The Baptism is LeRoi Jones' short, one-act play that satirically portrays conventional religious beliefs and all the accompanying manipulations and interpretations of individuals and established spiritual organizations.

The setting of the play is the interior of a well-to-do Baptist church in New York City in the 1960s. The play opens with a dialogue between the church's pompous minister and an openly homosexual man, who shows disdain for the minister's attempts to save his soul. The minister has obviously profited from the vulnerabilities of his congregation, and the homosexual chastises him for his own indecent behavior on that level.

Suddenly, a beautiful boy of fifteen enters the room carrying a bag on his back. The minister greets the boy, who has come to be baptized, and the homosexual labels the boy "rough trade," meaning that the boy is a homosexual who works the streets. The boy...