by Band on the Run 5 Replies latest jw friends
B'wy is expensive. It is no longer a taxi ride away. So I must pay for the tkt and transport. I never was a huge B'way fan. Word of mouth was always important to me, esp. for musicals. I've seen so many inane musicals. B/c of the Mormon, JW closeness, I think I want to splurge and purchase tkts for Book of Mormon. The box office ranges from $75 for Wed. or Sat. matinee. Online ticket brokers start at $3,000.
I'd appreciate any feedback from someone who has seen it. Even secondary wom.
Thanks.
I didn't know they made a Broadway show out of it. I recently read a biography on Joseph Smith which was revealing in several ways. The official "witnesses" of the golden plates were either of the Whitmer or Smith familes. As Mark Twain put it 50 years later, "I could not feel more satisfied and at rest, if the entire Whitmer family had testified." Modern scholars have noted the similarity between the BOM and "A View of the Hebrews" which also went into elaborate theories regarding the origin of the Native Americans and the Hebrew connection. The only "good" thing about the BOM from a modern standpoint is while it cannot be proven, it cannot be conclusively disproven by scientific means to be a forgery, since nothing else has been found in "Reformed Egyptian". What can be disproven it the Book of Abraham, which is the modern day Xenu for the Mormons. Joseph Smith was presented authentic papyri from ancient Egypt and asked to translate it. At the time, the ancient script was not deciphered, and Smith claimed to have had divine inspiration to translate it, much like the BOM. Later, when the Egyptian language was decoded, Smith's documents were proven to be funeral documents, and not the testament of Abraham as Smith claimed.
It won a Tony for Best Play, I believe. The word of mouth concerning it and prof'l reviews have been wonderful. It is considered an unusually well done play. One that is rarely produced. I am not certain of the main theme, besides some Mormon connection. People who have seen it dont' want to announce spoiler alerts but they say the underlying message is universal and timely. My search is for more detail without a spoler alert.
HBO's Big Love sent me to reading wikipedia articles about the Mormons. Growing up in the NYC area, I always found it funny that anyone in NYS would have a revelation. I was surprised by the sci fi aspects for such an early date. Similar books emerged at the time so I was not exposed to it. The secret underwear is bizarre. The Witnesses doctrines sound so respectable by comparison. Don't they have a weird take on Jesus, too? Yet the Mormons run for president and governor. They are affluent business people. So it is not the doctrines of WTBS that impoverish its people. There must be something in the culture.
I've heard that they brook no dissent. Many people I've met loved that part of the country, speaking of how beautiful it is but they left b/c of the Mormon influence in general thought and politics. It seems weird from the EAst Coast.
There are indeed several valid comparisons between Witnesses and Mormons. As M. James Penton said so eloqently in the scholarly "Apocalypse Delayed", Joseph Smith and Charles Taze Russell were both "capable leaders" but "naive visionaries", while Brigham Young and Joseph Rutherford both "brought a sense of permanence to the movements they inherited". I can't agree more. Smith and Russell almost needed to die early in orger to not be faced with their doctrinal delusions, while Young and Rutherford could safely refine the words of their predecessors from a distance.
Well, to be fair, Joseph Smith came from New York State's "Ontario Country", which is still to this day rural in outlook and provincial in nature. In the 1820's, this was about as provincial as could they came.
Another thing about Mormons and Witnesses is that they were essentially borne out of the same spiritual awakening of the early 19th century. While Mormons were centered around Smith and his "discoveries", the Witnesses eventually sprang out of the millennialist movement which centered around William Miller at around the same time. While the Mormons have somewhat modernized their movement in recent years, the Witnesses are still stuck with the rigid Rutherford doctrines and Knorr 50's style morality.
We saw "The Book of Mormon" yesterday in Los Angeles. It was brilliant. The creators of South Park, Trey Parker and Matt Stone came through, as they always do, with great satircal comedy and social commentary. It could just as easily have been about JWs. All you'd have to do is adjust a few scenes and some lyrics. On the larger scale it demonstrates the way religions start out with a good idea that fills people's needs but then become more legalistic and controlling so that people rebel and start their own religion a la Martin Luther, Joseph Smith, C.T. Russell . . . It was certainly deserving of every Tony it won. Like Band on the Run, I'm not a huge Broadway fan, but I loved this one!
My wife said she wanted to see this recently. . . I think I might take her up in it. . .
