Holy Obscenity!

Rev. Jeffrey Symynkywicz, September 25, 2011

            Have you ever had the experience of feeling like you’re the last person to know about something? I mean, like everyone in the world seems to know about something new, something state of the art, cutting edge—that everyone knows about it, except you?

            I had that experience last spring when I first heard about The Book of Mormon, the Broadway musical, not the religious text, which I’ve known about since (at least) theological school (or since Mormon missionaries started showing up on my doorstep, whichever came first).

            I was in the car, listening to NPR (many great discoveries, for some of us, come while in the car, listening to NPR)— it was Weekend Edition, maybe; or maybe it was Terrie Gross and Fresh Air; I’m not really sure of the program. But they started talking about the “new Broadway musical based on The Book of Mormon”, and I was intrigued. Maybe it was because, back in my Commie days (a long time ago, I hasten to add), I attempted to set The Communist Manifesto to music. “How clever,” I thought; then, “How weird.” So I brushed it off as another arcane NPR story, like the one about a guy who wrote a book exploring the religious underpinnings of (say) the music of Bruce Springsteen. That’s just the kind of stuff they talk about on NPR sometimes.

            But then, the nice person at NPR went on to say, this Book of Mormon musical was a tremendous hit. The reviews were almost uniformly raving. Some were calling it “the greatest musical of the century” (admittedly, the century is only 11 years old, but that’s still something). They were talking about how it had re-energized Broadway, how it had redefined musical theater, how every performance of it was sold out for more than a year, and about how it had been nominated for a record smashing 14 Tony awards (it eventually won nine). The Book of Mormon was, apparently, the “Big Thing” of the moment, as far as American popular culture was concerned.

            I felt like Rip Van Winkle, just waking up from a long, long sleep. Where had I been when all this was happening? Now, I don’t claim to be the World’s Biggest Expert on pop culture. The only post-2000, non-PBS television series I’ve ever watched on a more-or-less regular basis was House, and I haven’t watched that for about two years. I was a big fan of L.A. Law, which shows you how far out of the loop I am as far as current television is concerned. But at least I’ve heard of (say) American Idol. I know that there is a show called Two and a Half Men (I even know that Ashton Kutcher took Charlie Sheen’s place on it this season, too. I even have heard of Ashton Kutcher.)

            But about this Book of Mormon musical, I had heard nothing—nada. Until NPR (may its name be praised) enlightened me.

            And then, I was hooked.

            I read all about it. Watched a couple of snippets from it on Youtube. And, as soon as the original cast album (why do we still call them albums?) was released, I ordered my CD from Amazon. And started listening… and listening… and listening…

            It soon became the CD I listen to most—in the car, while cooking supper, and so forth—rivaled only by the original cast recording of the 2010 Passion Play at Oberammergau (which has, perhaps, better music, but is not nearly as funny). Sometimes I listen to one, then the other—which does lead me to ask some Very Deep Questions about what exactly is going on inside this head of mine, but I digress.

            But I was hooked from the get-go. The Book of Mormon had me at “Hello!” (which is the first song in the show). And now, sort of like a Mormon missionary I guess, I want to share this Good News with you—for I think The Book of Mormon  is very good news, although you might not think so at first glance, or first listen.

            That’s because The Book of Mormon was co-created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone (along with Robert Lopez)—those same guys who gave the world that high and ennobling cultural exemplar, South Park.

            Which means that it’s crass. And rude. And irreverent. And pokes fun at just about every racial and social grouping on the planet. And is full of (quite literal) potty humor. And references to various body parts. And, in parts (numerous parts), it’s obscene. Very obscene. Full of language and vernacular that I shall hereupon avoid with the proverbial Ten Foot Pole.       

            So why on earth are we talking about The Book of Mormon in church this morning? That’s a good question!

            The answer is, that, for all of its raucousness and its rough exterior, The Book of Mormon presents, really, a very sweet story—with a happy ending; in which people of different backgrounds and from different societies manage to come together; in which people of faith are the “good guys”, doing their best, trying to use the tools they have at hand to fashion a better, more humane world. It has been described as “an atheist’s love letter to religion”, and I think that description is apt. I also think that it might well stir up within those of us who might consider ourselves people of faith a few deeper questions about how our religious beliefs operate, within ourselves and within the world.

            Here’s the plot:

            A group of young Mormon men are about to be sent on their two year missions (something that’s required of all young Mormons, because, as the song says,  “God loves Mormons and he wants some more.”) Two of these young men—Elder Price and Elder Cunningham—are sent, not to nifty places like France or Japan or Norway like the others-- but to Uganda, in deepest, darkest Africa.

            Kevin Price is an Eagle Scout of a Mormon missionary: He is eager, intelligent, industrious—and terribly self-absorbed. He has something of a messiah complex, and wants to be “The Mormon who saved all of mankind.” On the other hand, his mission companion, Arnold Cunningham, couldn’t be more different. He’s short, overweight, rumpled—the only wrinkled Mormon in history, perhaps; he’s also a chronic underachiever, who likes science fiction and has a propensity for stretching the truth.

            The two set off for Africa, where they are immediately robbed. They finally meet some local Ugandans, who burst into a song called “Hasa Diga Eebowai” which sounds like a cheery, upbeat version of Disney’s “Hakuna Matata” from The Lion King:

            “There’s isn’t enough food to eat,

            Hasa diga eebowai,

            And people are starving in the street,

            Hasa diga eebowai…”

            Cunningham enthusiastically joins in—until he finds out that the song is actually an expletive hurled at God!

            Along with other Mormon missionaries in the area, Price and Cunningham set about trying to convert the natives, but to no avail. The villagers, you see, are under the thrall of a vicious warlord (with an absolutely unutterable name), who threatens murder and mayhem at the smallest transgression. Discouraged by his failure, Price dumps Cunningham as his companion, and sets out to escape to Orlando, which is where he had prayed to be sent in the first place. All alone, Arnold  decides to “Man up”—take the bull by the horns, and do the best with an absolutely awful situation. As the first act ends, Cunningham sings:

            What did Jesus do when they sentenced him to die,

            Did he try to run away, did he just break down and cry?

            No Jesus dug down deep, knowing what he had to do,

            Faced with his own death, Jesus knew he had to…

            Man up!

            As the second act begins, Cunningham finds that he has a gift for embellishing Mormon doctrines with references from Star Wars and The Lord of the Rings that appeal to the downtrodden Africans. They seem eager to hear about this “new religion”, and in spite of imagined warnings from the angel Moroni, Mormon founder Joseph Smith, his own father, and a bunch of Hobbits—and even Yoda from Star Wars-- Cunningham presses on:

            I’m making things up again, kind of,

            But this time it’s helping a dozen people,

            There’s nothing so bad, because this time

            I’m not committing a sin just by making things up…

            Then, he exults:

            Who would have thought I’d have this magic touch?

            Who’d have believed I could man-up this much?

            I’m talking, they’re listening,

            My stories are glistening

            I’m gonna save them all with this stuff!

            Meanwhile, Elder Price has been wracked with guilt about abandoning Cunningham and his mission, and finds himself in the midst of a “Spooky Mormon Hell Dream”, with the likes of devious fiends like Hitler, Genghis Khan, Jeffrey Dahmer—and Johnny Cochran. (Actually, Mormons do believe in hell, but only for the really, really bad. Almost everyone else gets “saved”, they say.)

            Price then rededicates himself to his cause and his faith in the stirring credo, “I Believe”—and sets out to convert even the evil warlord (with the name we can’t say).

            But things don’t go easily, as the Mormons and the warlords struggle for the hearts and minds of the villagers. When dozens of Africans follow Cunningham’s (very creative) exhortations and are baptized into the church, word gets to Utah, and the Mission President flies to Uganda to congratulate Price and Cunningham for their great success. But when a group of villagers perform a dramatic skit (“Joseph Smith, American Moses”) based on Cunningham’s “revisions” of scripture, the President is livid, and angrily tells the Africans that they are not really Latter Day Saints, but no better than a bunch of heathens.

            Deeply hurt, some of the villagers cross over to the side of the war lord; others try to continue living according to Cunningham’s neo-Mormonism. Finally, Elder Price rallies the troops with a stirring oration, reminding them that “We are all Latter Day Saints”, and that even if we change some things, and don’t necessarily believe everything—that what really matters is working together to make the world a better place:

            I am a Latter Day Saint, I help all those that I can,

            I see my friends through times of joy and sorrow.

            Who cares what happens when we’re dead?

            We shouldn’t think that far ahead.

            The only latter day that matters is tomorrow!

            All come together. Even the warlord is converted. Peace reigns. The villagers change their tune from “Hasa Diga Eebowai” to “Ma Ha Nei Bu, Eebowai”—“Thank you God!”-- and set out on their own mission to lead people to their faith and make the world better.

            Hello! Our church is growing strong!

            And if you let us in we’ll show you how you can belong.

            Join our family, and set your spirit free.

            We can fully guarantee you that

            This book will change your life!

            This book will change your life!

The Book of Arnold.

            And so, yet another interesting new faith is born.!

There is, I think, more to this little musical than might first meet the eye, or the ear. If we dig down beneath all the obscenity and absurdity, even beneath the really catchy music which both pokes fun at and reveres nearly every major musical trend of the last fifty years, what does The Book of Mormon teach us, if anything?

            First of all, I think it’s a story of faith. About the willingness of people of faith to stick it out, in a place that has been abandoned time and again, and rendered redundant in the eyes of the world. Inspired by their faith, Cunningham and Price even risk their own lives to do battle with an evil warlord. How cool is that?

            The Book of Mormon also declares that, the only measure we can use to judge the religions of others (and maybe our own religious faith) is by the fruits they produce. “By their fruits you shall know them.” In judging the religions of others, that needs to be our first and last word. Religions always look funny—strange and incomprehensible—to people on the outside looking in. The Book of Mormon (the musical) pokes fun at numerous aspects of The Book of Mormon (the religious text): at its angels appearing in the biblical lands of Upstate New York; its golden plates; some of its arcane doctrines, like both God and Jesus having their own planets off in the heavens.  But are these aspects of the Mormon faith inherently any stranger than particular aspects of other religious faiths? Not at all.

            The Book of Mormon also never disparages the basic decency of Mormons as people, their tenaciousness, their willingness to put themselves on the line, and—in the case of Price and Cunningham and their confreres—to help other people build more decent lives for themselves. “We’re fighting for a cause, but we’re really, really nice,” the missionaries sing near the start of the musical. There are worse ways of co-existing in this world of ours. (It also is interesting, I think, that of all the rogues gallery running for the Republican nomination for President, the [only] two non-scary candidates [in my opinion] are both Mormons. But maybe that’s a different sermon, and I’ll drop that point right there.)

            We in this church are a naturally skeptical people. That is, in the main, a good thing, I think. It keeps us humble in matters of belief. It keeps us open to new voices, new perspectives. It demands of us that our faith make sense. All those are precious legacies. (Though I don’t think there will be a Broadway musical about Unitarian Universalism any time soon.)

            But we do need to ask ourselves if, in fact, this world is made a better place because of our skepticism? Does skepticism alone build anything? I have no answer to that question now, but it is on we need to ask.

            Life is strange. Who would have thought that this crass and rude musical comedy could, in truth, be a gateway to the better angels of our nature? But such is the glory of living in a free society. Such is the treasure of this holy gift of imagination, which always calls upon us to see “divine things well enveloped,” as Walt Whitman wrote. There is always space for wonder and surprise—and serendipity—unexpected treasures-- in this amazing life. And, as a person of faith, it never ceases to amaze me how the same God who gave us the power to laugh at ourselves, also gave us the power to love (and to work for justice).

            And maybe—who knows?—even to write a musical based on The Communist Manifesto.

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