As The Book of Mormon: The Musical by South Park creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker prepares to open March 24 at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre, many Mormons are bracing for what promises to be an irreverent send-up of our distinctive history, culture, and religious practices. I’ve heard others muse aloud that this may be our own twisted version of a Fiddler on the Roof moment—a moment when Mormon culture crosses over into the American pop cultural mainstream. Despite the show’s beguiling subtitle (“God loves Mormons and He Wants Some More”), I’m wincing a bit in anticipation of some serious mockery. But it will be fascinating to see how the LDS Church and its members react. When Jon Krakauer’s ill-conceived Under the Banner of Heaven appeared, the Church answered with a long, defensive, citation-heavy press release. These days, I’m betting that the Church’s extremely savvy digital media folks will find a way to make most of the traffic the show will generate. Just imagine a television spot for the new Mormon.org ad campaign: “I’m John. I’m a sixth-generation Mormon, a father, a husband, and a South Park fan. I think my religion is awesome, but I also know how to relax and laugh a little. And I’m a Mormon.” Bingo!
Mormons who take pleasure in their persecution complexes are gearing up for a big year with the possibility of not one but two LDS presidential candidates entering the Republican primaries, as sources report this week that former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman (currently the Obama-appointed amabassador to China) may be exploring a 2012 run. While some—like Mormon sci-fi writer Orson Scott Card—are already rattling sabers over the prospect of another round of anti-Romney, Huckabee-led Mormon baiting, I’m betting that Mormonism wouldn’t be nearly as much of a political liability for Huntsman (who Obama feared enough to dispatch to China) as it has been for the mild-mannered, sometimes wooden, and often mishandled Romney. His Mormonism may, in fact, be the most interesting thing about Mitt Romney. However the Republican primaries turn out, the prospect of a Huntsman run may remind the world that Mormonism is as capable of producing urbane, globally-minded moderates as it is of producing Cleon-Skousenite-Tea-Party ideologues. (Not to mention a few liberals.) And that would be a welcome reminder indeed.
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