― Eric Idle
I had the opportunity to see the off Broadway show, The Book of Mormon last night. Now either you have heard of this show or you live under a rock. I have heard varying reviews of this show over the last few years. I have heard everything from "absolutely hilarious" to "crude and offensive". My experience, however, was more of "wonder" and "awe". It was the classic example of how we need to stop trying to change the world, and let the world change us. We need to stop trying to convince people how "we" are better than "them". We are all one human race and need to learn the lesson of tolerance and acceptance.
The Book of Mormon has only been around since 2012, yet has been one of the most widely popular Broadway shows in just a short time. I would describe the show as "edgy" and "full of truth despite being seemingly offensive".
I had no expectations prior to the show, and knew nothing of the story line. I've had a hard year/month/week (I'll spare you the boring details). With my stress levels being where they have been, I was excited to spend the evening at a comedy with my loved ones, and just unwind.
Within the first minute, I knew this show was going to be different than any show I'd ever seen. I found myself, not personally offended per say, but just shocked at how absolutely politically incorrect the show was. If you have been ever been to a comedy show, or watched a comedian on TV, you should understand what I am talking about. Comedians have the unique ability to make fun of us as human beings in such a true format that you can't help but laugh at yourself and your ignorance a bit.
I decided to drop my ego so that it couldn't offend me. And once I started really listening, I saw how true the show really is about human nature. The theme I saw in this show was a satire of how we all "turn it off". The song "Turn it off" was a comedic tilt of the hat about all of us that "turn a blind eye", ignore our inner voice, shut off our inner fire to ultimately stand up for what we believe is truly right. Too often in our privileged world we forget that there are people in other parts of the world that live and suffer in a poverty than we in the United States couldn't even begin to fathom.
We live in our white picket fence world with our pretty "packaged" ideals, and we try to convert people to our beliefs without seeking to understand them as people. Yes, we may donate money to charities, tithe at church, and give money to the occasional homeless person on the corner. We may even think, "I am a giving person helping the world." And that is fantastic! The world would be so much nicer/happier/more functional if we did all have that desire to truly 'do good'. But we have to remember there are people that are literally starving to death. There are people dying of AIDS in massive numbers. There are people with no hope and no chance to even consider "getting on their feet". There are people that were not born into the more privileged world that we were. Back to my post a few days ago, when one of us is failing as a member of the human race, we are all failing. We aren't here to turn a blind eye to the famine, poverty, and disease of the world. We cannot hide any longer ignoring the problems of the world because we can't see it from our backyard. Our goal shouldn't be to convert people to something we ourselves to not even understand. The goal should be to create a better world here on the planet we are currently inhabiting so that all of us may live in abundance.
We all (should) have a moral compass in which we operate. Most of us were raised with some sort of religious guidance (whatever it is) and as youth, we follow it without completely looking, completely understanding what it is exactly we are following. Then as we get older, the goal is to learn to think critically at your beliefs; to understand what it is exactly you believe in, and once you figure that out, defend and fight for what is right. In the end, no matter the "religion", the battle will be against good and evil. My suggestion is we stop fighting other "good" people because their beliefs and cultural traditions may vary from our own. We need to stand as one unit of "good" people and fight for our world against the "evil" in the world. Do you associate in any way with a person, business, corporate, organization, etc that operates in a "wrong" way for the world? Something to think about...
K
I decided to drop my ego so that it couldn't offend me. And once I started really listening, I saw how true the show really is about human nature. The theme I saw in this show was a satire of how we all "turn it off". The song "Turn it off" was a comedic tilt of the hat about all of us that "turn a blind eye", ignore our inner voice, shut off our inner fire to ultimately stand up for what we believe is truly right. Too often in our privileged world we forget that there are people in other parts of the world that live and suffer in a poverty than we in the United States couldn't even begin to fathom.
We live in our white picket fence world with our pretty "packaged" ideals, and we try to convert people to our beliefs without seeking to understand them as people. Yes, we may donate money to charities, tithe at church, and give money to the occasional homeless person on the corner. We may even think, "I am a giving person helping the world." And that is fantastic! The world would be so much nicer/happier/more functional if we did all have that desire to truly 'do good'. But we have to remember there are people that are literally starving to death. There are people dying of AIDS in massive numbers. There are people with no hope and no chance to even consider "getting on their feet". There are people that were not born into the more privileged world that we were. Back to my post a few days ago, when one of us is failing as a member of the human race, we are all failing. We aren't here to turn a blind eye to the famine, poverty, and disease of the world. We cannot hide any longer ignoring the problems of the world because we can't see it from our backyard. Our goal shouldn't be to convert people to something we ourselves to not even understand. The goal should be to create a better world here on the planet we are currently inhabiting so that all of us may live in abundance.
We all (should) have a moral compass in which we operate. Most of us were raised with some sort of religious guidance (whatever it is) and as youth, we follow it without completely looking, completely understanding what it is exactly we are following. Then as we get older, the goal is to learn to think critically at your beliefs; to understand what it is exactly you believe in, and once you figure that out, defend and fight for what is right. In the end, no matter the "religion", the battle will be against good and evil. My suggestion is we stop fighting other "good" people because their beliefs and cultural traditions may vary from our own. We need to stand as one unit of "good" people and fight for our world against the "evil" in the world. Do you associate in any way with a person, business, corporate, organization, etc that operates in a "wrong" way for the world? Something to think about...
K
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