Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Christian Piatt

Home
Progressive Christian
My Night With “Southpark” Creators’ “The Book of Mormon”

My Night With “Southpark” Creators’ “The Book of Mormon”

Last updated on: January 9, 2013 at 7:32 pm by Christian Piatt

My Night With “Southpark” Creators’ “The Book of Mormon” 2013-01-09T19:32:40+00:00 Christian Piatt

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

WARNING: there are some off-color references and descriptions in this blog post. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Having lived in Colorado for many years, I’ve heard the story of how Trey Parker and Matt Stone went from being the clowns of their high school to being some of the most prolific and important humorists on the planet today. It all started, as I’ve heard the story spun, when they created an animated short that got circulated via video tape to various film festivals and caused quite a stir. The figures were nothing more than paper cut-outs at the time, and though the “Southpark” series now is animated by computer, the same paper-like figures and “crappy animation” remain part of their trademark.

I feel more in love with the duo’s work when they released their first full-length feature film in 1999, “Southpark: Bigger, Longer and Uncut.” Yes, it’s incredibly crude and sophomoric with scores of fart and penis jokes. But beneath that was an undercurrent of spot-on cultural criticism that was nothing short of profound.

So when a couple from our church (yes, really) called at the last minute to invite us to join them for a local touring production of “The Book of Mormon,” written and composed by Parker and Stone, we accepted immediately.

Basically, the play follows two new elders of the Mormon Church (Elder Price, the Golden Boy and Elder Cunningham, the class screw-up) on their two year mission trip to Uganda to spread the Good News. They arrive in their assigned village and begin to share their testimony, only to be interrupted time and again by a villager who declares he has maggots in his scrotum.

Abrasive? Well, it is the Southpark guys. But there is a greater point laid out over a few musical numbers, including one that effectively extends a middle finger to the Creator for submitting the village to such dire circumstances. Incidentally, it was during this song that my wife, Rev. Amy Piatt, whispered to me that this song was, in fact, a sort of Psalm. And she’s right. Though perhaps a little less graphic, the Psalms are rich with such appeals to God.

The point: bring your whole self to God, including the parts that are broken, suffering and perhaps even hating God or doubting God’s existence. Bring it all. So in this sense, the scandalous song, “Hasa diga eebowai,” which translates to “F— you, God,” is a more earnest prayer than many of our neat-and-tidy missives we share during Sunday worship.

And yet the missionaries miss the point. A majority of the village suffers from AIDS, the innocent are being raped, women are systematically being castrated by rebel forces and the poor guy continues to remind them of the lowly state of his scrotum. So why, they ask, would they be open to the Good News from some Western book while they drown in such misery? And why should the villagers invest themselves in some rhetorical promises from two white boys who will go back to their comfortable lives in the States once they’ve won souls for the Church?

They have a point, you know.

The play takes on more than the cultural insensitivity for much Christian mission work, including considering the Bible (or even the Book of Mormon) seriously but not literally, and boiling it all down to what really matters: putting others ahead of ourselves.

Sound familiar?

It’s too bad, really, when non-Christians have a clearer window into both the tragic flaws and the often-lost core message of our own faith. But sometimes it takes a prophet from the outside to point out what few within can see, in a way that everyone can hear. Yes, many Christians will shut out the message of the play (and anything else Parker and Stone touch)_ because of their shock-and-awe style, but they’re missing an opportunity to learn not only something about themselves, but also an awful lot about how the rest of the world looks at Christianity.

Previous Post

January 8, 2013

Cut for Bieber: How Did We Get Here?

Next Post

January 10, 2013 From STOP signs to POOP Signs: Ahh, Portland

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category atonement belief bible Bill O'Reilly Buddhism CCM children christian piatt christianity Contemporary Christian Music current events derek flood Easter education Everyday Sunday faith faith and culture Frank Schaeffer great commission Haaz Sleiman Hobby Lobby Homebrewed Culture humor ISIS Jesus John Paul Lederach Killing Jesus LGBTQ marc driscoll Mission Year Music My Jesus Project Nat Geo parenting politics popular culture postChristian prison reform Ray rice religion republicans sacrifice sexuality theology Uncategorized video violence wild goose festival World Vision young adults

Select a Month December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

The queen of Ethiopia in the time of the early church was …

Select your answer to see how you score.

Bernice Esther Candace Hatshepsut