Mormon Life says: This columnist takes a picture book from the 60's to educate himself and his audience about the Mormon faith.
Now that South Park bad boys Trey Parker and Matt Stone have announced plans for a Broadway production titled The Book of Mormon, congregants of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are bracing themselves for some savage jokes about polygamous prophets, complicated underwear, annoying missionaries and an angel named Moroni. After all, when have folks from Colorado ever passed up a chance to make fun of Utah and all it stands for?
Still, some people who've studied the Parker-Stone oeuvre suspect they may be less bigoted (and dismissive) of Mormon doctrine and ways than their fans might expect. In fact, they've tended to deal with LDS types in a relatively sympathetic light.
All the more reason, then, for the unenlightened to get a crash course in Mormonism before the play opens, the better to sort out fact from satire. And we've found just the right guide for the occasion.