Andrea Roberts
I have not specifically asked for a Christmas present in
over ten years. This year though I had something extraordinary in mind, I
wanted tickets to see The Book of Mormon! I am in love with Matt Stone and Tray
Parkers’ humor and their ability to make fun of anything. After this amazing
show I was very interested to know what, if any, of the back-story of Mormonism
was correct. Surprisingly most of it was! Founded in western New York in 1820, a
teenage boy Joseph Smith was having visions of angels who were telling him to
create the true church of god. [1]
About three years later, while praying in the grove by his home, Joseph was
visited by the angel Moroni. Who told him of gold tablets engraved by Hebrews
in Egyptian, these hidden tablets were translated by Smith into ‘The Book of
Mormon”. By 1830 Joseph had created and was president of The Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints. Things were going very well the church had a
strong following, until Smith decided to adopt the practice of Polygamy. Which
will become the reason for his demise, while in Illinois he was trampled by an
angry mob.[2]
After the death of their president the Mormons chose Brigham
Young to be Smith’s successor. Young decided to move the church to Salt Lake City
Utah because of their persecution for practicing polygamy; he decided to make
it public practice of their religion in 1852. They believe that men have more
control over their passions than women; they also believe that premarital sex,
contraception, and masturbation should be forbidden. The Manifesto of 1890-
banned polygamy. Reasons for polygamy; It affirmed male dominance, maximized
opportunity for reproduction, and Baptism in ‘absentia’ required earthly bodies
and gave the head of the household (father) prestige.[3]
Nowadays we see Mormons as white shirt wearing
doorbell-ringing bible thumpers. After watching this play and reading up on
some of my own on Mormonism, I realized that Matt Stone and Tray Parker were
being endearing not patronizing. The Mormon community felt the same even made a
public statement. [4]I
believe that Mormons get a bad rep, and that Parker and Stone are just trying
to get people to see how Mormons are people too.
[1] The Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-Day Saints, "Joseph Smith." Last modified February
21, 2012. Accessed March 20, 2014.
http://www.mormon.org/beliefs/joseph-smith?gclid=CIS2t9SKs70CFe99OgodQUoA4A&CID=33391110&s_kwcid=AL!3737!3!23873312895!b!!g!!who
was joseph smith&ef_id=kthQN5MMMEEAAA4r:20140327155912:s.
[2] PBS, "American Prophet: The Story of Joseph
Smith." Accessed March 20, 2014. http://www.pbs.org/americanprophet/joseph-smith.html.
[3] Moore, Crystal . "Utopian Communities in Victorian
America." lecture., University of North Carolina- Charlotte, 2014. .
[4] Fletcher Stack, Peggy.
USA Today, "Mormons find musical 'Book of Mormon' surprisingly
sweet." Last modified March 17, 2001. Accessed March 30, 2014.
http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/religion/2011-03-18-Mormon_Broadway_17_ST_N.htm.
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