Beating a Dead Horse

Lately I feel like I've been posting about things on Facebook and then coming on here and blogging about it, hence, the title of this post. But I cannot resist writing of this topic in more depth on here. The new Broadway musical, just opened and I've been reading a lot of reviews/opinions on it from both Mormons and non-Mormons. You can guess what that's been like. It's strange, actually, reading reviews from members of the church who have seen the show. One person said something like, "well, those who are more conservative or the really righteous Mormons probably shouldn't go see it--they'll be offended." This sort of statement boggles my mind. If one Mormon is offended by the content, wouldn't or shouldn't all be offended, especially if it's targeting the beliefs and doctrine? Forget that it's strange. All religions have strange things about them, and people have claimed that this musical doesn't just make fun of the Mormon religion, but all religions (so, that makes it okay, right?). At first, I wasn't offended, but more irritated and confused by it all. And then I kept reading about it and some details of what is said and occurs during the play was enough for me to change my mind. I'm all for poking fun and laughing at our quirky Mormon culture ways, history, whathaveyou. But when the fun targets sacred doctrine, that's another story.

So, the guys who do the show "South Park" are known for their satire. They LIVE and THRIVE on making fun of other people, namely groups of a certain types of people, whether it's political, racial, or religious, etc. These are the guys behind this show, and they think Mormons are idiots, albeit, kind idiots (one article quoted one of the two guys saying he never met a Mormon he didn't like). Have they poked fun at the Mormon religion and it's culture and people before? Yes. You could say they've been "beating a dead horse" for decades. It's not a big surprise that their musical is no different. In fact, from what I've read, it sounds a lot worse, as in more offensive (which makes sense because they don't have TV networks to censor them).

The statement I made on FB was mostly focused on why and how they pulled this off. From the minute I heard this musical was actually on its way, I thought, how is it possible that they can use "The Book of Mormon" as its title? Does the church not have copyright laws on the title of this book of scripture? Guess not. But it doesn't matter. The church won't be hurt by this.

Anyway, I could go on and on and point out more things I've read and pick things apart, etc. But I won't. I wanted to end on the church's official response to this show:

"The production may attempt to entertain audiences for an evening, but The Book of Mormon as a volume of scripture will change people's lives forever by bringing them closer to Christ."

You can see it here . I love it. It's pure and simple and to the point.