r/AskReddit • u/BelieveCongreveCube • 13h ago
Ex-Mormons, what was your first reaction to Matt Stone and Trey Parker’s “The Book of Mormon” musical?
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u/tony10033 11h ago
When I went to see the show on broadway, one row directly in front of me was a medium sized family dressed pretty traditionally. The intermission begins and the first thing I hear is the mother lean over to the father and say “I’m starting to think maybe they are making fun of Mormonism”
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u/MouthHope2026 10h ago
The fact that it took them until intermission to figure that out is the most Mormon thing ever.
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u/Galileo258 10h ago
Like, Hasa Diga Ebowi is the FOURTH song.
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u/tony10033 9h ago
Ok but in their defense, that song is about the destitute life of Uganda and not necessarily that Mormonism is bad lol
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u/YardSardonyx 9h ago
The fact that they probably thought ‘Hello’ and ‘Two by Two’ were meant to be completely in earnest is SO funny to me
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u/MathBallThunder 13h ago
I was in the minority of my social circle but I loved it. I think every religion has zealots who take everything literally. But as a former LDS who can separate criticism of the theology, I actually found the messaging pretty endearing. They showed the missionaries as good people who genuinely wanted to help. My opinion was that it's hilarious with great music and celebrated some of the best parts of Mormonism while also making fun of some of the most ridiculous (which every subject has)
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u/Kootsiak 13h ago
Matt and Trey also did an episode of South Park where a Mormon family moves into town and the kids are all primed to hate them, but they are such nice, friendly people that they win over everyone.
there is no twist at the end that they are secretly awful. It just ends with the character Stan realizing he is a judgemental prick.
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u/dijon_snow 13h ago
The same episode does go over the story of Joseph Smith while literally declaring "dumb dumb dumbdumbdumb." It acknowledges that Mormons can be nice people whole also being honest about how ridiculous their beliefs are.
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u/EggCzar 11h ago
When Mitt Romney ran for President, the Economist, with British understatement, called Mormonism “one of the world’s odder religions.”
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u/OperatorTrick2026 5h ago
It is hilarious how Wikipedia has a hover note summarizing:
Estimates vary, but most historians generally place the number of Smith's polygamous wives as between 30 and 40.[241]: 105 [242]
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u/booyakasha_wagwaan 12h ago
one of the first jobs I had was working for a cabinet woodshop run by a Mormon. this was maybe 30 yrs ago... at the end of the short interview, he told me - we're Mormon, we don't use caffeine, alcohol or drugs. I said - OK, I do drink alcohol and I do occasionally smoke marijuana, but I would never allow that to interfere with my job. I expected him to tell me to get lost, but instead he said - thanks for being honest - you're hired! he was a really great guy and a good boss.
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u/TheWingus 8h ago
there is no twist at the end that they are secretly awful. It just ends with the character Stan realizing he is a judgemental prick.
"Look, maybe us Mormons do believe in crazy stories that make absolutely no sense, and maybe Joseph Smith did make it all up, but I have a great life, and a great family, and I have the Book of Mormon to thank for that. The truth is, I don't care if Joseph Smith made it all up, because what the church teaches now is loving your family, being nice and helping people. And even though people in this town might think that's stupid, I still choose to believe in it. All I ever did was try to be your friend, Stan, but you're so high and mighty you couldn't look past my religion and just be my friend back. You've got a lot of growing up to do, buddy. Suck my balls."
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u/dimir23 7h ago
I know you're quoting the show and I'm being a judgemental prick
But Mormons voted for trump more than any other relgion
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u/YourMurse4Real 6h ago
The amount of people who supported Trump in 2016 was the beginning of the final end for me in the LDS church. There's of course many other things but every Sunday I got more and more ostracized by pointing out how antithetical to Christ's (and nominally the churches) teaching were.
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u/Technical_Barber9176 3h ago
Actually, that's not quite accurate. According to 2024 election data, approximately 81% of white evangelical Protestants voted for Trump, compared with 64% of Latter-day Saints. What's especially interesting is that LDS political affiliation has been shifting. The percentage identifying as Republican has fallen from roughly 75% in 2012 to 58% in 2024, and Ive seen data that mormons are actually pulling away from Trump faster than other Christian denominations.
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u/BenderBenRodriguez 12h ago
Trey at least grew up around Mormons and genuinely likes them (his first girlfriend was a Mormon). It's been a major fixation of his work (going back to Orgazmo! at least), but yeah, the guys don't dislike Mormons at all.
To be honest, you probably don't spend years of your life working on a musical just to make fun of something you genuinely despise. Mel Brooks was always spoofing movies he genuinely loved, for instance. There's a reason you do that instead of the alternative.
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u/argross91 10h ago
Although Mel Brooks also made fun of Nazis in the Producers. He definitely despised them
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u/BenderBenRodriguez 10h ago
Oh of course, but the whole movie wasn't just "fuck the Nazis" even. It was derived from his genuine love of musical theater, and a funny premise about how an attempt to purposefully bomb could go horribly "right." Nazis just happened to be the funniest direction to go into. Though, of course, he also went back to that well with To Be or Not To Be.
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u/TheWingus 8h ago
Jiminy Glick: "What's your big beef with the Nazis?"
Mel Brooks: "What's MY big beef with the Nazis!?"
JG: "Yeah you're always knocking the Nazis, oh here comes Mel Brooks knocking the nazis"
MB: "Oh I don't know, I think they're rude"
JG: "I guess..."
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u/WTFwhatthehell 13h ago
Their founding/founder is ridiculous, their doctrine is an acid trip, their central church seems to exploit it's members and is more than a tad shady...
But the Mormon community itself seems to legit lean strongly towards good people.
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u/Illustrious-Share312 12h ago
Good people with unwavering support to a cabal of dishonest lecherous old men that relentlessly extract wealth from their followers and sexually repress people.
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u/Luckiest_Creature 7h ago
Literally. I was born and raised in a VERY Mormon family, high levels of observance. Went to all activities and seminary, the whole shebang before I left when I was 18.
Those “good, nice people” are very happy to sweep corruption, money laundering, sexual assault, misogyny, racism, homophobia, and more under the rug.
Every ward has those “missing stairs”, where they know someone has done something terrible, but they all just quietly whisper about it and nobody tells any relevant authority or does anything to fix it. The man who everyone knows has touched his daughter, but all that’s done about it is barring him from taking the sacrament for a couple months while he “repents”. The woman who scammed half the ward in her MLM, but nobody calls her on it.
Many, many such cases. And I’ll add that I was raised outside of Utah, on the west coast. I hear from my Utah cousins that the culture is far, far worse and more ingrained there.
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u/tsuggitt 12h ago
Very similar to nations (and the generally average good folk that live in them) and the governments that run them…
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u/-Aluminum_Falcon- 11h ago
I don't disagree, I grew up with close friends in high school who are/were LDS. For the most part, they and their families were lovely. I went to quite a few high school church dances and made friends that I'm still friends with 30 years later.
My biggest complaint with this church, along with so many others, is that these very good people, very lovely humans, allow their Church to influence how they vote and that in turn influences the direction of the USA.
If you are a very good person, but vote to support policies that actively harm people and remove rights and bodily freedom from them, you are not a good person and your church is not a good organization.
See: LDS marriage equality voters, or Catholicism single issue abortion voters, to name just a couple.
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u/Kootsiak 13h ago
It's truly why I don't hate religion or religious people. I find much to hate about the greater organized part of the religion, but there is usually always the few people of real faith who took all the right lessons from these books and make the world a nicer place.
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u/ThisistheHoneyBadger 12h ago
I had two "elders" stop me while I was working in my yard. One was from Florida and the other was from SLC. Both super young guys and I told them right off the bat that my mind was made up but I wasnt rude to them or anything. We had a nice chat about the neighborhood and how old the houses were and stuff. They were genuinely nice people and not the least bit pushy about spreading LDS stuff.
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u/cbpantskiller 11h ago
I invited a few into my house in college because I thought they were here to visit my roommate, who was Mormon.
We played Goldeneye for about an hour and a half before they told me they didn't know who my roommate was and were out spreading the word of God.
I didn't want to talk about God so we played one more round and they were on their way.
Nice guys.
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u/Fearlessleader85 12h ago
In the future, if you want help on the yard work, you can ask them and they will help.
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u/ThisistheHoneyBadger 12h ago
Eh I dont need help with that I just figured they prolly get treated shitty all day so thought I'd have a pleasant chat with them.
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u/Fearlessleader85 11h ago
Yeah, I'm not saying get out a lawn chair and whip them while they're working, but sometimes having a project that you're working on with someone is a lot better than walking around trying to talk to people about a religion they don't want.
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u/ribi305 13h ago
As a non-Mormon, I can see clearly that Trey and Matt have so much love and appreciation for Mormons in the show. What's tough to realize is that the same love and appreciation for Ugandans is not there - much more stereotyped at their expense. But I still love the show - so many songs are so fantastic, and I think the religious satire is really sharp, not just about Mormons but about religion in general.
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u/HanzoKurosawa 10h ago
It's worth noting that in 2020 a lot of the black actors both from the original cast and (at the time) current cast wrote a letter to the creative team that the musical needed updating to reflect modern times and avoid stereotypes and tropes. Which the creative team followed through on, working with their black actors to ensure they are happy with the changes.
You can find a list of the changes made here:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Broadway/comments/rlziqq/changes_made_to_the_book_of_mormon/
Obviously there are still some stereotype elements left in, like the names. Because as others have pointed out, the characterization of the Ugandans in it are intentionally bad because it's meant to represent how the Mormons view them.
But it's good to know they are open to criticism, and changing, and trying to ensure not to actually offend people.
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u/Appropriate-Text-597 11h ago
This is such a lame take. The Ugandans in the show are a deliberate caricature of what insular white Mormons themselves think of Africans. They make that abundantly clear with the Lion King send off sequence at the airport.
Which is a real thing that used to happen: groups of Mormons dressed up as X culture to say goodbye to missionaries at the airport (pre-9/11).
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u/cloistered_around 12h ago
When I was mormon obviously I just assumed it was distasteful anti-mormon propaganda. Then years later when I left it was too close to home-- I never wanted to see it because I assumed it would be triggering.
Now that it's been a decade plus and that life is long behind me I feel like I could finally give it a look.
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u/Keffpie 11h ago
As an Atheist, I found it weirdly respectful of Mormonism, while obviously not holding back from mocking some of the weirder beliefs. But it is very clear that mormonism isn’t weirder than any other religion, and that the people are often kinder than most.
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u/funny_funny_business 10h ago
Matt Stone mentioned in an interview that they didn't want the entire thing to just be Mormon bashing because that would be boring after a while.
They also mentioned that when they went to Utah to interview people for research how nice all the Mormons were who they met.
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u/nomadtwenty 10h ago
I live in an area with a lot of mormons and they’re all super nice. I made a joke to my partner about our neighbors inviting us to a barbecue to convert us (we were in the back yard) and our immediate neighbors said next time we saw each other “maybe we’ll have a barbecue and invite you guys? ;)” and besides feeling bad they heard me, I super respected that they just rolled with it and had fun with it. They all come by our house every Halloween with the kids and always have something nice to say about our decorations or costumes. We’re a gay couple and I’ve never once felt like any of our neighbors are rude or hostile towards us. The only person who has been a dick here is me.
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u/purplehendrix22 10h ago
Yeah, I really got no beef with them. They do a little proselytizing but they’re always respectful about it, and they do genuinely get involved with and improve their local communities.
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u/No-Fuckin-Ziti 8h ago
That’s always been Parker and stones trick. They don’t punch down at believers and normal brainwashed ppl, only at the ones manipulating them. Did the same with the Catholic Church and Scientology. They reacted predictably well.
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u/Katefreak 10h ago
This is how The Righteous Gemstones felt about Southern Evangelical prosperity gospel. It made a mockery of the characters using their faith, not the faith itself.
As someone who grew up in that world, I probably couldn't have such a generous tone on the subject, but I'm glad Danny McBride could. It made the show even better, imo.
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u/DrManhattan_DDM 9h ago
I especially loved The Righteous Gemstones because I spent some time in the Charleston, SC and recognized a few of the locations in the show (the building they use for the church is the same IRL arena where the minor league hockey team plays!).
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u/DayleD 11h ago
If you're looking for an excerpt, I recommend you start with "I Belive" from the 65th Tony Awards.
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u/Victor_C 10h ago
Less about the musical, but the Mormon South Park episode. But growing up I was explicitly told the bit about Smith using a rock in a hat to “translate” was an anti-Mormon lie. Imagine my surprise when I found out the church now goes “oh yeah he did that”
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u/UltiGamer34 10h ago
I dont have beef at all with mormons as long as they stay in their lane but its kinda crazy they dont question how batshit crazy some of the stuff they believe
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u/Cajones_Cacaphony_RT 7h ago
The entire business model of Mormonism is NOT staying in their lane and going where they shouldn't be to spread their crap. Which is exactly what the musical makes fun of.
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u/Zappiticas 10h ago
My partner is an exmo and we managed to get front row center tickets to it earlier this year. She said it was a transformative experience and she had so much fun singing along to all of the songs.
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u/HappyPerson9000 10h ago
After being out of Mormonism a couple years and basically being done deconstructing I watched it. I thought it was fine. Funny and relatable sometimes, sometimes a little distasteful, sometimes just not that funny. I haven't watched much South Park either and the bit I have, I felt the same way about so maybe see if you like South Park style humor to decide if it's worth it to you 🤷♂️
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u/NauvooLegionnaire11 12h ago edited 12h ago
I’m now an exmormon. I served a two-year mission.
I really enjoyed the show. It was cathartic to watch. As a missionary, every day was hard. It’s really difficult and discouraging selling a product which no one wants. The missionary rules and lifestyle were unrelenting. I liked how the show brought these elements in and addressed them with levity.
I also like how the show teaches about the history of the Book of Mormon (ancient Jews sailed to America). In the context of the show, it’s funny because it’s implausible. In church, it’s accepted as fact.
The South Park tv episode was ground breaking. At the time, the church had covered up that Joseph Smith put a magic rock in a hat when he “translated” the gold plates. This episode was one thing which forced church leadership to be more forthright about these events.
The Mormon church in the 00’s and early 10’s wanted to be perceived as nice by outsiders. The current crop of leaders, bolstered by their $300 billion war chest, would likely respond much more aggressively. Or they just would have bought the show and shut it down.
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u/LabiaMajorasMask420 11h ago
Non-Mormon here- I was reading a perspective recently that suggested that although not marketed as such, the mission serves a purpose for the church by introducing their young congregants to a society that is generally hostile and reject them. In this way, at a formative age, the missionaries feel like the world is not accepting or welcoming which casts the church they grew up in as the only welcoming community. In this way the mission not only attempts to gain converts, but also tends to direct the missionaries back to the church in a strengthened way. Curious if this was your experience or if what I was reading was off the mark.
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u/Senkyou 11h ago
To qualify myself, I did a two-year mission in Japan, which is probably on the higher end of countries apathetic towards religion. I was rejected a lot. I think that your assertion here is fundamentally correct. During internal meetings, meetups, and whatever else, there was a lot of rhetoric or grumbling or commentary about just this idea.
It ended up having a bit of the opposite effect on me; I'm fortunate that one of my parents grew up outside of the Utah bubble, which lent me a lot of perspective on "other people" and I avoided some of the cultural pitfalls Mormons often experience when interacting with non-Mormons outside of Utah.
So ultimately it had the opposite effect on me to what you've described, because I saw people happy and successful at life without being Mormon and was able to connect the dots. But most of my fellow missionaries went the other way and denied that they were actually happy (and suggested they were faking) or believed they were only partially as happy as they could be.
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u/YardSardonyx 9h ago
Did you at least get to soak up a little Japanese culture and explore the country a bit? I live in Orlando and often wonder if the missionaries here actually get to go to Disney World like Elder Price wants to in the musical (there’s an LDS church literally a mile away from the Magic Kingdom)
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u/Senkyou 9h ago
I did, but I put a lot of effort into it. I wish I had done more, honestly. But I participated in or watched many cultural events and visited many locations, from museums and historical points of interest to caves to aquariums. All were fun and enlightening. The most valuable thing I got from those experiences was learning how to appreciate and understand how other people are and live
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u/SensoryFour34 8h ago
Can’t comment on Disney World specifically but I went on a mission to Minnesota and we were told we couldn’t go to the Mall of America under any circumstances. It wouldn’t surprise me if Disney wasn’t allowed but it also very much depends on local leadership. The mission president essentially has the power to decide the rules for all missionaries in their area
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u/Terrahawk76 8h ago
I had a friend who did his mission in Japan. He rode a bike around Tokyo all the time for it and ended up with vericose veins in his dick as a result. They sent him home around 6 months in and marked his mission as complete.
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u/Ajamantium 5h ago
I second this. I served a two-year mission in California. It had the same effect on me. I saw people I was told weren’t happy without “the church” but they were not only happy, they were perfectly healthy and living good lives. It was one of many things that brought me to deconstruct my faith.
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u/NauvooLegionnaire11 7h ago
I was raised in the church and served my mission in western Europe. The concept of missions is strategically significant to Mormonism in the following ways:
A mission is sort of like your capstone assignment when growing up Mormon. The church uses its education programs to train and prepare you for this future missionary service. There's the church classes on Sunday but later in life (grades 9-12) there is seminary, which further provides instruction about the church and its teachings. It's described formative experience that is always on the horizon and that you need to be preparing for, and staying worthy for (eg obeying the Law of Chastity). So a mission is only technically 2 years (men) 18 months (women) but it's the overall target for your upbringing in Mormonism.
The mission experience is highly engineered by the church; it's intentionally designed to be difficult and unpleasant. Missionaries used to only be able to call home twice per year (Christmas/Mother's Day) but that's been relaxed. The mission experience and lifestyle create a firm break from regular life and in many ways isolate the missionary. The missionary is reliant on the church for everything - food, housing, and companionship. Despite being in a developed country in Europe, I was not allowed to see a dentist for two years. Missionaries were only allowed to see a doctor with the approval of the mission president's wife (no medical background), despite the fact that I personally would have to pay for the doctor's visit.
A LDS missionary pays $500/month for the privilege of being a missionary (https://www.thechurchnews.com/2019/6/27/23215166/first-presidency-lds-missionary-contribution/). The church subsidizes the rest of whatever it costs. The cost structure is designed to weed out people who don't buy into the mission experience.
The LDS mission got weaponized by church leaders. A couple of generations of women were indoctrinated that they needed to marry a man who was a returned missionary. Consequently, missionary service became a required merit badge in the Mormon dating world. Ironically enough, now the that church is pushing missionary service on women, Mormon men have begun to weaponize the mission and some will now only date/marry a women who has also served a mission. https://universe.byu.edu/2019/04/30/final-project/
Above all, the Mormon mission teaches obedience and reliance to the church. Yes it does help increase retention efforts for missionaries in the future. Over 90% of people who convert to the church are gone within a year (although the LDS church keeps them on the membership records until people are 110 years old). Missionaries and converts need to have family and their social circles be Mormon, otherwise, the lifestyle doesn't work very well. The mission helps retention efforts of missionaries. But it puts them on a glideslope for the next key step in their life - marriage. The prototypical plan for an 17 year old is mission, marriage, kids. The church will usually lose people who forgo a mission and attend a university other than one of the BYU's.
The church attempts to maintain a monopoly on allowing young adults to have sex. Within Mormonism, sex outside marriage is described as the the second worst sin (the first one being murder). In an ideal Mormon world, people complete the mission and get married in the temple as soon as possible. Concurrent with going to BYU this couple should have kids. It's apparently more difficult to leave the church once you've married another Mormon and have kids.
- I enjoyed certain aspects of my mission. I think I could have gotten 90% of the benefit in about half the time. I felt like a hero coming home despite the fact I didn't baptize anyone. At this point in life, I try and focus on the good aspects of the experience - learning to talk to strangers, dealing with conflicts with a co-worker, using my time productively, overcoming discouragement, developing physical and mental grit.
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u/PandaCat22 11h ago
I'm a currently practicing Mormon, was born and raised Mormon and served a mission in the East Coast of the US—which is the least Mormon area (Mormons per capita) of the US.
I didn't find that my mission entrenched me into Mormonism due to feeling persecuted. This is obviously extremely anecdotal, but my mission actually made me so much more ecumenical and universalist (a belief that almost everyone is saved by God, regardless of belief in this life), and actually convinced me that most people in the world are good people just doing their best to provide for them and their loved ones.
I talked to a lot of people, most of whom didn't want anything to do with us, but I never felt like their rejection of me was because "the world hates Mormons" (for example, I had an old guy answer the door with a revolver in hand one time, but I attributed that to him being an old crank rather than because he had it out for Mormons). Every time I talked to people, I became more and more convinced of a sense of their goodness—I felt like I could tell they were just trying their best in a very tough world (I was in some pretty impoverished areas) and 20 years later those experiences still make me believe in the basic goodness of people.
Every mission is different and will depend heavily on the mission president (they're the old guy who gets put in charge of all missionaries in a certain geographic region) but I've found the narrative that missions are designed to be harrowing in order to cult brainwash you to be completely wrong. There is evidence that people who serve Mormon missions are more likely to stay Mormon, but (IMO) that has more to do with the fact that you have spent a significant amount of time convincing others and yourself of a certain message, not because the church wants you to go out and feel isolated and bereft in "the world" or whatever—it's a stupid narrative because Mormons are just people who go to church on Sunday and do weekly social activities maybe once in the middle of the week, just like anyone else who goes to any kind of church. The argument that Mormons are given missions to be frightened by the big scary world only makes sense if Mormons lived in some kind of cult compound and not as fully integrated and normal members of society. It's an argument based on a bad foundation.
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u/HappyPerson9000 11h ago
Also as an ex Mormon who went on a mission (in Canada) I agree much more with this sentiment than the rumspringa type one. I gained a much deeper appreciation for other religions but studying and teaching your religion along with constant guilt tripping can lock you in pretty hard on your religion. It also gave the opportunity to think through every bit of theology that the church didn't actively try to hide and figure out how it "just makes so much sense". Tbh there's still a lot of parts of their theology that I think is beautiful.
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u/EpicOtterLover 12h ago
Hey, they're not the Mormon church anymore, they're the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. "To remove the Lord's name from the Lord's church is a major victory for Satan," after all. /s
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u/NauvooLegionnaire11 12h ago
I had really hope for Dear Leader Russell to provide a follow talk outlining his “Satanic Victories Scale” and what constitutes minor, major, and humungous victories.
He could also talk about ties and losses. /s
Since there’s a lot of non-Mormon on the sub, I’m going to include my favorite part of LDS doctrine.
The biblical figure Cain is also Bigfoot. As taught by church president Spencer W. Kimball in his book The Miracle of Forgiveness.
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u/1stEmissaryElenwen 11h ago
Also, black people are descended from Cain, meaning black people are part Bigfoot
And Native Americans are Jews that God turned brown because they're evil
Also there's moon men
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u/ozozznozzy 8h ago
These are the lovely parts of Mormon history that if you try to tell a current member, they'll respond with:
A) you've been lied to by the anti-mormons B) you've been deceived by Satan himself C) the words of the prophet alone are the words of a man. It requires "more" to be prophetic (the definition of "more" here is an unachievable roaming goalpost)
My personal favorite doctrines, that I will add were confirmed by all 15 of the highest church leadership at the time, include:
1) the Kinderhook plates - additional metal plates that Joseph Smith got his hands on that he insisted were the Book of Mormon 2.0. He didn't have the opportunity to translate them before he died, and they were taken by someone, eventually ending up in the museum of Chicago. That museum burned in the fire and the plates were lost. Mormon leaders continued to talk about the Kinderhook plates and how they would eventually be given to the world when God sees fit. Well, they turned up. They weren't destroyed in the fire and the prophet Gordon B Hinkley got his hands on them. Gave a whole conference talk on them and everything. Well, after some forensics were done on them it was found that a blacksmith in the 1840s made them and etched them with acid to make the engravings look real. They were made to make Joseph look like a fool... And that they did. 2) per prophet Joseph F Smith (different than the first guy), and signed off by all 15 of the presiding Church leadership, Adam and Eve were real, and the apple they ate literally gave them blood. That was the effect it had, produce blood in their bodies. Blood is where mortality starts I guess.
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u/Chemical_Nervous 10h ago
As outlined in Marty Kramblepatch's tell all novel, Moon Men are distant relatives of Map Men. Third cousin twice removed iirc
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u/spinozasrobot 8h ago edited 8h ago
At the time, the church had covered up that Joseph Smith put a magic rock in a hat when he “translated” the gold plates.
Ah yes, the seer stones.
I also love the fact Smith had the gold plates from god, but lost them. Can you imagine the conversation that morning?
"Honey? Have you seen the gold plates? The ones god sent?"
Also, I went to the main museum with my very educated grandmother. She was chuckling as we left. Apparently, they had pictures of all Smith's wives, but none of them were together.
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u/MARKLAR5 10h ago
Asking as someone who has and always will be atheist: what is the justification for missions? At what point do you start asking "why am I trying to convince people to join us?"
Surely your faith doesn't require anyone else to participate in it, and a forgiving god would care for their children regardless of their mistakes, just like any other parent? It stands to reason, then, if these ideas are accepted as true, then what is the point of trying to convert aside from money for the church? People are loved by a christian god regardless, so what does it matter what everyone else does?
Genuinely curious about your perspective on this
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u/NauvooLegionnaire11 8h ago
There's a couple of reasons for being a missionary and dealing with the associated discouragement:
As a male, you've been taught since birth that you have an obligation to serve a mission. So it's not optional.
Top leadership in official speeches used to promote the ideology that it would be better for missionaries to come home in a body bag than it would for them to voluntarily quit their mission.
The parents and missionary have social pressure to stay. For a missionary to quit and return home early, that's termed a "dishonorable release." The parents are embarrassed in their Mormon social circles because their kid failed and wasn't tough enough. It's shameful to come home early. And interestingly enough, mission presidents (LDS leader who oversees youth missionaries) can even threaten to invoice a departing missionary's family for the return flight, since the release is dishonorable.
Dating prospects within Mormonism are diminished if you either chose not to serve a mission and/or were dishonorably released. Mormon women were encouraged to only marry a returned missionary. So even if the mission sucks, people still want to "earn the merit badge" of sticking it out.
My deferred enrollment at BYU was contingent on my completing my mission. Had I departed early, I would have lost out on this. I would have been starting from scratch on my higher education plans.
Mormonism promotes black and white binary thinking that the Mormon church is the only true church on earth. Mormonism teaches that every person on earth needs to experience certain ordinances (baptism, temple endowment, etc.) to make it to heaven. It's the obligation and duty for Mormons to preach this gospel and try and convert others. The duty to proclaim the gospel was explicitly named as one of the pillars of the church.
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u/Pitiful_Eye_3295 9h ago
ExMormon here, who served a mission and was 100% in. Mormons believe that they have the fullness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and that if you live by its teachings you will be happier than you would be otherwise. So you want other people to be happy just like you're happy. Either you are happy as a Mormon and attribute that to Mormonism or you're unhappy and it must be that you are doing something wrong. All the other Mormons around you tell you how happy they are so if you're not happy it's your fault.
And if you're not happy on your mission it's your fault.
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u/littleyellowbike 9h ago
Ironically, that "only Mormons are happy" mindset was exactly what spurred my exmo husband's deprogramming while he was on his mission 30+ years ago and interacting with people from so many different backgrounds. It's hard to keep believing the claim when you're regularly interacting with Catholics, Hindus, and atheists who are obviously genuinely happy (certainly happier than he was on his mission).
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u/Pitiful_Eye_3295 8h ago
That's awesome. Good for him. One of my friends left Mormonism in his early twenties because he realized it didn't make him happy. It wasn't that he didn't believe the truth of it is just that he knew it wasn't making him happy. When he later found out about all the massive issues with the truth claims, it still hit him like a ton of bricks, especially since his family was still fully in.
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u/edave22 13h ago
When the show started the Mormon church took out a full page ad in the playbill saying “you’ve seen the show, now read the book!”
They’re generally good sports. I’ve only met a handful of Mormons that were insufferable.
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u/diboox 12h ago
When I went during the initial touring run they had a ton of Mormons handing out pamphlets after the show. Talk about no press is bad press.
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u/Aantagon 12h ago
Not only pamphlets. I got an actual copy of the book from a mormon (or atleast wearing the costume) when exiting the theatre.
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u/HappyPerson9000 11h ago
They were very likely real. When I was Mormon and on my mission the musical came to town, they made us go to the show because "it was a great opportunity to find people interested in the church." It was not. A bunch of people thought we were the actors then fear would light up their eyes when we started genuinely giving our sales pitch. Very awkward for everyone involved.
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u/starbardia 10h ago
Makes complete sense. A lot of people don’t know that the real purpose of the mission system is to isolate young people and get them to feel “othered” from the outside world, pushing them deeper into the religion because the everyone else is mean and scary
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u/cssc201 9h ago
I believe they have relaxed the rules, but you used to only be able to talk to family back home on Christmas and your birthday or something like that. You aren't allowed to be separate from your randomly assigned mission partner at any point.
Oh, and YOU are paying like $20k to do the mission. They don't even foot the bill.
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u/HappyPerson9000 9h ago
Christmas and Mother's Day. The budding feminist in me made me pretty annoyed we couldn't call on Father's Day as well
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u/Altruistic_Fun_6985 8h ago
My cousin found out his grandfather died through an email like weeks to months after the fact
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u/h-v-smacker 7h ago
we couldn't call on Father's Day as well
Or else what? Literally?
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u/MinaBinaXina 6h ago
Have Mormon friends. They weren't allowed to use phones on their missions. They didn't have cells. They could write letters weekly. Nothing more.
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u/cottenball 12h ago
They seem to print and hand those out like they’re pamphlets though. I got a few in college and a guy in high school brought a whole box to hand out to the football team once
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u/BoweryElectricSlide 12h ago
It’s like there are 3 groups of Mormons:
Those on Instagram, those in the legislature and all the nice ones.(Massive stereotypes used for snarky comment)
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u/MrMastodon 11h ago
Hey now, Ken Jennings is on Instagram AND one of the nice ones. But only him.
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u/tirch 7h ago
Definitely a Ken Jennings fan. Plus Mormons are great on business trips. They don't drink alcohol so you can party the night before and let them run the morning sessions while you recover.
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u/Crozax 10h ago
I went to grad school at a fairly high-tier school (think Ivy adjacent) and Mormons were super overrepresented in graduate/family housing. I would always joke with my friends/colleagues that we got the defective Mormons because theyre supposed to be so nice but ours were so standoffish. They barely said 2 words to me the entire 2 years we had saw one another.
Our working theory was theyre only nice when theyre on the recruiting clock and at home they actually are quite insular.
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u/mayoboyyo 11h ago
Cant ignore the FLDS and their abuse of children and women!
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u/D0nt3L1nk 4h ago
When people says “Mormons” they almost never are referring to the FLDS. Even Mormons hate the FLDS.
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u/Fishbulb1920 9h ago
I grew up in Utah as a non-mormon and I try to explain this to people all the time. And do not get me wrong, I will get blue in the face describing all the problems I have with that church. I think the leadership is actually quite problematic. With that said, some of my lifelong best friends are Mormon and some of the best people I've ever met, and they could care less I'm not a member of their church. Also, some of the funniest people I've met.
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u/Artistic-Part3953 9h ago
I'm a black dude who grew up in a very white city. First people to ever talk to my family were Mormons. We established quick that we had our own religion and they basically said cool but here's community.
Their kid has been my best friend for 25 years now.
I've met some other cool ass people and I've met some dickhead Mormons.
At the end of the day they're people too.
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u/brainbl0ck 9h ago
Same here. Atheist living in Utah here and I have tons of LDS friends. Yes, there are definitely insufferable people in every religion, and the LDS folks have some stringent rules, but they're not like.... mean people.
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u/GizmoSlice 12h ago edited 9h ago
This reads like someone who hasn’t spent any time in Utah as a non Mormon. They were really not nice.
EDIT: Speaking from years of experience working in Provo and Orem as a non Mormon (Christian, then later secular humanist)
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u/BetterUsername69420 11h ago edited 10h ago
I've noticed that particularly solid middle class and higher Mormons tend to be incredibly insular. I worked in a predominantly Mormon workplace in the Phoenix Valley, where most of the Mormons I dealt with had money; once they found out I wasn't religious (I'm "Mormon passing"), conversation became a lot more stilted.
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u/BoweryElectricSlide 11h ago
Like all religions it varies.
If you have a flat tire in Draper or Alpine a guy in a Range Rover will tell you it’s your fault, and then call his cousins tow truck company that will charge your card $5,000 a month after service and then say, sue me and bring me to court where my second cousin is judge.
Down in Price or Washington County, everyone will be out going: “service to neighbors is service to industry is service to god! Let’s get you on your way!”
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u/Justame13 11h ago
Or Idaho. I once had to explain to my little brother why there was a neighborhood party and we weren't invite due to being non-mormon and mixed race.
They even called the cops on me for smoking a cigarette after I got out of basic training because they knew I wasn't 18.
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u/GizmoSlice 9h ago
Yea that's the Mormon community I'm familiar with. Judgy passive aggressive derision and general rudeness.
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u/smrgldrgl 10h ago
Yeah, teaching your children to exclude other kids because they are not Mormon is cruel. They all deny that this happens, but every non mormon I know who grew up in Utah experienced the same thing. I have friends with a first grader in Utah public school and she is already going through this..
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u/frigginjensen 11h ago
Nice on the surface but very racist, misogynist, homophobic, etc.
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u/GrimaceThundercock 11h ago
The Salt Lake City variety is nice from my anecdotal experiences.
It's when you leave Salt Lake City that things get batty.
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u/Mister_Brevity 11h ago
Why are there so many Arby’s in SLC (haven’t been in several years but for some reason I remember tons of Arby’s)
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u/Freeloader0811 11h ago
Me and my wife joke that Arby's is owned by a mob. On what earth do they have the money to buy out buffalo wild wings. We think they are a front for money laundering nobody likes Arby's that much.
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u/GrimaceThundercock 11h ago
Dude I've noticed the same thing!
I just moved here in March, I don't have a good answer. But it's definitely a thing.
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u/t-poke 10h ago
I was on a road trip a few years ago and stopped somewhere in rural Utah for the night, and the vibes were just weird. I don't even know how to describe it. Just felt off.
I went to a restaurant (think like your typical Applebees or Chilis or something, but not a chain AFAIK. Wasn't much else around) next to my hotel for dinner and asked the waitress what beers they have on tap. She was just like "Uh....we just have one beer"
Okay, I'll have a pint of that then.
They don't get too many people ordering drinks around those parts of Utah I guess.
Whatever it was, it was a pretty decent beer.
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u/princesspuffer 10h ago
They don't want non-Mormons in the Promised Land of Utah. When I was Mormon, they really spend a ton of time around eachother...as soon as you start getting ideas from non Mormon friends..the shelf starts to crack, and your entire faith comes crashing down on your head and you realize that you devoted your life to a cult your parents raised you in.
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u/joeschmoe86 13h ago
Honestly, silly as mormonism is as a faith, you're right: I'd much rather spend an afternoon with a devout mormon than a devout.... pretty much any other Christian denomination.
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u/jimmythevip 12h ago
Catholics generally keep it to themselves I find.
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u/neobeguine 12h ago
Eh, there's hippy Catholics, Christmas Catholics, and Opus Dei style Catholics. The former two are fine but the latter are just as insufferable as the average Protestant fundamentalist.
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u/drillbit7 11h ago
Don't forget the Latin Mass crowd!
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u/Easy_Independent_313 11h ago
I'm culturally Catholic but non-practicing. I was born after Vatican 2 but I kind of love the thought of Mass being delivered in rhythmic Latin so I can just let it sweep over me without thinking about too much.
Like a guided meditation with sacristy and then some gentle stretches down and up and seated.
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u/Son_of_a_Bacchus 10h ago
I think the trouble is that the Latin mass is the marketing component for all of the other regressive stuff those groups are trying to push. One of the great changes after Vatican 2 is that the entire liturgy is there for us to hear and reflect on. I'm also thoroughly lapsed, but a mass you don't understand might as well be opera with magic crackers.
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u/LurkerZerker 9h ago
Yeah, there's a reason they stopped doing the Mass in Latin. It's one of, like, three theses that Luther was actually right about.
(The other two were "stop conning the poor into giving you money" and "no really, knock that corruption shit off.")(For Reddit legal reasons, I'm kidding. Luther had other valid points but also sucked butts himself.)
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u/paddjo95 12h ago
Unless you're like me and your special interest is the 1054 Schism.
Cardinal Humbert was a bastard and Michael Cerularius was a power hungry jackass.
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u/Gvillegator 12h ago
Anyone except evangelicals. Did anyone see the recent Axios polling that showed they reject empathy? Lmao
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u/davezilla18 11h ago
There are leftist/progressive branches (eg ECLA Lutherans—not the Missouri Synod type though) that are pretty dope. Seems like they actually believe the socialist parts without the fascist propaganda.
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u/ultramarinehour 12h ago
Unless you’re talking about the missionaries that come to your door (they have to be nice to you) you really probably wouldn’t. They really aren’t that different from your standard mega church Protestant.
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u/mbelinkie 12h ago
I think Trey and Matt would agree. The Mormonism episode of South Park is pretty much about that.
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u/Savaric 11h ago
My very Mormon friend had mentioned he had never heard a funny Mormon joke and was always interested to hearing one, I told him to see the show. Went to the show with him and his wife the next time it was in town.
They actually really liked the show as they definitely knew people in the church that fit all of the character's stereotypes and laughed throughout it.
They're now vehemently ex-Mormons, and I feel like I may have had a small part in getting the ball rolling on that. Whoops, maybe.
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u/yeahright17 10h ago
2 of my best friends and their wives are Mormons, and they all love the musical. Well, I wouldn't say one of the wives loves the musical, but she wasn't offended or anything. So 3/4 ain't bad. They're still very Mormon.
To be honest, the 2 songs most people get offended by (Hasa Diga Eebowai and Baptize Me) are equally offensive to pretty much all forms of Christianity, and Mormons tend to get less offended by that kind of stuff overall. I'd guess a 50-year-old Baptist in Dallas is way more likely to walk out that a 50-year-old Mormon in Salt Lake City.
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u/jmacd2918 9h ago
I used to know a bunch of mormons. Almost all of them had quite a sense of humor about their religion. Jokes about magic underpants, soaking, mormon names, being amateur movers (when a new LDS family moves to an area, church members help them move in), "how many mormons does it take to finish a 6 pack?", things like that. Mostly innocent jokes, but often pretty funny if you understand their world.
One of my favorites was an LDS guy that lived with his gay sister. They'd have parties with both of their friends, they called it "homos and momos".
I've met very few uptight Mormons. Most are serious about their religion, but not uptight, if that makes sense. It may be because I live in area that overall isn't very religious of any flavor (Catholic is the most dominant) and LDS is a very niche group, despite being formed sort of nearby. When you're that much of a minority, best plan is often to have a sense of humor about it.
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u/kintsugionmymind 7h ago
Serious about their faith but not uptight is a perfect description of the Mormon family in my neighborhood. I'm keeping that one, thanks for sharing!
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u/princesspuffer 10h ago
Thank you for your service. The church labels anything that makes you think as "anti-Mormon" and literally placed there by Satan to make you doubt the one true church. I was Mormon for 37 years (indoctrination starts in the children's nursery at 18 months) and currently in therapy to unravel the crazy the church helped put in my head.
Never getting my own planet now!
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u/DJmagikMIKE 4h ago
I’ve wanted to see it for years, just never seems to come near my area. I wish they’d just record a performance and sell the DVD.
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u/kimmy_kimika 3h ago
I wanted to get tickets to see it for me and my boyfriend (he's a huge fan of Matt and Trey's).
But tickets were a little bit more than the all day music festival we go to every year, and the show was nearly four hours away from us (the festival is only an hour and a half away). 😬
I still keep an eye out though, hopefully one day they'll come a little closer to us, which would help me justify the ticket cost.
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u/TechGirlMN 13h ago
Not a Mormon, but when I saw it on tour, a group of Mormons was handing out the book or Mormon in front of the theater. Generally I think they are okay with it.
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u/Arbiter_89 13h ago
The LDS church apparently planned to protest it, then church leaders saw it and they decided to use it as a way to promote the church instead.
Incidentally, South Park had a pretty interesting take on mormons as well, literally calling their religion dumb about 100 times in a single episode, but then arguing that it helps people live rich, loving, fulfilling lives so Matt and Trey kind of end up supporting the church in a way.
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u/FUTFUTFUTFUTFUTFUT 13h ago
Reminds me of when Super Size Me came out. Went to see it at the cinema and before the movie started McDonalds had an ad that basically said "we don't agree with a lot of what's presented in this movie, but we do agree that if you eat too much and stop exercising for a month you'll probably feel rubbish at the end of it. You should enjoy McDonalds as part of a balanced diet. So anyway, enjoy the movie" or something like that.
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u/slavuj00 13h ago
and then it turned out he was a big time alcoholic and just cut all of that out of the documentary, including the commentary from his doctors.
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u/amazingwhat 13h ago
I vaguely remember a scene where a doctor compares his liver to that of an alcoholic, shocking!
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u/slavuj00 12h ago
you are correct! I think that's the only thing he left in; I wonder if it was a kind of wink to the audience because he knew what he was doing, but nobody else did.
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u/VanillaThundurr 12h ago
I remember watching it in junior high and the doctor does say in the movie something along the lines of "you normally don't see livers like this except in cases of heavy alcohol abuse." Even as young as I was at the time that stood out to me is kind of unusual.
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u/Arbiter_89 12h ago
Not to mention he was vegan before the film.
Surprise, going from no meat/dairy to a diet that includes both in every meal without a gradual transition will make your body feel terrible.
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u/redbirdrising 10h ago
I remember that one. At the end, the mormon friend stood up for himself. Paraphrasing: "Look, we have crazy beliefs and I don't know if I believe them all. But I have a good family and community and I'm happy. You're just a dick".
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u/Arbiter_89 9h ago
And then Cartman (who had been giving Stan grief for being friends with the Mormon kid the whole episode) says "damn, that kid was cool, huh?"
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u/MoobyTheGoldenSock 13h ago
Orgazmo as well: it parodies the Mormons but also portrays them in a good light.
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u/syncpulse 13h ago
The LDS bought ad space in the program at the show I saw. "You've seen the play, Now read the book."
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u/Far_Description4583 13h ago
Same when I saw it. They seemed to be taking it in stride and probably appreciated the free advertising
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u/Long_Serpent 13h ago
Same here (saw it in Stockholm). The Mormon Church had even bought advertising space in the theatre's program sheet.
"You like the show? - Try the real thing!"
Which earned them some points in my book. I don't see Islam reacting that way to Book of Mohammed.
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u/wellingtonlc10 11h ago
I spent my entire childhood terrified of ending up in the "Outer Darkness" if I stepped out of line. Watching an entire theater full of people laugh and sing along to Spooky Mormon Hell Dream was strangely therapeutic. It turned something that used to give me actual night terrors into absolute comedy gold. 10/10, highly recommended for ex-mo healing
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u/ohidontknowwhat 3h ago
As an Ex-Mormon I loved it! Went to see it twice. The first time was during the first touring run. Mostly elderly theater season ticket holding types. Some people left the theater after "fuck you god". I was told I was being an asshole for my laughter throughout, very few others laughing. At the end as everyone was leaving giving me dirty looks I looked over the departing crowd and said "you all should've researched what you were coming to see!" The 2nd time was a completely different story. The theater was filled with laughter. But great both times.
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u/Major-Local337 12h ago
Saw the play multiple times in Salt Lake City, just a couple blocks away from the Mormon Temple. Every single tiny/obscure joke and reference landed and the applause was deafening for a few key songs. Most songs actually. Everybody was smiling and giggling on the way out of the venue. It’s like the play was tailor made for that exact audience.
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u/whitethunder9 10h ago
It came out around the time I was seriously questioning my faith. I had been on a Mormon mission, done the temple wedding thing, and thought I was the only crazy one because Mormonism in general was making less and less sense to me yet all my family around me was as devout as ever. Then when I heard the lines from the BoM musical like, "And I belieeeeeeeve, that in 1978 God changed his mind about black people!", I felt so validated. "SEE?? THEY'RE THE CRAZY ONES, NOT ME!!!" My family did not see it the same way.
Since then, 4 of my 6 siblings (the other had been out of the church long before), my wife, my wife's sister, and two sister-in-laws of mine have left the church.
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u/Deeze_Rmuh_Nudds 6h ago
Jeez I guess I’m the only guy in existence who still hasn’t seen this musical.
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u/54fighting 5h ago
“Look, maybe us Mormons do believe in crazy stories that make absolutely no sense, and maybe Joseph Smith did make it all up, but I have a great life, and a great family, and I have the Book of Mormon to thank for that. The truth is, I don't care if Joseph Smith made it all up, because what the church teaches now is loving your family, being nice and helping people. And even though people in this town might think that's stupid, I still choose to believe in it. All I ever did was try to be your friend, Stan, but you're so high and mighty you couldn't look past my religion and just be my friend back. You've got a lot of growing up to do, buddy. Suck my balls.”
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u/EveningAnt3949 5h ago
What that left out is that Mormons are not always nice to people inside their own community.
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u/Affectionate_Bus7056 6h ago
Nope. You're not alone. However, the South Park episode on Joseph Smith? Chef's kiss. See it if you haven't already.
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u/ChronarrFTW 7h ago
If you grew up in the church, the sheer accuracy of the references combined with the vulgarity is both terrifying and hilarious.
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u/MichiganMan12 12h ago
My mom is from Salt Lake and was born and raised Mormon and I’m pretty sure would consider herself Mormon still. I was baptized Mormon but my dad has never been Mormon and pretty early on my mom gave up on trying to get my brother and I to go to church. All that to say I’m not from a super traditional / overly religious mormon household but I saw the book of mormon with my mom and she loved it.
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u/airfryerfuntime 8h ago
My fiancée is ex-mo, and her parents were pretty involved in a big local stake center. They had multiple all-hands meetings on how to deal with it, primarily regarding children wanting to watch it. Ultimately, word came down from Temple Square that they were going to just let it roll and issue a generic statement disavowing it, which they did, then it just kinda went away.
I think Matt and Trey were hoping for a bigger reaction than they got, because the LDS church mostly just kinda shrugged. If anything, they actually gained members because of it.
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u/Imposingscrotem 7h ago
Actually, the LDS church used it to promote Mormonism along side the show. They took out ads in the playbills that said, “you’ve seen the show, now read the book!”
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u/DgingaNinga 13h ago
Went and watched it around 2014. A kid clearly back from his mission and his parents sat in front of us. They were clearly confused and uncomfortable. They did not return after intermission.
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u/-Aluminum_Falcon- 11h ago
That's the same level of research as the parents who took their young kids to see Bad Santa in theaters...
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u/t-poke 10h ago
My favorite thing to do every time I see it is to look around and see if anyone gets up and walks out during Hasa Diga Eebowai.
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u/93195 13h ago
Mormon leadership is on record as being okay with it.
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u/cloistered_around 12h ago
I feel like that's misleading. They wouldn't have been able to stop it anyway so laughing like it's a very incorrect joke is a better public "look" than demanding no one else see it and that spurs people to want to.
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u/grumpy_snack 9h ago
I was a LDS missionary, but left the church a few years ago.
One thing I really liked about the musical was the agency it gave to the converts. I still feel guilty for spreading something that I know can be harmful, especially to LGBT people. But what I taught is not exactly the same as what they learned. For many converts, the church is just a social club where they practice moral lessons.
The issues I have with the church remain, but the people I taught have their own brains and beliefs. Remote branches have always taught things their own way. And if the church doesn’t work for my converts, they can leave. I’m very sorry if it hurts them like it hurts so many, but hopefully there’s less societal and generational pressure to keep them there.
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u/Lacarpetronn 5h ago
I got so depressed on my mission because of this I had to come home half way through. A cascade of discoveries and realizations followed. I’m now happily believing whatever I want.
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u/insomnipack 13h ago
I saw it when I was active in the LDS church, and I thought it was funny and well crafted. The absurdity matches what the church teaches. Plus, I enjoy the crude humor Matt and Trey have.
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u/fourfrenchfries 5h ago
Nevermo in Momolandia here. I sat next to Mormons the last time I saw it! They laughed like everyone else and said afterwards that nothing was factually wrong, just dramatized and missing some context.
Overall, the Mormons are pretty good sports. The last time I had missionaries stop by, I asked for their moms' phone numbers -- it used to be a thing that they couldn't call home, so it was a polite gesture to call their moms and say they looked happy/healthy/fed/etc. So I asked for the numbers and one goes "Oh, that's so kind, but we can call our moms now. Someone found a new tablet or something so the rules all changed." Hahahaha
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u/Happy_Order_6364 6h ago
I used to be a ticket taker at the movie theatre on BYU campus back in the early 90's. One of my responsibilities was to help the projectionist edit R-rated movies down to PG status. Cut/splice the film and put tape over the audio track of "offensive" material.
When I saw this musical, all I could think was how fun it would be to whittle this down to like 17 minutes long if it were a movie.
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u/HatlessDuck 12h ago
Great. And rhe day i went the cast was collecting for an AIDS charity so I have a picture with Joseph Smith somewhere
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u/michele718 12h ago
I remember an interview with Matt & Trey and they said they can tell when there are Mormons in the audience. There are a few jokes that only Mormons get and they get a big laugh with them.
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u/stubbazubba 12h ago edited 12h ago
It uses the same structure and tropes as many faith-affirming missionary stories (the prideful overachiever paired with the humble screw-up, initial culture shock and gradual adaptation, the young indigenous woman who dreams/seeks a better life in Utah, the overachiever's crisis of faith when he struggles and the screw-up succeeds leading to humbling himself and learning from the latter) but inverts the polarity. I thought it was a really witty homage/send-up of those stories wrapped in maybe gratuitous amounts of potty humor. So something for everyone to enjoy, I guess.
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u/gangstrahamlincoln 11h ago
I was actually on my mission when the Book of Mormon Musical opened on Broadway, so it was definitely a hot topic among missionaries.
I wonder if this is true for all religions, but I think it’s especially true for Mormons: that any sort of perceived mockery or persecution is actually validating what leaders have been telling you, which is that Satan is trying to stop the church and negative portrayals of that are just proof of that.
When I finally saw clips of it, I remember being pretty embarrassed of its portrayal of Mormon missionaries. It didn’t feel reflective of what my mission experience was like at all. I also remember being proud that the church had taken ads out in the back of the musical leaflet, “you’ve seen the musical, now read the book.” Overall, I think the lot of members I knew, including myself, wanted to be quick to show the world that we could take the joke.
I left the church about six years ago, and got a chance to see the musical with a group of ex Mormon friends, almost all of us had served missions. We absolutely loved it. I thought it resonated with my experience in important ways, and was much more endearing than I anticipated.
I still have this little part in the back of my head that feels defensive, not of the church, but of the members. It’s like I feel this “I’m allowed to make fun of Mormons, because I was one, but other people don’t understand enough to make fun of them.”
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u/Miserable-Job-4559 7h ago
Top 3 favorite muscials lol. To be fair, I'm not an american and my faith was barely there buuuut I did had to pause during Hasa diga eebowai I was scared the roof was going to fall on me.
I remember Trey and Matt being pretty dissapointed that only like 4 people walked out of the show on premier day (don't quote me on that)
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u/lazer-dream 12h ago
I was in the MTC preparing for a mission around the time it premiered, and a church marketing bigwig came to talk to us about what the church was doing to combat it. As part of it, he played the entirety of the first song for a room of 4000 missionaries who were otherwise in a complete media vacuum. Everyone was singing that stupid song on repeat until we left for the field.