Religion is the Punchline

This past week, I went to The Book of Mormon broadway play with a bunch of friends. I knew nothing about it prior to attending, save for the fact that tickets are sold out indefinitely. Obviously, I had to go.

I grew up in Arizona, which has a large Mormon population (trickled down from Salt Lake). Some of my best friend were Mormon. (Some of my best friends were also nerds, jocks, party girls, etc) I remmeber being recruited by a classmate in third grade. I was on the phone with her and she asked me to come to church with her. I was excited about hanging out with her, but before I could eagerly say yes, my mom intervened. She explained to me that the girl was Mormon and trying to convert me. I was surprised and confused.

Later, in high school my best male friend was Mormon. I remember having lengthy discussions on morality and religion with him. All the Mormons I knew were strict - no caffeine, nothing more than kissing, and of course no alcohol/drugs. It's hard to be a teenager and adhere to that mandate. Mitch was actually pretty great at it. After his mission, he married a nice girl at the age of 20, and now they have children.

I grew up knowing Mormonism wasn't for me (I mean, obviously!) but I respected their commitment.... until I dated a Mormon guy and he frustrated me endlessly by feeling guilty every time we kissed. That did not last long.

Suffice it to say, the play was wildly entertaining. My background in Mormonism only served to make it funnier. It's definitely a bit racy - there's a song called, "Fuck You, God" and they say the word clitoris about 50 times (in reference to FGM, commonly practiced in some African religions/cultures).

Go see it, if you're lucky enough to score a ticket.

BTW, Cameron Diaz, Steve Martin and Whoopi Goldberg were in the audience the night I went!

*scorpio*


FGM= Female Genital Mutilation, or Female Circumcision. The young girl's clitoris is cut off and her labia is stiched together. This happens between the ages of 8 - 13, and depending on the economic situation, it can be administered brutally, with a shard of glass and no painkiller. A little different than Western Male Circumcision, if you ask me.