Mormon Shout Out

This summer I spent a few days on a girls’ trip to NYC, with the obligatory sashay through Times Square.

We didn’t get to see The Book of Mormon, but as we stood in the Square, I laughed out loud to see among the many and vast lighted ads beckoning all to jump into the very-American consumer trough, a billboard for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Mormons. 

I absolutely love that the Mormon church took head-on the lampooning of their faith by advertising for it right where folks gather to see the play.  And like the Quakers and Methodists before them, they’ve executed the perfect jujitsu move, using someone else’s hostile momentum to their advantage, claiming their identity proudly.

I still want to see the play and I’m sure I’ll laugh heartily with everyone else.  But I’ll also be remembering the millions of Mormons represented on the billboard outside smiling and telling me it’s okay; the joke’s on them.