It's A Paperback!

So my book is officially available in paperback form. There's a website called CreateSpace, which is an affiliate of Amazon, that will print my book on demand. This allows me to sell paperback copies of my book without needing to spend money to maintain an inventory. People who buy it will have to create an account with CreateSpace first. Here is the website:

https://www.createspace.com/3703945

Why I Enjoyed The Book of Mormon and Am Not Ashamed to Say So

I’ve been a fan of South Park from its very beginning. I remember watching “The Spirit of Christmas” online when I was a sophomore in college, and at one point I knew every line by heart. I still quote it whenever the opportunity arises, usually around the holiday season. My favorite line is when Jesus and Santa Claus are brawling over who represents the true meaning of Christmas, and the children are trying to decide who to root for.

Santa: “Stan, remember the choo choo when you were three?”

Jesus: “I died for your sins, boys. Don’t forget that.”

I was hooked.

So when my boyfriend and I learned that the creators of South Park, Matt Stone and Trey Parker, were producing a Broadway musical, we eagerly awaited the reviews. And, out of the two dozen reviews I read during its opening week, only one newspaper, The Washington Post, gave it a bad one. We bought the tickets immediately.

And man, did we love it! After the show we bought the soundtrack, and have been listening to it ever since. The writing was crisp and funny, the songs upbeat and charming, and the production value lived up to Broadway standards. I was not surprised to see it do well at the Tony awards.

So after mentioning this on my Facebook page, a friend of mine, who is Mormon, wrote to me saying she was very disturbed by my enjoyment of such a musical. She sent me an article (incidentally, the article was from the Washington Post, but there are many others like it) from a woman who was also Mormon. She stated she wasn’t going to see the show, but based her opinion on the reviews she read.

Now, I’m not a big fan of people judging something they haven’t seen, but I can understand not wanting to pay those kinds of ticket prices for a show that satirizes your religion. I pretty much knew I would not be a fan of Jersey Shore without having seen an episode, although I did watch one to validate my reasons why (which are way too many to list here). J

And I can appreciate people’s different tastes in entertainment. I enjoy Dancing With the Stars as my only reality competition show, while my boyfriend hates it. And he watches Ultimate Fighting Championship matches while I couldn’t care less. So if my friend didn’t understand why I enjoy that kind of humor, as many people feel about South Park, I would be okay with that.

But that wasn’t her point. In fact, when The Book of Mormon won nine Tony awards, including one for best musical, she was very upset that such a blasphemous show would be celebrated in this manner. She felt it was suddenly “open season” on Mormons, and that they were being treated unfairly in comparison to other religions.

And that’s where we disagree.

The Book of Mormon is certainly not the first musical about a religion. Jesus Christ Superstar was nominated for five Tony awards in the 1970s and for its revival in 2000, and Christian groups found it offensive when it first opened.

Furthermore, religious satire has been around for a long time in many different forms. There’s literature, such as The Canterbury Tales, movies like The Life of Brian, and shows, such as South Park, that cause a stir whenever the subject of religion is scrutinized or mocked. But I think many of the best religious satirists have been stand-up comedians.

One of my favorite “religion in comedy” bits is from Bill Cosby, in which God is talking to Noah about building the ark. I don’t know of anyone who finds that joke offensive, even though it’s making fun of one of the most popular stories in the Bible. Noah looks pretty foolish, having no idea what an arc is or the measurement needed to build it. Even God has a difficult time trying to remember what a cubit is, and he was the one who invented it! Now that’s funny.

And that was only the beginning for me. Eventually I was introduced to George Carlin’s humor. Everyone knows Carlin was brought up Roman Catholic and, although “he tried to believe in God”, he said it became more difficult as he grew older. And why? Because it’s hard to believe in something you can’t see that only responds to your prayers about half the time. His bit about becoming a sun worshipper is brilliant, along with praying to Joe Pesci since he has about the same response rate as God.

But I think this next bit sums up his real take on religion.

“Religion has actually convinced people that there's an invisible man living in the sky who watches everything you do, every minute of every day. And the invisible man has a special list of ten things he does not want you to do. And if you do any of these ten things, he has a special place, full of fire and smoke and burning and torture and anguish, where he will send you to live and suffer and burn and choke and scream and cry forever and ever 'til the end of time!

But He loves you.”

Now we’re getting into murkier water. Carlin was definitely considered edgy for most of his comedic life, with the use of foul language and his bluntness when it came to discussing topics such as religion. But both Cosby and Carlin won the Mark Twain humor award, and both are considered great comedians in their own right. So where do you draw the line between funny and offensive?

Well, I guess that depends on your sense of humor. I know plenty of people who can laugh at jokes about their religion, such as those told by Cosby or Carlin. Fundamentalists, on the other hand, have NO sense of humor when it comes to their religion, which can often facilitate religious extremism. And this is where religion can get the better of people, when someone uses the belief in their god to bring harm against those who don’t believe in that same god. From killing people for drawing a cartoon of Mohammad, to bombing abortion clinics or the World Trade towers, these extremists will do anything in the name of God.

And this is where religion becomes a touchy subject, one of the few left among 24-hour news media, talk show hosts, reality TV, pornography, violent video games, disease, war, poverty, and politics. (I was going to say dirty politics, but really, do I need to make the distinction?). Enough time has even passed where people can make jokes about terrorists and 9/11. But religion, something that has been around since man has had questions he couldn’t answer, is still taboo? Why?

I realize the first amendment allows for freedom of religion, meaning everyone in our country has the right to practice, or not practice, whatever religion they wish. And I believe the religious tolerance in this country is fairly strong in comparison to other countries, in that we can have an open dialogue about different faiths and not be persecuted for it. With so many different cultures living in one country, I agree this freedom is a necessary part of our democracy.

I also realize that a person’s religious beliefs are often an integral part of their lives. Their religion plays a major role in why they act as they do, what they pass down to their children, and what they believe will happen to them when they die. These are issues that every human being deals with; everyone has to form their own beliefs concerning morality and mortality, and these decisions should not be made lightly.

So what are my religious beliefs? Very little, actually. I don’t believe religion is necessary to teach good morality. Sure, I was brought up Catholic, but I stopped going to church when I reached college. I just couldn’t believe in a religion that doesn’t support gay rights, but still preaches that we are “all God’s children”. And after a while, the answer that “God works in mysterious ways” just didn’t satisfy my questions any more.

But did my morality, my sense of right and wrong, change when I stopped believing in Catholicism? Not to my knowledge. My only belief is that we should do right by our fellow man because it’s the right thing to do. You don’t harm me, I don’t harm you, and we try to maintain a sense of order in the world. I don’t need to have someone in the sky watching over me to ensure I live my life “correctly”, nor do I need the promise of paradise after I die. While it’s a beautiful thought that I will someday see my family again after death, I don’t believe it’s a realistic one.

“Well, Donna, that’s what it means to have faith,” people have told me, and that’s certainly true. Faith is belief without proof. The thing I don’t understand is why this is seen as a virtue. I can’t imagine where we would be today as a society if we took everything on faith. The scientific community has to go through a rigorous process to verify its beliefs with reproducible results, and even then they aren’t always accepted. The fact that some schools still want to teach creationism along with the theory of evolution in science classes, rather than theology or philosophy, makes me cringe.

And that’s another reason I’m stumped as to why religion should be exempt from scrutiny. Religious organizations are involved in every aspect of our culture, from politics to health care to education, yet we’re not supposed to question their validity? As I stated before, this country is built upon freedom of religion, but that is also lumped in with our freedom of speech. And it is that freedom that allows us to question the world around us, including why people would believe in something that is often times backed only by a book written by men that has changed over the years, depending on who was in charge of it at the time. For my feeling is that any strong idea, religious or not, should be able to hold up against scrutiny and ridicule.

The perfect example of this is Harold Camping, who predicted the apocalypse would happen on May 21, 2011. Thankfully I don’t know anyone personally who believed him, but he did have followers who sold all of their worldly possessions in preparation for Judgment Day. And when it didn’t happen, Camping was left to claim that there are two parts to the process, and that the final judgment will actually happen in October. How comforting to those left poor and homeless.

But during the time between his announcement and the actual date, people had a field day with jokes about the apocalypse. And when the date passed without incident, the jokes only grew in number. Many people thought it was ridiculous that anyone would believe such a statement, especially when he was wrong about the same thing back in 1994. And he was highly ridiculed for spending as much money as he did on his advertisements.

The thing is, though, I’m not sure why his beliefs are considered more ridiculous than anyone else’s…

And this is really what the core of the musical comes down to. Stone and Parker have said in numerous interviews that they think all religions have their “goofy” stories, and that no religion is any stranger than another. The only reason they chose to do a musical about Mormons specifically is because they knew Mormons growing up in Colorado. They learned quite a bit about the religion and its history, and created an upbeat musical around the idea that Mormons are an extremely happy and optimistic people.

Honestly, there are worse stereotypes to have. And I realize they take the stereotype to the extreme to include being naïve about the real world. But in doing this, in making fun of these stereotypes, they are then seen as silly or ridiculous. Only when they are taken seriously are they given any validity.

Besides, in this case, the musical is more about how a book concerning “ancient Jews that sailed to America” has little to do with the problems of people in Uganda.

Now, I know the Mormons are spearheading plenty of charity efforts in Africa, along with other groups, religious or not, and on other continents. And no one is disputing that there are missionaries all over the world trying to save people from disease, famine, poverty, (hell). Indeed, this is a very admirable aspect of many religions, especially when it has nothing to do with trying to convert these people. But the thing is, conversion is often considered an essential part of that “saving”, and that is what Stone and Parker really satirize in the musical.

And that’s just it. This musical is not a documentary, nor does it claim to be. It is a satire, which means sarcasm is used throughout the story to bring to light some of the more outrageous parts of the religion. In the song “I Believe”, it says God lives on a planet called Kolob, the Garden of Eden is in Jackson County, Missouri, and that in 1978 “God changed his mind about black people”. And after doing some research on the Latter Day Saints web site on every one of these topics, including the last one which refers to the decision to allow black people to be ordained, I discovered that they are all true.

Aye, there’s the rub. If the musical was all about stereotypes and made up fiction regarding the religion, then I could see Mormons getting upset if it was presented as fact. But that’s the thing- Stone and Parker did their homework and included all factual information about the history of the Mormon faith. And that’s what’s getting the real laughs.

But again, it’s not like Mormons are the first nor only religion that people find comical. All religions have been ridiculed in one form or another, it’s just that Mormonism is a newer religion in comparison to others. Scientology is really the only other new religion being railed on for the same reason. In all honesty, I’m not surprised that Mormons finally have been thrown into the limelight because, really, I don’t think you can consider yourself a serious religion until your validity has come into question. That’s just part of how human society evolves.

Now I realize that many people feel like Stone and Parker have an unevolved sense of humor with their foul language and fart jokes. However, many of their South Park episodes do have a point, as satire often does, and this musical is no different. So what IS the point of the Book of Mormon? I think the main character, a Mormon elder, said it best.

“Even if we change some things, or we break the rules, or we have complete doubt that God exists, we can still work together to make this our paradise planet.”

For stories about morality don’t have to come from a specific religion. We don’t have to believe one religion over another to learn how to lead “good” lives. Family, teachers, friends, they often pass down lessons in one form or another on how to be a “good” person. And people can relate to these lessons without needing a specific religious history or backdrop to go along with them. It’s all about learning how to live in the world now, not the world as it was thousands of years ago. For while the basics of morality haven’t changed, the events that bring it into question have.

And Stone and Parker really hit the nail on the head on that one. They have explored many of the major religions in existence using South Park episodes, and all of them discuss the usefulness of these religions in today’s society. And even though they make fun of Mormons in their world, they also call Mormonism the “correct religion” to believe in to get into heaven. I would say that’s pretty high praise from those guys. J

So while I can understand my friend’s anger towards people, including me, laughing at her religion, I hope she does not see me as being close-minded or intolerant for doing so. I have been willing to listen to both sides, and it’s because I’ve learned about different faiths and their beliefs that I can find humor in some of the ideas that I feel just don’t gel in today’s society. For even though many people get a lot out of their religion, such as a sense of community, a call for volunteerism, and upstanding moral values, I feel I have all of those virtues without it.

Unfortunately, most believers still think I’m going to burn in hell regardless of all of these virtues. And that I find to be both funny AND offensive.

Well, it finally happened. This past week I uploaded my first novel, Letting Go and Holding On, onto three different web sites. It's officially been published as an eBook with Amazon (Kindle), Barnes & Noble (Nook) and Smashwords.com. The link for the last site is listed here, along with a sample of the book:

http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/dmroberts

http://smashwords.com/b/43991

The next step is to create a web site, and then I will try to market the book through searches on the Internet. All the while, I will continue to send out query letters to agents, in the hopes I can get even more help for marketing! It's been quite the process, but I'm not done yet. Wish me luck!