In our LDS literature class we talked about fiction as an effective tool for sharing aspects of Mormon culture and belief (many of which sound absurd to people of other faiths) in a comfortable environment.
The Book of Jer3miah was an excellent example of this. While the stories of the Three Nephites and Nephi slaying Laban are unfamiliar to a general audience, what is familiar to everyone is searching for a sense of identity and purpose. Though some people may not know the experience of having God ask them to do hard things or realizing that God is working through people in their lives, everyone asks the question of why life is hard, and everyone experiences tender mercies through friends. In this sense, the show’s themes about family, divine identity, and the purpose of life, though uniquely Mormon, are human enough to take on a broader audience.
The show was also able to present our belief in the Book of Mormon as scripture in a nonthreatening way. When Ammon gets shot in the chest and is saved by the Book of Mormon in his pocket, he refers to it as scripture and demonstrates that the scriptures protect us in more ways than one.
Though this show certainly doesn’t substitute for a missionary experience, it exposes Mormon culture interspersed with suspense and mystery in a way that no nonmember is going to look up from the screen and complain that they have been preached to.
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