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In response to news media requests, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has issued the following statement regarding the Broadway musical entitled The Book of Mormon:
The production may attempt to entertain audiences for an evening, but the Book of Mormon as a volume of scripture will change people's lives forever by bringing them closer to Christ.
To better understand the context of how the Church responds to situations like this, journalists and others may also want to read a popular article on Newsroom posted in March 2009 called “The Publicity Dilemma.”
See also:
On Faith Blog: “Why I Won’t Be Seeing the Book of Mormon Musical”
Frequently Asked Questions: The Book of Mormon Musical
Q: What is the musical?
A: The Book of Mormon musical is a satirical show that began on Broadway in New York City in 2011. The musical’s central characters are two missionaries sent on a mission to Uganda. There they work in a village where a warlord is threatening the village’s inhabitants. The missionaries try to share the Book of Mormon, but the local inhabitants are more concerned about AIDS, war, and staying alive. The musical trivializes and caricatures some of the Church’s beliefs, including the Book of Mormon and founding prophet Joseph Smith. The musical’s creators portray the missionaries as naive but innocently optimistic. The musical is full of profanity and extremely vulgar content, including the frequent, blasphemous use of profanity directed at God and Jesus Christ.
Q: Does the Church have any affiliation with the musical?
A: No. The Church has no involvement with the musical.
Q: What has the Church said publically about the musical?
A: When the musical began in New York City, the Church issued the following statement: “The production may attempt to entertain audiences for an evening, but the Book of Mormon as a volume of scripture will change people's lives forever by bringing them closer to Christ.”
Q: Why is the Church advertising in cities where the musical is playing?
A: The Book of Mormon musical has generated a great deal of discussion about the Book of Mormon, missionaries, and the beliefs of the Church. Naturally, the Church hopes people whose curiosity has been piqued beyond an evening’s entertainment will look to the Church for accurate information, including on mormon.org.