| Mormon church leaders have criticized HBO for planning to air a fictional version of a Mormon temple endowment ceremony on Big Love this Sunday, saying the ceremony risks being “misrepresented or presented without context or understanding.” But is it possible that more media exposure of Mormonism — like Salt Lake Tribune reporter Brooke Adams‘s The Plural Life blog — might benefit Mormons like Mitt Romney, who hopes his religion won’t hamper his presidential bid the second time around? Quite a few Mormons are probably hoping the opposite. [%comments]
Will the Fictional Mormons Influence the Real Ones?
TAGS: religion, television
and 
. You can also watch it on 
The Mormon Church leaders have NOT criticized HBO and in fact have released a statement about there apathy 5 days ago that can be found here
http://newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/commentary/the-publicity-dilemma
While yes individual mormons are up in arms about it it is only to the detriment to the Mormon Church.
I would also point out that Brooke Adams’s blog doesn’t give more media exposure to Mormonism because it’s not about Mormonism, it’s about polygamy. Mormon’s don’t practice polygamy, and haven’t for nearly 120 years.
While Freakonomics hasn’t written this, the interesting thing here is that there are many people who think the mormons are upset because the series is publishing their “secrets”. Everyone knows you can find as much of the mormon “secrets” as you want with google. The bigger issue here is more a matter of respecting a ceremony that the mormons feel is sacred and should be respected. For the same reason that you don’t want everything you talk about in the privacy of your home published on the front page news. It’s more about privacy and respect for what goes on in the temple than it is about “secrets”.
This very short post is a great example of the kind of confusion we Mormons deal with constantly. It’s tiresome, and it seems writers who are paid to write in influential papers like the New York Times, would feel some responsibility to get it right.
The headlines starts, “Will the Fictional Mormons …” and immediately starts talking about Mitt Romney. What? The polygamists of “Big Love” are no more Mormons (or fictional Mormons) than Protestants are Catholics. Those polygamists do not worship in the same religion as Mitt Romney — but because the issues are routinely linked in the press, even sometimes by well-meaning writers, it’s hard to dispel all the misconceptions that arise.
“Big Love” is itself attempting now to collapse this distance and knowingly add to the confusion, for reasons perhaps known best to its writers and producers (one of whom, Tom Hanks, recently called Mormons like Mitt Romney, “un-American” before apologizing). I was personally very impressed — in the first year of “Big Love” — how explicit HBO was that the show is NOT about Mormons, but recently they have been much less careful to make the distinction. Much less careful. Hmm, I wonder if Prop 8 in California might have something to do with it …?
But for a real member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, it is a bit surreal. Would you grill a Lutheran friend about something controversial the Pope said? Would you shun a Southerner colleague in 2009 as a slaveholder? A long-ago historical link does not create any modern, current affinity — and that’s the real frustration for modern Mormons when it comes to certain weirdos depicted on cable TV.
Since faithful Mormons promise not to disclose details about the temple ceremonies, HBO’s presentation could only be based on information from those who have broken this promise. By definition, these sources are undoubtedly untrustworthy and unethical. This alone should make them suspect. Those of us who are temple going Mormons will neither supply, nor correct, the information HBO presents. HBO MUST rely on ex-Mormons, apostates and the disgruntled for its information — these are not reliable information sources in my opinion. There is no way anyone who practices polygamy would be temple worthy or even allowed to retain membership in the L.D.S. (Mormon) Church.
The “authority” to marry a man to one wife is not the same as the “authority” to marry a man to more than one wife. No Mormon since the 1890 change has had the authority to marry any man to more than one woman. So, in the Mormon view, none of these so-called polygamist marriages are valid, religiously or legally. None of these “polygamists” are Mormons.
Membership in the L.D.S. Church is not a vague identification or feeling of alliance; it is an actual membership record. You either have a membership record or you do not. You either are a Mormon or you are not. There is no gray area. If you try to practice polygamy your membership is canceled and you are kicked out of the Church (excommunicated).
Polygamists are not Mormons period. Since their marriages are neither valid nor legal, real Mormons consider the polygamist lifestyle not only illegal but immoral as well. No one doing something illegal and immoral would be allowed inside a temple or allowed to retain Mormon membership. The whole “Big Love” story line is completely implausible.
While Mormons like to say they have not practiced polygamy in over 100 years, the Mormon church still says that Joseph Smith and Brigham Young were right to do so.
Even though Joseph himself married several teenage girls, as young as 14, and also married women who were married to other men at the same time, you will never find a statement from official Mormon sources that says what they did was wrong.
Even though it appears that Joseph’s polygamy was no different than what is practiced today, the Mormons will not condemn it, and accept it as a valid practice, “When the Lord Commands it.”
-no, the LDS Church doesn’t really care about the HBO segment
-yes, there are a bunch of mormons offended about the whole thing (I’m not one of them)
but I think the point of this blog post is to discuss if the publicity would help real Mormons.
In most ways any (good and bad) publicity helps our Church. Even when there have been very negative stories in the press statistics have shown an increase in inquiries via missionaries and our http://www.mormon.org website. So to answer the blogger’s original question — anything making us more mainstream should help.
Although I believe the problems people are having with HBO now is they are blurring lines between the Fundamentalist sect/cult and the real LDS church. Based on the events of that cult and the last 12 months . . . . I would say the show is linking us with those who AREN’T mainstream.
I would point out that mormons popularized polygamy in North America. Without their enthusiasm for the practice in the 19th century, it might be almost unheard of in NA today, rather than being the sleazy hallmark of the mormon offshoot, the FLDS.