Are Love and Laughter Blasphemous?
We don’t think so. But certain religious groups are protesting the return of "Jesus Has Two Mommies" on the grounds that it is offensive to Christians.

The Somerville Theatre has received thousands of postcards and letters from all over the country from people who have never seen the show – some aren’t sure if it is a theatrical show or a movie – and a large, peaceful protest has been organized from 3:00 to 5:00 PM outside the theatre on Saturday Dec 7.

Despite the title, "Jesus Has Two Mommies" is not about lampooning the icons of Catholicism. In fact, the story is driven by the same ideas that inspire peoples' faith in religion: that love and understanding can help resolve crisis.

While Faith Soloway’s humor is raunchy and the show does depict Jesus as having been raised by two women, Mary and Josephine, it in no way tries to imply that this is the "real" truth of the bible. The show is a tongue-in-cheek fantasy about God coming to one woman, who is in the midst of a life crisis, and telling her an alternative version of the Christmas story in order to instill in her a belief in her own story and her own spiritual path.

The group behind the protest, The American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family and Property (www.tfp.org) has organized similar protests in the past for films like "The Last Temptation of Christ" and "Dogma". In each case they, and the people who rally around their cause, have pre-judged an artistic work without seeing it or understanding its context. They have misquoted articles written about our show and claim that we are making fun of religion.

However, the satire in a Faith Soloway show is always aimed inward and the butt of the joke is always Faith herself and the communities that she is a part of - lesbians, folk singers, left leaning Birkenstock-types who might take themselves a little too seriously, etc. In "Jesus Has Two Mommies," Soloway is the one being mocked, not Jesus, The Virgin Mary, or religion in general. Anyone who has seen the show would know this.

We have received a good number of very positive letters and emails from religious people (including many Catholics and other Christians) who have seen and enjoyed "Jesus Has Two Mommies," and support its message. We thank everyone who has written to us and offered to help out.

The TFP has called for a completely non-violent protest, and we our asking our fans to be respectful of this. These folks, of course, have as much right to protest our show as we have to present it. Counter-protesting would not be helpful and cheap jokes about the current scandals in the Catholic Church help no one. If you want to support the show, the best way is to buy a ticket and come to the show. If you can't make it to the show (which is an all-new version this year) you can buy a copy of the fully produced video made of last year's production.

Or if you just can't understand how a show can be Pro-God and Pro-Gay at the same time, well then you'll just have to pray for our souls.