found myself not laughing with the audience around me, and they weren’t laughing at the things I found funny.
If we get past the coarse language and look at the theme, we find not just a play about a single book, but about religious books in general. The title could have easily been The Koran, The New Testament, Dianetics, The Bible, The Holy Scriptures, or any other religious text. The theme is about how religion is made up of stories that have no truth, but people just believe so they can get their pie-in-the-sky when they die. God is not real, and there is no such place as Heaven. In this sense there is a lot of contradiction in the play. It wasn’t that the people had a worse life now because of religion, and they just had to endure until they could get a reward in Heaven, but rather even in the play the people who accepted the religion had a better life now. They were taught the truth and when they conformed to it, their lives got better immediately. They were happy, and not just happily ignorant, but happier because they learned just a few true principles.
Happiness always comes from conforming to truth. As long as we live in a fantasy world we remain miserable because of constant conflict of not being able to get what we want. We can find no fulfillment nor satisfaction in a fantasy. More cookies won’t fill the hole inside me, and will only make me fat and hate myself. Another drink won’t take away the anxiety, but will kill my liver and brain cells. More sex won’t make me feel connected to others, but rather give me AIDS. The truth of growing up and thinking of others instead of ourselves actually makes us happy and fulfilled is taught almost exclusively by religion -- the very religious texts that are being denigrated in the play. In that sense, the play is a huge step backwards for society. It leads to childishness and ignorance, bringing death and destruction, like the Ugandans going back to their old ways of female genital mutilation, or raping children to cure their AIDS.
The musical is really for Peter Pan types, little boys who don’t want to grow up and face life, truth, and take responsibility. These are all things that God requires of those who seek Him so those who refuse to grow up will deny Him, like the Ugandans blaming God for their ignorance and suffering. Thus, the play has potential to create more suffering by creating more ignorance, and an uncivilized society. This has been the fate of all those who believe the fantasy that we could have civilization without God. The 20th century was by far the bloodiest in all the history of the world, all in the name of atheistic power-hungry regimes. Only God can subdue the natural tendency to use power for personal gain. Thus, religion is our only hope for avoiding such bloodshed, and musical performance undermines that.
But the true ignorance of the play is that it’s the opposite of what it’s supposed to be. By saying that The Book of Mormon, Another Testament of Jesus Christ, and all it teaches is fantasy comes from those who have never read the book, or don’t understand it. Tens of millions of people who have read it in over a hundred languages (including Uganda) can affirm that it is true, and their lives really are better - now. The difference is, those who read it know, those who don’t, just remain ignorant. As Mark Twain said, “The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who can't read them.” The best advice, then, would be to overcome ignorance and actually read the book and judge for yourself.
