What happens when freedom of artistic expression offends freedom of religion? A nationwide controversy arose when America's first professional Passion play, staged in San Francisco in 1879, was pronounced a ""sacrilege"" by Protestant ministers. (Author Salmi Morse's play, The Passion, was in reality a pious description of the Gospel story). This work shows that Morse and his play were actually the victims of the Protestant church's struggle to maintain power during the late 1800's a time when America was changing into a more urban nation. This saga of a society's attempt to control ""immoral""art by government intervention is also a disconcerting look at how easily artistic freedom can be sacrificed on the alter of political expediency.