Blindsided by blasphemous ‘Book of Mormon’

    I recently was in Chicago for a few days of church ministry and vacation time. I enjoy Broadway musicals and saw several advertisements for “The Book of Mormon,” touting it as “Winner of 9 Tony Awards, including Best Musical.”
    I knew nothing about the show but got very excited at the thought of seeing an award-winning Broadway musical. Contrary to my normal practice, I didn’t do any research or read any reviews. I went online, found out there were a few tickets left in the crow’s nest and bought one.
    The show turned out to be blasphemous, and I was out of the theater in about 20 minutes. It opened with a speech by Jesus and Joseph Smith, founder of the Mormons, poking fun at the Mormon religion.
    Then the show shifted to “The Mormon Missionary School.”  The young male students in white shirts and black ties were wide-eyed and zealous. It was Graduation Day, and the guys were anxious to get their mission assignments. One sang about how much he hoped his first mission would be to Orlando! The assignments were announced: the men who heard they were going to Norway and France and other popular destinations rejoiced. For the last two guys, a foghorn sounded offstage, indicating they had gotten the booby-prize mission: Uganda. The “Orlando” guy was devastated by the news, and his mission partner and family tried their best to console him.
    The scene switched to Uganda. The missionary duo arrived at their village, where they were promptly held up at gunpoint and their luggage stolen. They complained to the village chief, who asked how they could expect better in such a forsaken land: a place of gun-toting gangs, AIDS, extreme unemployment, poverty and misery.
    When the missionary said that God was the answer to all those problems, the chief just laughed. “Well, without God,” the missionary asked, “how do you possibly cope with all the pain?”
    “We just sing a little song,” the chief replied. He then began singing an African song which sounded like “Hakuna Matada” from the “The Lion King.” The villagers all joined in. The song had a catchy tune, and pretty soon the missionaries were singing and dancing along, too.
    Finally, the “Orlando” missionary asked, “What exactly does the song mean?” The chief replied, “Well, this word means ‘God,’ and this word means ‘you,’ and this other word means ‘@#$%’ (the vilest curse word in the English language). So we’re singing, ‘@#$% you, God.”
     The villagers resumed the song and began thrusting a certain finger toward the heavens. About half of the audience laughed wildly. The other half, sat in stunned silence. As soon as the truth sank in, out the theater I went. I was kicking myself for buying a ticket without doing the research.
    When I finally read the promotion material, it said the show had “explicit language” and was from the producers of “South Park.” Several online reviews said “Mormon” was “hilarious” and “the funniest Broadway musical ever.” Some did say the musical was “irreverent,” but words like this hardly describe the depth of insult leveled against God and religion.
    When I returned home, my heart sank as I saw that “The Book of Mormon” is the first musical scheduled for the 2013-14 “Broadway Across America” Series at the newly renovated Saenger Theatre. What a shame, and what a sad state of affairs when our culture exalts a sacrilegious offering like this.
    Father Joseph Palermo is director of spiritual formation at Notre Dame Seminary.