Big Love Re-Offends Mormons. Do They Have a Point?

I’m surprised the LDS is outraged about this particular scene. If anything, I would have expected the secret church letter legitimizing polygamy storyline to have prompted the bigger reaction.

This is all just a really long introduction to an off-week LDG topic about faith and eyeliner, right?

It is all fair game. Is a Mormon ceremony really that much more intimate and private then say, some people having sex, or the President praying to God, or any number of other often depicted scenes?
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If we start not showing certain LDS practices because it might upset some people, then before you know it, we might not be able to peaceafully make fun of scientologists.
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No one wants that to happen.

@profdante: Oh, hell, second week I’ve forgotten to post an LDG. I feel like I forgot our anniversary or something. Maybe I’ll do one tomorrow in lieu of Lostwatch.

Let me put it this way, even South Park never attempted to portray sacred Mormon Temple rituals. Also, I think there is significantly more backstory to this issue by way of Big Love executive producer Tom Hanks insulting Mormons following the passage of Prop 8, later apologizing for said insults and now spearheading what is no doubt a much bigger insult to Mormons.
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With respect to Temple Rituals. it is often described as a distinction between sacred and secret. Mormon Temple rituals aren’t secret they’re sacred. The Mormon Church’s hope is that others would respect the sacred nature of the rituals, much as Jewish groups have asked the Mormons not to perform posthumous baptisms for Holocaust victims. I’m not convinced that the story telling requires portrayal of the ceremony and that the portrayal isn’t just being used for shock value.
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Context will be everything. The photos I’ve seen showed Barb in temple attire. Is she in a Mormon temple? If that’s the case then there is a serious misrepresentation As a practicing polygamist Barb could not get a Mormon temple recommend. (Last weeks episode showed Barb’s sister suggesting to Barb’s former bishop that a disciplinary hearing is necessary, as polygamy requires excommunication.) If the scene is from within a polygamist temple, then all bets are off.
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Finally, the tone of the Mormon Church’s letter is questionable. To me the appropriate response would have been to emphasize that the show Big Love and all the characters in it are fictional and to direct people interested in learning about Mormons to the church’s website. Instead the letter proves what it is attempting disprove. That this is a big deal and that they are very offended. Then the letter almost gloats in recounting the recent failures of their public adversaries.
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Such a letter will not foster sympathy or understanding and never would have been released during Gordon B. Hinckley’s Mormon Presidency. For that matter the Prop 8 fiasco never would have occurred either. President Hinckley spent his professional career in media and public relations and would have exercised more tact.

I have the perfect solution for those Mormons out there: change the channel. No one is making them watch. I mean, we live a free country. A free country that allows the Mormons to practice their religion without persecution; a free country that allows them to spend millions preventing loving couples from having the same rights that heterosexual couples have. That same freedom allows HBO to air whatever show they like, say what they wish, show what they wish. I am so sick of religion attempting to insert itself into what we can or cannot watch, say, or do. If I’d been an HBO exec I would have ignored the whole incident. It’s not as if these people are the target audience for Big Love. Quit giving them the power to affect you.

What is sacred to one group is just a curiosity to another. While I wish all religions/groups avoid offending each other through less-than sensitive handling of sacred things, I don’t think it is really possible. For example, in this case, how can outsiders really understand the sacredness of a secret ceremony?

The Catholic Church took issues with the book The Da Vinci Code, made that clear publicly and the book was boycotted by Catholics and perhaps some Christians. Everyone else— Mormons included— had no problem reading it or seeing the movie. Why? Because it wasn’t their “sacred thing.”

I appreciate the concerns that the LDS Church and members have over the Big Love episode but the Mormons have some accounting to do themselves. While the Church requests HBO to respect things that they consider sacred, they have no issue preforming Baptism for the Dead. As tyrantking notes, Jewish groups have requested that the ordinance be stopped for Holocaust victims. While the practice for the most part has been stopped, the LDS Church is not responding to requests “implement a mechanism to undo what you have done.” Catholics and those of other faiths have issues with the practice as well but the LDS Church has no intentions of ending the practice except for Holocaust victims. LDS leader Elder Lance B. Wickman said, “We don’t think any faith group has the right to ask another to change its doctrines.” So what’s a religion to do?

In the end, I suspect the Big Love episode won’t cause as much heart burn as Mormons think. I do find it funny in some ways though that they are so upset about HBO hijacking their ceremony. A short 6 weeks after Joseph Smith, Mormon founder, became a Master Mason (March 1842), he introduced the Temple Endowment, borrowing heavily from Masonic ritual structure, signs, symbols and tokens he had PROMISED NOT TO REVEAL TO ANYONE. In 1990, Masonic elements were removed from the ceremony but some still remain. Ironic. Maybe it’s the Freemasons who should be upset with the Mormons. =)

As a member of the LDS church I agree with the statement. It doesn’t call for boycotts or any actions against HBO, it just says that the use of this ceremony in the TV show is offensive to those that hold the ceremony sacred.
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I thought this part of the Church statement was the most interesting part:
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“There is no evidence that extreme misrepresentations in the media that appeal only to a narrow audience have any long term negative effect on the church.”
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Basically, the effect of these scenes on the church is not a big deal. How many people watch Big Love? 10 million? Since ex-mormons have posted the ceremony online and made documentaries about it, in the grand scheme of things, it doesn’t really matter that 10 million more people have access to it.
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I appreciate that my church will release a statement sticking up for what it believes and hold dear but not make a huge deal about it. I’m assuming the church PR department could have gotten news outlets outside of SLC to pick this up, but chose not to go that route.
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BTW, I loved the ending of that episode of South Park. Usually South Park’s creators make fun of something and offer no redemption for the religion/actor/public figure. I’m assuming the redemption was allowed to happen because the creators have said they grew up with a lot of mormons and they were good people.

Related to defamation is public disclosure of private facts, which arises where one person reveals information that is not of public concern, and the release of which would offend a reasonable person.

These are private facts and I am offended…

I am offended that the producers of Big Love would use something that millions of people around the world view sacredly as just another way to get a few more hits. Frankly it feels like a personal violation.

Our great country may give freedom of speech to everyone, but it also gives a right to privacy to them as well. It’s not a question of religion, but a question of privacy. How far should an entertainment medium be allowed to go until what they are doing is a violation of someone else’s private life?

“Religious traditions about representation are often strict and absolute—that, in part, is the point of them. Like dietary laws or other religious-cultural traditions, they serve to keep the group cohesive by drawing bright lines between it and outsiders.”

This is the problem with religions in general – that ‘us versus them’ mentality and all of these secret society things emphasizes the differences between people whether real or – in this case – merely a matter of belief. That emphasis on “difference” sets into motion a common and unavoidable human psychological reaction. That which is different is mistrusted. That which is mistrusted is eventually feared. That which is feared is eventually hated. That which is hated is eventually the target of violence.

Since most religions emphasize that everyone outside of the church (or even the congregation in some cases) is different, those within the church treat others with mistrust at BEST. It goes downhill from there.

As long as religions do this, Mankind, being less than perfect, will forever suffer the consequences of religiously germinated violence. Yes, there are a lot of things that define us as different, but a “real” religion will emphasize the things we have in common and paint those not in the religion as no different than those in it. Because in the end, we all end up in the same place.

I take deep personal offense at Big Love’s depiction of a sacred LDS temple endowment ceremony. In doing so, the producers join the ignorant and cruel throngs who have ridiculed and driven the Mormons over the centuries—never pausing to hear or appreciate the beauty of their message.

I refer to the mobs in Missouri and Illinois who sought to exterminate the life of every Mormon; or to the captain who refused to stop the boat upon hearing that my aged ancestor had fallen into the Mississippi because “It’s just one of those damned Mormons” (her body was never recovered); or to the countless bloggers who vehemently decry the Mormons—largely without reason—and neglect the testimonies of the millions who, like me, have been so profoundly blessed and comforted through its teachings and programs.

Although I now live in the California Bay Area, I spent my first 25 years in Salt Lake City. Thanks to Big Love, my friends here cannot believe that I really never knew, or even knew of, a polygamist. They have the impression that the LDS Church passively permits polygamy. Of course, seeing that an LDS rite is depicted, one could argue, again, that Big Love has not honestly attempted to differentiate the LDS Church and polygamist sects—likely because it intended to do the opposite all along.

Let’s see, flushing or threatening to flush a Koran down the toilet is offensive to Islam and should not be tolerated. Drawing cartoons about Mohammad is offensive, the cartoons in question should not be shown, and the creators jailed for being offensive. But it is OK to show a rite sacred to Mormons on television? And which liberal hypocrites do we have to thank for this piece of twisted logic?

@willard, you’ve set up a straw man. I don’t think that you’re referring to James as the liberal hypocrite but regardless he specifically said that he is ok w/ depictions of Muhammad if it serves a purpose.

ldsrevelations,
weren’t the Masons descendants of those who worked on Solomon’s Temple and other Jewish Temples before they were destroyed. Most likely they stole those rites from the Jewish Temples before they were destroyed and Israel dispersed. Did the Masons ever claim to come up with those rites by themselves? If as the Mormons claim, that EVERYTHING was restored – would that not include those rites which were practiced anciently? Just a thought…

“But it is OK to show a rite sacred to Mormons on television?”
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This is a question on which I’d love to get elaboration from any Mormon visitors willing to engage it. I haven’t yet seen a thorough explanation of why it is specifically offensive to televise this ritual. “Because it’s sacred” is a confusing explanation. As I note above, other religions do not object to screen representations of sacred sacraments, like baptism. So it’s not INHERENTLY offensive to depict the sacred ritual of a religion. So my question, in all earnestness is: why is it offensive here? Is it something particular to the Mormon church? Is it something particular to this ritual? I’m genuinely curious.
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The problem with the accounts I’ve read in the press is that the secular-press stories don’t really explain the reason, and the LDS press (or the LDS church representatives) write as if the reason is already assumed known by their audience. Which is a shame, because we then end up talking past one another.

As a Mormon, I believe what the LDS church and members find offensive in the televising of this particular sacred ordinance is that it is meant to be experienced only by those who have learned and lived worthily enough to be able to experience it. It’s not like a baptism that anyone, even an outsider, is free to witness.

For a Mormon, going through the temple for the first time is a special event that takes a lot of spiritual preparation. Because the ceremony is not publicly talked about outside of the temple, the understanding is that the things learned in the temple should be held privately and discussed only within the walls of the sacred temple. To have the ceremony televised as entertainment cheapens it in a sense and detracts from the spiritual nature of it.

Mr. Poniewozik,

I will try to explain why many Mormons are uncomfortable with the endowment ceremony being depicted. Admittedly it is somewhat difficult to explain. The ceremony is considered to be one of the most sacred events in a person’s life. When Mormons go to the Temple it is an effort to get away from the things of the world and draw closer to God.

Certain experiences are not meant to be talked about, except in generalities. For example, in the New Testament we read of the experience on the Mount Transfiguration but we don’t hear about all the intimate details because they are too sacred to be shared. Likewise, in the Torah we read about Moses going up the mountain to receive the 10 Commandments from Jehovah but we don’t get a detailed account of his conversation with God.

I’m not sure if it is something particular to the Church but I will say that Mormons are very concerned with any portrayal of any ordinance. For example, we do not take pictures of our baptisms, nor of anything that happens inside the temple, in fact we do not take pictures of any of the ordinances that we perform. Perhaps that is different from other faiths.

As far as this particular ritual, as I said previously, the endowment ceremony is considered one of the most sacred experiences in a person’s life. It is a very special experience that is not to be trifled with or talked about except inside the temple.

I hope that this has been helpful. For more information you may want to check the Church’s websites lds.org and mormon.org.

James -
You have a good point. Why are mormons unable to explain why it is offensive to depict their sacred ritual? I would argue that it boils down to them not wanting to alienate future potential converts. The mormon church relies on the fact that potential converts are not aware of the practices and teachings and actions of the founders and leaders that would seem bizarre or contradictory or immoral. Once a convert has been fully indoctrinated they are able to rationalize or ignore such information, but before that it is quite easy to eliminate the chance of someone becoming mormon through a knowledgeable discussion.
This layered withholding and revealing of information, which involves outright deception at times, is called by mormon faithful “milk before meat”. A pertinant example being the changes in the mormon temple ceremony over time. Mormon documentation can be found of top leaders in the mormon church publicly claiming that the mormon temple ceremony has never changed. If you restrict your information to only that which is publicly disseminated by the mormon church itself, you would not have any reason to doubt this.
If you want to know how mormons who have learned of the changes justify the deception, ask them and watch the contortions. I did not learn until I had left – I had participated in temple ceremonies and dedicated myself on a two year mission to convert others, yet the leaders in the church didn’t think that I might want or deserve to know about any changes. The only “meat” of the gospel they are hiding is the flesh rotting off the skeletons in their closet.

James, I think it’s because LDS Church members themselves aren’t allowed to discuss certain aspects of temple rites (note that these rites are somewhat analagous to Masonic ritual, including the idea of the keeping of Masonic signs and tokens secret), so Mormons tend to become offended — or at least are presented with quandaries — when outsiders discuss them.

“I’d love to get elaboration from any Mormon visitors willing to engage it. ”

I am LDS (a Mormon’s term to refer to himself or other in the mainstream church to differntiate us from the various offshoot, mainly polygamous sects) and will try to explain why it is NOT OK to show “the endowment” on TV according to US.

First, many religions have sacred rituals that are not depicted and are offended when portrayed outside their context. I am from Arizona and the Hopi Kachina ceremony immediately sprang to mind. I cannot recall ever seeing that filmed on tape, and seen many news stories of people who have tried and the public disdain in Arizona that followed their attempt. Other tribal rituals in the US are included in this definition which most media outlets follow. Native American ceremonies are normally only portrayed in our P.C. world with the tribe’s permission. We are not a tribe, but the general rule in our (the LDS) world is we talk about the temple in vague terms with Gentiles (nonmembers) and only within the temple among ourselves. It is considered crude and almost sinful (in some circles) to talk about the temple ceremonies (there are more than one, eternal marriage, proxy baptism, etc…) especially the referred to ceremony which we call “the endowment” even among church member in detail.

2nd, we (the LDS body) are skittish right now. We thought we were accepted into the American mainstream. But, the singling out of Romney’s faith and the subsequent ridicule, polygamous sects being called Mormon and everyone thinking we have 2+ wives (after 100 years of saying we don’t, not to mention Big Love), and being singled out after prop 8 passed in CA (not African American or Latino churches, Mormon churches), has made us tired. We are afraid that something dear to us, that prepares us for our rite of eternal marriage, one of our base beliefs, will be mocked, not portrayed in a “respectful manner” once it is “out there”.

3rd, notice it took an ex-member of the church to “advise” about the scene. No member of the church would do that. That is the level of sacredness we hold the “sacred event” in our lives.

Lastly, we rarely if ever record these events, even baptism on film, it is considered bad taste and shocking if someone whips out a camera during a sacrament meeting (LDS mass) or a child’s baptism (age 8).

These may not be reasons for the GENTILE world to stop it from happening, but these are the basic reasons we find it offensive and are slightly peeved.

The “sacred” base of Mormon objections is phony. There are many other “sacred” parts of Mormon practice and history that they have no problem depicting, even in their own promotional videos and printed matter: baptisms, ordinations, the “first vision” of the founding prophet Joseph Smith.

The objection is that the endowment ritual is “secret,” even though they deny that the secrecy is the basis for their objection, and even deny that it is a secret. They say it is not secret, but they cannot divulge its details or discuss it. That sounds pretty secret to me.

The irony is that the Book of Mormon condemns secrets and secret oaths (the endowment includes numerous secret oaths). And the Book of Mormon also prophesies that in the last days “There is nothing which is secret save it shall be revealed.” Well, HBO is fulfilling the prophecy.

Ironic, too, is that when Mormon Mitt Romney was questioned about the endowment, he suggested that people could find out all about it on the Internet. Which underlines the irony that the endowment details have not been secret since shortly after Smith copied them from the Masons in 1842.

For the entire script of the ceremony, just search the Internet for “mormon temple rituals” or “mormon temple rituals video”.

(I am a former mormon, and participated in the endowment when a member.)

Ok, I’m a Mormon, I’ll bite.

I agree with levago. Even those of us who have been through the temple ceremonies, we are only to speak about them while INSIDE the temple because of their sacred nature. It’s not that we’d be embarrassed about what goes on, which I guess you’ll have to take my word for it, but it’s really just that it’s very special to us. It’s hard to come up with an analogy, but I’ll try.

I guess it would be like having a birth video (something you’d probably only share with close family) put on TV without your consent. I know that birth is dramatized quite often, but every birth is different. Every endowment ceremony is the same. So, to Mormons, it IS like having your very own birth video posted without permission. Now, I know that a former member of the church advised in this case so it may be very accurate, but that would be like the ex-husband posting the video of his ex-wife giving birth.

I don’t plan on boycotting anything, but it makes me sad that this is happening. I’m not ashamed or embarrassed about any activity in the temple, but I don’t want the ceremony opened up to the ridicule and analysis of viewers who do not understand it’s deep personal significance.

Again, with the birth video analogy, a woman would not be embarrassed or ashamed that she had a baby, but she also might not want to open herself up to ridicule because she screamed or made a face (not to say this is what goes on in the temple, lol)–it’s just that it’s a sacred, personal experience. Again, this, to Mormons, is like the ex posting the birth video without his ex-wife’s permission.

Also, because an active, temple-going member would NEVER advise a TV show about an accurate temple ceremony portrayal, we Mormons are dubious as to how accurate the portrayal, and it’s context, would be, even, and sometimes ESPECIALLY, from someone who used to be Mormon.

“The producers say they relied on extensive research, including the accounts of an ex-Mormon, to re-create the ceremony.”

The Producers knew it would offend and that is why they did it.
To act like they are sorry if they offend anyone, is a lie.
Seems like people who claim to be tolerant tend to rationalize their behavior for the greater good.

I don’t know how I feel about this. I don’t watch the show, and I barely know what it’s about. But I’m Mormon, and it’s really hard being in the spotlight frequently. I guess it won’t really affect me in the end (unless I’m teased about my religion again) but still. . .

Thanks especially to all the LDS visitors for their answers–I found your explanations much more illuminating than what I’d read at lds.org, actually.

James, thanks for asking. You may get several responses but here’s my attempt, presented in four categories.

1. Individual Member’s preparation to attend the Temple. The Church is grounded on a foundation of personal revelation. Each member is taught to not follow blindly, but to seek and recieve personal answers to prayer concerning the veracity of any principle the Church and it’s leaders teach. My experience is that these prayers are answered by a manifestation of the Holy Spirit in a discernable manner as promised by James 1:5 (Bible) and Moroni 10:3-5 (Book of Mormon). Most members that regularly attend the Temple have recieved such experiences as they have sought them in diligence and sincerity (implies much personal effort in education, obedience to commandments, meditation and faith). To attend the Temple, members must obtain a level of spiritual maturity, integrity of heart, honesty in actions, commitment to God, and faith in the need for and the atoning power of Christ. This practice results in a very personal and abiding witness within many members as to the existence of God, and His Gospel Plan and Purposes. We therefore take our faith in Christ as a serious and real matter, and place our devotion to His principles first in our life’s priorities, and even dedicate our lives to His purposes. We give two years in our youth to serve missions, accept callings to serve and raise up our families to do the same.

So in answer to your question: My deep abiding spiritually borne witness of Christ, my personal relationship with him and my Eternal Father is connected to the Temple endowment. I have sacrificed much to participate in the endowment as it has exacted a spiritual price. I have received great personal blessings from it as a result. A common depiction of it trivializes my personal experience with it and is personally offensive.

2. Doctrinal Knowledge. We teach that the glory of God is intelligence, and aspire to know what Heaven and earth have to teach us. Obtaining doctrinal knowledge, which is a life-long persuit for many members, is what sets us apart and makes us peculiar. The Temple is the summit of our educational experience on earth. It is there that we can learn “the very mysteries of godliness” (1Tim 3:6,JST 1Tim 3:15-16). The endowment provides a setting in which obtaining this knowledge by personal revelation can be received. No external effort to depict it can come close to such a personal experience with God. To attempt it is insensitive and by our doctrine blasphemes the sacred. Part of the insensitivety is undoubtedly due to the lack of spiritual experience and understanding of the detractor.

3. Sacred Connection to Heaven. The Temple is “The House of the Lord”. Literally a place wherein the Son of Man can lay his head.(Luke 9:58, Discourses of Brigham Young, p. 417). It has symbolic imagery of this in the veil and Celestial Room. It is a Holy place. It is a sacred space, wherein the Holy Spirit and Christ himself can visit. White is worn to symbolize purity in the preparation of the individual in their striving efforts toward worthiness to be in the presence of our God. Our reverence for this holy place and it’s connection to Heaven lingers with us even outside the Temple, and out of respect for sacred things we promise not to speak of the ordinances performed outside the Temple. We also teach that we are not to use the name of God in vain repetition and hold it equally sacred. This is my sacred, personal place where I can escape the World for a few hours, meditate and feel at peace.

Depicting the Temple ceremony creates a feeling of violation of that personal space and an attempt to disrupt my sense of peace obtained there. This is offensive.

4. Temple as it relates to our marriages and families. The temple is where our families begin, as spouses are sealed for eternity. Children of such a marriage are sealed to the parents, and we thus have the opportunity for eternal relationships. Through living the principles taught by Christ and in obedience to the covenenants we make in the Temple, we become one with God, and unified as a family. We sing songs of the temple as a family, attend special “temple days” as a family, and enjoy a much lower divorce rate among regular temple attenders than most segments of society at large. This unity enhances every aspect of family happiness.

So again to answer the question, the common, public portrayal of ordinances central to our individual family’s participation in the Lord’s Plan of Happiness for us is offensive. As I discussed this with my children last night, my 13 and 16 year olds felt this offense. They paid keen attention to our discussion and even at their young ages felt a dismay and violation.

All this being said I can deal with it. There is nothing anyone can do that will shake my foundation. In the spirit of the golden rule, I hope I would not do this to another.

Strange – in my post from about an hour ago I suggested readers to do an internet search for “mormon temple rituals video.” I did that search myself just before posting, and the top three hits were indeed to videos about the Mormon endowment.

I just now did that same search, and not a single hit had anything to do with Mormon temples, but were links to sex sites, product promotions, and other irrelevant stuff.

The Mormon god must be pretty powerful to corrupt Google!

I’m LDS. I love my religion. But I regret that we are so secretive. I understand the relationship between sacred and secret, but I wish we were more transparent and more welcoming to people. I also wish the temple didn’t set up a dichotomy of righteous/unrighteous, worthy/unworthy. All are worthy to be in the presence of God. IMO this HBO episode can be good for the Church. We are known as a cult in most of the world because of our secrecy. I think God wants us all to share in his love and in his ordinances.

I was a Mormon my whole life, and as High Priest I held numerous leadership positions and attended the temple regularly, wherein I made several secret pacts and oaths (even to allow my throat to be cut and my guts to be cut out and strewn upon the ground for blabbing the secrets). I finally quit after coming to terms with the fact that the church suppresses, obfuscates, and in some cases even destroys its own history in order to create a “history” that dovetails neatly with its teachings. One thing that remains untaught and largely unknown by church membership is how the temple endowment ceremony was merely borrowed or bitten off the Masonic ceremony (easily provable with simple Internet searches). The Mormons have never apologized to the Masons for this infringement, and I find it ironic that the collective Mormon knickers would be in such a twist over the Big Love issue when they themselves are at fault for what amounts to serious intellectual piracy. Besides that, secrecy and making secret pacts and oaths within a context of supposed “Christianity” is actually fundamentally non-Christian by all standards.

[...] Big Love Re-Offends Mormons. Do They Have a Point? Big Love, which spurred a lot of pre-emptive worry in the Mormon church before it premiered, is now being criticized [...] [...]

My name is Steve Benson. My grandfather, Ezra Taft Benson, was the 13th president of the Mormon Church, who served in that capacity from 1985 until his death in 1994 (He was also the Secretary of Agriculture under President Dwight Eisenhower from 1952-1960).

I am a former Mormon (having left the LDS Church voluntarily in 1993, in objection to its sexist, racist, homophobic and historically deceptive doctrines and practices).

It is imperative that the general public have a factual working knowledage upon which to make informed decisions with regard to the doctrines and practices of the Mormon Church. Unfortunately, the Mormon Church attempts to hide from public view its secret and bizarre rituals that, in this case, go on behind closed doors in their temples–rituals that can only be participated in by so-called “worthy” Mormons who are vetted prior to being giving a temple admission pass, known as a temple recommend.

Shrouded-from-public-view Mormon temple practices include proxy baptisms (commonly referred to as “baptisms for the dead”). This ritual targets deceased non-Mormons and is often performed against the will and without the knowledge of the families of the deceased. Such has has been the case with many deceased members of the Jewish faith who were murdered during the Nazi Holocaust and whom Mormons have secretly baptized for the dead in their temples, with the goal of making them members of the Mormon Church in the Mormon afterlife. Offended Jewish groups have repeatedly petitioned the Mormon Church for over a decade to discontinue this insensitive and disrespectful practice, but the Mormon Church continues to engage in its baptism-by-proxy exercise of deceased Jews despite its previous promise to cease and desist.

I was a temple Mormon myself (having been born and raised in the Mormon religion) before concluding that Mormonism’s secret temple rites are actually flagrant rip-offs from the cultic practices of historic Freemasonry. These Mormon temple rites include secret handshakes, signs, tokens, names and costuming that closely rememble Masonic rituals.

Mormonism’s founder, Joseph Smith, was himself a Mason who stole Masonic rites for the creation of the supposedly divinely-revealed Mormon temple “endowment” ceremony. Smith was eventually assaassinated in 1844 while being held in jail for destroying a private newspaper that had published damning evidence of his multiple polygamous affairs. Members of the mob that shot him out of the jailhouse window in Carthage, Illlinois, included Masons whose secret rituals Smith had stolen for his own purposes.

Based upon photographs from the upcoming “Big Love” episode involving the Mormon temple ceremony that have appeared in recent editions of TV Guide and in the Salt Lake Tribune (before both publications removed their online access to them), HBO’s depiction of the Mormon temple ceremony appears, from my perspective and experience, to be historically accurate.

Unfortunately, the Mormon Church does not want the general public to know these facts and has desperately tried to hide, dismiss, minimize or deny them. That is why I believe HBO’s “Big Love” episode in question provides a critical public service by making available to the nation’s general viewership pertinent information about the Mormon temple ceremony, within the context of the show’s relevant storyline.

For those interested in viewing what the Mormon Church strenuously hopes they will never see, below is a still photo from the “Big Love” episode in question which depicts the secret Mormon temple ritual:

http://extras.mnginteractive.com/live/media/site297/2009/0310/20090310__Big%20Love%20Temple.jpg

Wondering…when you disrespectfully plagiarize something from someone else and call it really special, can you then have a fit when another party disrespectfully uses it for their own purposes – no matter how special it has become to you?

(*Resent, typo-corrected)

My name is Steve Benson. My grandfather, Ezra Taft Benson, was the 13th president of the Mormon Church, who served in that capacity from 1985 until his death in 1994 (He was also the Secretary of Agriculture under President Dwight Eisenhower from 1952-1960).

I am a former Mormon (having left the LDS Church voluntarily in 1993, in objection to its sexist, racist, homophobic and historically deceptive doctrines and practices).

It is imperative that the general public have a factual working knowledge upon which to make informed decisions with regard to the doctrines and practices of the Mormon Church. Unfortunately, the Mormon Church attempts to hide from public view its secret and bizarre rituals that, in this case, go on behind closed doors in their temples–rituals that can only be participated in by so-called “worthy” Mormons who are vetted prior to being giving a temple admission pass, known as a temple recommend.

Shrouded-from-public-view Mormon temple practices include proxy baptisms (commonly referred to as “baptisms for the dead”). This ritual targets deceased non-Mormons and is often performed against the will and without the knowledge of the families of the deceased. Such has has been the case with many deceased members of the Jewish faith who were murdered during the Nazi Holocaust and whom Mormons have secretly baptized for the dead in their temples, with the goal of making them members of the Mormon Church in the Mormon afterlife. Offended Jewish groups have repeatedly petitioned the Mormon Church for over a decade to discontinue this insensitive and disrespectful practice, but the Mormon Church continues to engage in its baptism-by-proxy exercise of deceased Jews despite its previous promise to cease and desist.

I was a temple Mormon myself (having been born and raised in the Mormon religion) before concluding that Mormonism’s secret temple rites are actually flagrant rip-offs from the cultic practices of historic Freemasonry. These Mormon temple rites include secret handshakes, signs, tokens, names and costuming that closely resemble Masonic rituals.

Mormonism’s founder, Joseph Smith, was himself a Mason who stole Masonic rites for the creation of the supposedly divinely-revealed Mormon temple “endowment” ceremony. Smith was eventually assassinated in 1844 while being held in jail for destroying a private newspaper that had published damning evidence of his multiple polygamous affairs. Members of the mob that shot him out of the jailhouse window in Carthage, Illinois, included Masons whose secret rituals Smith had stolen for his own purposes.

Based upon photographs from the upcoming “Big Love” episode involving the Mormon temple ceremony that have appeared in recent editions of TV Guide and the Salt Lake Tribune (before both publications removed their online access to them), HBO’s depiction of the Mormon temple ceremony appears, from my perspective and experience, to be historically accurate.

Unfortunately, the Mormon Church does not want the general public to know these facts and has desperately tried to hide, dismiss, minimize or deny them. That is why I believe HBO’s “Big Love” episode in question provides a critical public service by making available to the nation’s general viewership pertinent information about the Mormon temple ceremony, within the context of the show’s relevant storyline.

For those interested in viewing what the Mormon Church strenuously hopes they will never see, below is a still photo from the “Big Love” episode in question which depicts the secret Mormon temple ritual:

http://extras.mnginteractive.com/live/media/site297/2009/0310/20090310__Big%20Love%20Temple.jpg “

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is a very misunderstood religion because people are either unfamiliar with our beliefs or because they don’t understand them. The temple ceremony falls into both these categories. The temples are literally considered by the members to be a house of the Lord. It is consecrated and dedicated to Him. That is the reason why only members in good standing may enter and why they are not open to the public. The exact natures of the ceremonies are not openly discussed outside of the temples because they are sacred. Members prepare themselves to participate in the temples by studying the gospel and keeping the commandments. Curiosity and voyeurism is not a preparation. Time Magazine is part of Time Warner Inc., just as HBO is, so it is no wonder that this article justifies this completely insensitive and offensive move from the producers of “Big Love”.

The funny thing is they said they’ve done research about it, and have their fact from an ex-mormon….thats like getting medical advise from a person who dropped out of medical school. OBVIOUSLY there’s a reason they dropped out. Therefor the information won’t be accurate. If they really wanted to know what goes on in there, they would’ve asked a currently practicing member, who would never share that info. And since it is so special and sacred to us, and we are asked not to share it with anyone, then for an ex member to share it to the world, they’re just doing it with hate in their hearts and out of spite.

Everything these days is about “Be politically correct”, “Respect others”, “Embrace differences”, but this is a PERFECT example of hypocrisy. No one’s respecting us and our beliefs.

Mr. “steve benson” is correct. People need to have a factual basis when evaluating or judging. Sadly, the official LDS Church web sites provide theologically distorted info in order to hide the embarassment of the truth. FACT: Mormons have a God they call “Heavenly Father”. Unfortunately this God is merely an exalted man. He progressed to BECOME a God. He has parents, grandparents, wives, and literal children. And LDS men aspire to become a God as well; thus their doctrine of exaltation rather than simply salvation. This aspiration of Godhood, along with a theology that embraces a completely DIFFERENT God, is ample evidence of the cultic nature of Mormonism.

“jaksten” claims that facts from an ex-Mormon must be inaccurate? And that ex-members share facts with “hate in their hearts”? Wrong on both counts.
Particularly if one has voluntarily left a faith or organization, he can then view it with perspective and objectivity. And he is free to tell the truth. Many ex-Mormons love the people, but stand firm against doctrines of darkness. Exposing the truth in love is compassion. And when you’ve been deceived on such a scale, motivation is there to yell “fire”.
Jaksten and other Mormons have the perfect right to believe their temple ceremony to be SACRED. That does not change the fact, however, that the ceremony is kept SECRET….

Jaksten’s analogy to medical school is terrible. He does not seem to realize that there is another way to leave medical school than to “drop out”, namely graduate. Jaksten, I encourage you to get to know some exmormons, find out what makes them “tick” – see if they feel like they dropped out when they left, or do they feel like when they left they were graduating to a more moral, more honest, more respectful, more tolerant, and more compassionate lifestyle (like I feel).

Personally, I’m tired of seeing generalizations about why ex-Mormons chose to leave the church. The majority of ex-Mormons didn’t leave because they were offended, couldn’t live the lifestyle, or didn’t like one policy. I know it’s hard to comprehend for Mormons because the church is “true” but the majority of people leave the church because they believe it isn’t true.

In terms of the Big Love episode, I believe strongly in free speech. If HBO wishes to show this, they do have every right to do so. In fact, I believe another South Park quote is fitting here.

“No, no, wait a minute, it’s ridiculous. What we need to do is just the opposite. Freedom of speech is at stake here, don’t you all see? If anything, we should ALL make cartoons of Muhammad, and show the terrorists and the extremists that we are all united in the belief that every person has a right to say what they want! Look, people, it’s… been real easy for us to stand up for free speech lately. For the past few decades we haven’t had to risk anything to defend it. But those times are going to come! And one of those times is right now. And if WE… aren’t willing to RISK… what we have, then we just believe in free speech, but we don’t defend it.”

While we aren’t at risk at all from this episode being shown, the issue here is whether or not religious beliefs are above those of the policies of freedom of speech.

I stand with the Bill of Rights.

Knowledge is power. Access to information about the secrets of Mormonism–secrets that, in the name of “sacredness,” Mormon Church leaders and the rank-and-file members under their command do not want the general public to know–is key to making rational, reasonable and informed decisions about the Mormon Church.

While the Mormon Church aggressively proselytizes around the world, even those who join the Mormon Church are not made aware of the veiled details of Mormon belief until after they have formally received baptism into the Mormon religion.

This is akin to joining a private club without having been informed beforehand regarding fundamentally core rules, beliefs and requirements of the club until after one has been admitted.

As a former Mormon whose grandfather Ezra Taft Benson was president of the Mormon Church, I (like millions of other Mormons) was not meaningfully advised of the secretive, Masonic-borrowed rituals that are regularly conducted behind the closed doors of Mormon temples–that is, not until I received my own temple “endowment” prior to being sent off at age 19 on a two-year mission for the Mormon Church.

Not that I didn’t try to find out before I left.

Back before HBO and “Big Love” (in the pre-cable/internet days of the 1970s), I received my first inkling of what went on behind closed temple doors from a convert whom my family had fellowshipped into the Mormon Church.

He was an honest, free-speaking man who became a popular adult leader of the youth in our Mormon “ward,” or parish. After he and his wife had been members of the Mormon Church for the required minimum of one year, they were interviewed by the local Mormon bishop to determine their “temple worthiness.” Having satisfactorily passed the interview, they were then permitted, for the first time, to enter the Mormon temple to obtain their personal, secret “endowment.”

This endowment involved receiving a clandestine “new name,” along with Masonic-derived secret signs, tokens, oaths and handshakes in preparation to being “sealed” (meaning married) “for time and all eternity.”

Like all temple Mormons, my friend and his wife were required in the temple to remove their clothes, put on an open-sided smock and have their bodies “washed and anointed” with what was claimed to be divinely-empowering sacred oil.

They were then clothed in Mormon “garments”–or secret underclothes—which were emblazoned with Masonic symbols designed to remind them of their obligation of obedience to the Mormon Church. They were commanded to wear these secret undergarments day and night for the rest of their lives. (Officiators in the temple ceremony also inform Mormons during this initiation process that this “garment of the Holy Priesthood,” as it is called, provides “a shield and a protection” to them against both physical harm and the temptations of the Devil).

Like all “temple Mormons” of their day, my friend and his wife were solemnly warned through blood oath rituals symbolically performed behind closed temple doors that they were subjecting themselves to having their throats slit, their intestines disemboweled and their hearts ripped from the chests, should they ever reveal the secret Mormon temple “endowment” details to the outside world. (Eventually becoming a so-called “temple Mormon” myself before I ultimately left the Mormon Church in 1993, I was also subjected to the same ritualistic initiation requirements and warnings).

Believing that I could get a straight answer from my freshly-converted friend, I asked him what it was like inside the Mormon temple.

He smiled, then started uncharacteristically hemming and hawing. He told me couldn’t tell me anything because he wasn’t allowed to. But, still, I continued to press, pleading for him to at least give me something.

Finally, he relented and said that there was a play conducted inside the temple. He said that there was this Devil character in the play whom he described as being pretty neat–but that, he insisted, was all he could let me know.

Fast forward several years.

I eventually discovered that my friend and his wife had also left the Mormon Church. Because of this friend–and years before “Big Love” burst on to the scene–I had begun to sense that there was more to Mormonism that was allowed to meet the eye.

Many people, no doubt, have seen Mormon temples in their neighborhoods–those large, tall, multi-million dollar edifices with an angel statue adorning its spires–structures that no one is allowed to enter for participation in Mormonism’s secret rites, unless one is deemed a “worthy” Mormon who has first agreed to pay an admission fee of 10% of their annual income for the rest of their lives.

The fact that such details of Mormon belief and practice are being shared with the outside world is indeed considered offensive by faithful Mormons. Yet, the reasons for speaking openly about the bedrock of Mormon temple belief are well expressed by Richard Packham, a former Mormon and retired attorney:

“Mormon temples are quite different, both in design and use, from the buildings where Mormon congregations hold their weekly worship services. On Sundays Mormons gather for meetings, sermons and simple worship in the local ‘chapel’ or ‘meeting house’ or ‘ward house’ or ‘church’ (these terms are used interchangeably by most Mormons). Mormons go to the temple only on weekdays, never on Sunday–the temples are closed on Sundays. Some Mormons go to the temple quite regularly; others rarely, since for many Mormons the nearest temple may be hundreds of miles from their home. Temples are closed to the public and also to Mormons who do not qualify as sufficiently ‘worthy.’ The rituals in the temples–especially the ‘endowment’–are considered so sacred that Mormons are forbidden to discuss them outside the temple itself.

“Even non-Mormons sometimes object to [what you are] now reading, since such . . . reveal[s] Mormons’ religious secrets to a curious–and perhaps unworthy and even mocking–world. Many people, not only devout Mormons, feel that it is wrong to do this. Usually two reasons for the objection are given: 1) things that anyone holds sacred should not be profaned, mocked or ridiculed by anyone else, even by one who does not consider them sacred; and 2) the person who is revealing the secrets usually is someone who obtained the secrets only by swearing an oath of secrecy, and thus is breaking an oath.

“As to the first objection, this article does not ‘mock’ or ‘ridicule’ the secrets of the Mormon temple; it merely reveals them. Also, it seems rather odd to refuse to discuss objectively and openly any subject just because someone else feels that subject is taboo. . . .

“As to the second objection, the validity and binding nature of an oath or any promise depends, both legally and morally, upon the validity of the mutually accepted facts underlying the demanding and the giving of the oath. The oath of secrecy given by a Mormon in the temple is based on the assurance and sacred promise by the church that the oath is required by God, and that the secrets one will receive are given by God. If those assurances are in fact false, then one cannot be bound either legally or morally by any such oath, since it was obtained by a lie.” (1)

As indicated earlier, the secret Mormon temple ceremony was copied from the Masons in the 1840s by Mormonism’s founder, Joseph Smith, who was himself a Freemason.

Sewn into the Mormon garment, over the right and left breasts, are the Masonic symbols of the square and compass, signifying exactness and honor in following God. Over the right knee of the garment is sewn another mark, reminding the undergarment wearer that every knee shall bow to God. There is also one sewn over the navel, indicating that God is the ultimate source of sustenance.

Armed with their new name (by which Mormons believe they will eventually be known in Mormon heaven) and with their new undergarments, Mormons further proceed through their secret temple ceremonies, during which the vow to obey their Mormon Church leaders, as well as promise never to say anything bad about them (in temple vernacular, to avoid “evil speaking of the Lord’s anointed”).

Since only worthy Mormons can enter the temple, non-Mormons are barred from attending wedding ceremonies conducted therein, even if they are the parents or other family members of the bride and groom.

According to tract distributed to visitors at the opening of the Mormon temple in Bedford, Oregon (before it was closed to the public), explains:

“No music, no poetry, no photographs are allowed during the short wedding ceremony in the temple. (Although the bride may wear a traditional white wedding gown, she must wear the ritual temple clothing over the gown).”

Also is mentioned another ritual that goes on behind the walls of the Mormon temple:

“Most Mormons attending the temple rituals are doing so as proxies for the dead, in order to qualify the dead for admission to the Mormon heaven.

“Probably most of your ancestors have already been posthumously inducted into the Mormon Church. The Mormons have done this for millions of dead people (this is the primary purpose of their extensive genealogical research), including deceased presidents of the U.S., many Catholic saints, and even Adolf Hitler.”(2)

This, then, is some of what the Mormon Church does not want the general public to know. HBO’s “Big Love” series is serving a critical role in helping provide further information to the viewing audience that the Mormon Church, in the name of protecting the “sacred,” would prefer to keep secret.

1. Richard Packham, “Mormon Temples and Temple Rituals,” at: http://packham.n4m.org/temples.htm

2. “Mormon Temples: Facts That the Mormons Probably Don’t Want You to Know,” text of tract distributed to visitors at the open house for the Medford (Oregon) temple, 25-31 March 2000, at: http://packham.n4m.org/temples2.htm

For ongoing identification purposes, the most recent post by “lobetrotter” (see above) was autthored by me, Steve Benson, oldest grandchild of the former president of the Mormon Church, Ezra Taft Benson.

Thanks.

Correction/editing note: The temple mentioned in the original post is located in Medford, Oregon.

I am also an ex-mormon. Thank you peiriannydd for your post stating that some of us feel that we “graduated” the religion. I grew up in a Mormon community all my friends and family were Mormon and I feel that I have a pretty good understanding of the religion. Growing up in all of it, I never knew what exactaly went on inside the temple with the exception of marriages and baptisims for the dead (which in my opinion I disagree with), I only knew that it was a sacred place and I knew this because this is what I was told. Something becomes sacred to those who have a reason to make it sacred. Just because they are going to show the endowment(sp?) ceremony on Big Love does not make it any less sacred to those who still believe in the reasons for it being sacred. Catholics, Muslims, Jews, Buddhist etc. all have things that they hold sacred just like the mormons but you don’t see the dali lama getting in an uproar because someone dressed up like Buddah for halloween. I agree with a previous poster that what is sacred to some is a curiosity to others.

To both ctrandrm and jaksten: First, Mormonism is not “misunderstood” at all. This is one of the first giant discoveries upon one’s exit from Mormonism. It’s like when you live overseas and you finally get to see Americans as others see them. Ex-Mormons discover finally that purt’near everyone else DOES have it right. As far as jaksten’s comments, which are very similar to the ones I used to make when I was enthusiastically Mormon, situations like this actually require an ex-Mormon as an advisor, because a believing, practicing Mormon just would not get it right. His or her emotional attachment would not allow requisite objectivity.

Both of you need to understand that people like us (Steve Benson and many others) did, indeed, love the church. Steve and I served missions and served in leadership capacities. We more than anybody would have liked the church to be “true” (to use Mormon parlance). Sadly, it’s demonstrably false, and the fact that the “endowment” ceremony was just copied from Blue Lodge Masonry and has nothing to do with ancient traditions or beliefs of the Jews–also easily and quickly proved–means exactly what others here have said: The Mormon endowment is “sacred” merely because Mormons say it is “sacred.” But how many Mormon meetings have I sat through where the sacred beliefs of other religions were coldly belittled… It’s a game of give-but-can’t-take.

Steve Benson again, ex-Mormon grandson of the former president of the Mormon Church, Ezra Taft Benson.

Given the ongoing discussion here about what devout Mormons actually believe and practice and how it all should be dealt with in the public square, I think it bears repeating that another president of the Mormon Church, Gordon B. Hinckley (who succeeded my grandfather when he died in 1994) insisted to CBS reporter Mike Wallace in an April 1996 “60 Minutes” interview that Mormons were not “a weird people.”

Having been a born-in-the-bed Mormon before ultimately deciding to leave the weirdness of it all, I would beg to differ.

Perhaps no more demonstrative example of how Mormons often misrepresent their out-of-the-mainstream religion to wider American society was seen than in the repeated obfuscation and (I would argue) deliberately inaccurate portrayal of the LDS faith by devout temple Mormon and Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney. (By the way, it is certainly no coincidence that Mormon-dominated Utah, in its February 2008 GOP presidential primary, voted 89.5% for Romney, with John McCain coming in as a nearly invisible second-place finisher with 5.4%. As a religious rule, obedience-oriented Mormons tend to think, worship and vote alike).

In December 2007, I was approached by the journalism trade magazine “Editor and Publisher” and asked to offer my opinion on the influence of Romney’s Mormon religion on his attitudes, beliefs and ultimate conduct in office, had he won the U.S. presidency. The interview, entitled “Ex-Mormon Cartoonist Steve Benson Says Romney Not Telling Truth” was authored by “E&P” senior editor Dave Astor and ran in the the magazine’s 18 December 2007 issue.

The response of Mormons to the article was swift and telling–and should indicate to “Time” readers that what is being encountered is a Mormon religion that is well outside the common currents of American society.

The article read as follows:

“NEW YORK–As an ex-Mormon, ‘Arizona Republic’ editorial cartoonist Steve Benson has strong opinions about current Mormon Mitt Romney. He said the Republican candidate’s recent speech on religion should not be trusted by media people and other Americans.

“In his talk, Romney said ‘I believe in my Mormon faith’ while also noting that the church’s ‘teachings’ would not influence his decisions if elected president.

“‘Yeah, right,’ responded Benson, adding that ‘Romney also believes in misrepresenting what his Mormon Church actually espouses.’

“Benson is the grandson of former Mormon leader Ezra Taft Benson.

“He told ‘E&P’ that a Mormon believer is required by church doctrine (as dictated by the church’s ‘living prophet’) to ‘obey God’s commands’ over anything else. He said ‘Romney, like all “temple Mormons,” made his secret vows using Masonic-derived handshakes, passwords, and symbolic death oaths that he promised in the temple never to reveal to the outside world’ — and that Romney also secretly vowed to devote his ‘time, talents,’ and more ‘to the building of the Mormon religion on earth.’

“So, said Benson, the only way Romney could be truly independent of the church as U.S. president would be to disavow Mormon doctrine. ‘He hasn’t done that,’ said the Creators Syndicate-distributed cartoonist.

“‘When Mitt says he belongs to a church that doesn’t tell him what to do, that’s false; it’s a 24/7, do-what-you’re-told-to-do church,’ added Benson, who won the Pulitzer Prize for editorial cartooning in 1993.

“That was the year Benson left what he calls the ‘Mormon cult.’ One reason for his decision was disgust with the way Mormon officials tried to fool church members and the general public into believing that Ezra Taft Benson — Steve’s then-94-year-old grandfather and church president — was still capable of leading the church. ‘He was not mentally or physically in a place where he could make any meaningful decisions,’ recalled Benson. ‘I know it because I saw his condition with my own eyes.’

“Benson — who was contacted by ‘E&P’ for this story — said journalists have basically given Romney a free pass on the ‘fundamental contradiction’ between being an observant Mormon and a U.S. president. ‘Most journalists don’t know about actual Mormon teachings and practices,’ noted the cartoonist, adding that they instead see the religion as perhaps ‘strange’ but ‘rather benign.’

“Romney ‘needs to face an informed member of the media with “cojones” who has a working and perhaps personal experience with Mormonism,’ said Benson. ‘It would be harder for Romney to do his well-practiced duck and dodge.’

“Benson himself drew a post-Romney speech cartoon that pictured John F. Kennedy saying ‘Ask not what your country can do for you . . .’ followed by Romney saying ‘. . . do whatever it takes for me to win Iowa.’ (Many people believe Romney gave what he hoped would be a JFK-like speech on religion because he was losing support in Iowa). But Benson said he hasn’t heavily focused on Romney’s Mormonism in other cartoons. ‘Religious issues are very touchy,’ he said. ‘I do what I can, but I pick my battles.’

“Another reason Benson distrusts the words in Romney’s speech is because the candidate has changed his public positions on issues such as abortion and gay rights to woo conservative GOP voters in states like Iowa rather than the more liberal voters he once courted to become governor of Massachusetts. ‘He flips and flops like Jesus is coming tomorrow,’ said the cartoonist. ‘It’s like Romney is reading from the Mormon Church playbook.’

“Benson explained his last comment by noting that the Mormon Church has also ‘publicly flipped 180 degrees when it feels it’s necessary for its image, for its financial solvency, and for political expediency.’

“He mentioned, by way of example, that black Mormons weren’t allowed into the priesthood until 1978. And while polygamy has been publicly disavowed by the Mormon Church, Benson said ‘the church still holds that it will be practiced as a matter of eternal doctrine in heaven. The church also currently performs polygamist marriage ‘sealings’ in its temples around the world.’

“Benson predicted that Romney will not win the Republican presidential nomination. If Romney somehow IS nominated, added the cartoonist, he will not defeat his Democratic opponent.

“Voters, said Benson, ‘are not ready for someone in the Oval Office who has committed to absolute obedience to a religion they feel is extremely odd and not in the American mainstream. I trust the rational U.S. electorate, not the weird Mormon God.’”
_____

Persecution complex-suffering Mormons tend (as amply demonstrated by their in-unison objections to the scheduled airing of HBO’s upcoming “Big Love” episode) to be quite defensive in a circle-the-wagons sort of way whenever their religion is critically scrutinized by non-Mormon society.

It is not surprising, then, that offended Mormons responded quite negatively to my above-quoted comments. Ever-sensitive to criticism of their secretive and strange religion, they swarmed to their church’s defense. Two days after the foregoing interview was pubished, “E&P’s” Dave Astor did a follow-up story headlined, “Steve Benson, Editorial Cartoonist, Reacts to Reaction He Received for Ripping Romney”:

“NEW YORK: When editorial cartoonist Steve Benson criticized current Mormon Mitt Romney in an ‘E&P’ story earlier this week, reaction was fast and furious.

“Many blog posters backed Benson, but many others blasted the grandson of former Mormon Church President Ezra Taft Benson.

“For instance, they asked why the ‘Arizona Republic’/Creators Syndicate cartoonist didn’t also criticize Mormon politicians such as Democrat Harry Reid, and they said Benson’s 1993 switch from Mormonism to ex-Mormonism made him as much of a ‘flip-flopper’ as he accused Republican presidential candidate Romney of being.

“E&P called Benson again today to get his response.

“Benson — who contended in the earlier story that a devout, ‘temple-endowed’ Mormon U.S. president can’t be truly independent of the Mormon Church — said he didn’t criticize Reid because the Senate Majority Leader ‘is not making an issue of his Mormon devotion. He’s not standing up in a carefully orchestrated stage play and explaining his religion to the American people. Romney’s speech was a tactical move to woo fundamentalist Christians in the hotly contested Iowa political caucus. He invited this scrutiny. And, unlike Romney, Reid’s not running for the most powerful position in the free world.’

“The cartoonist continued: ‘Besides, it doesn’t seem that Harry Reid’s religion is as strong an operating force in his life or decisions as it is for Romney.’ Benson added with a laugh: ‘How could it be, given the conservative politics of most Mormons. Hell, Reid’s a Democrat!’

“Responding to the flip-flop charge, Benson said he left Mormonism because church leaders were misrepresenting his aged grandfather’s health and because of the ‘sexist, racist, and homophobic’ aspects he saw in the religion. But Romney, said the 1993 Pulitzer Prize winner, has jettisoned liberal positions out of ‘political expediency’ as the former Massachusetts governor tries to convince conservative GOP voters to make him their presidential candidate.

“‘I’m not running for political office,’ said Benson. ‘I left Mormonism with no pretense of remaining devout — and I didn’t do the Romney act of staying in while changing my spots faster than a leopard on steroids.’

“When asked his reaction to the negative e-mails he has received and the critical blog posts that have been written since the ‘E&P’ story, Benson said he isn’t surprised that Mormons are very defensive about his comments.

“‘One of my Mormon critics called me a “turncoat,”‘ Benson e-mailed after [the] phone interview. ‘So I asked him to be a good Christian, do what Jesus would do and give me his own coat. Haven’t see the coat yet. Anyway, like the old saying goes, “hit pigeons flutter.”‘

“But the cartoonist feels no one has disproved anything he said about Romney or the nature of Mormonism’s secret temple oaths and rituals. ‘The proof is in the pudding,’ Benson said in the e-mail. ‘The trouble is, the Mormon Church doesn’t want anyone to go poking around in its pudding.’”

Steve, you da man. Thanks for all that information and not holding back on your well articulated facts. And, incidentally, I’ve always loved your cartoons, too–kind of McNelly-like (I still miss that guy). Preach it, brother!

Thanks, “blubergamo.”

With the upcoming scheduled airing of HBO’s “Big Love” episode (which, of course, the entire country now knows includes a portrayal of Mormonism’s secret temple ceremonies), there have been more and more chances afforded ex-Mormons to explain what the Mormon Church strives to hide from those it seeks to deceive, to convert, or both.

“TV Guide” deserves kudos for giving an initial airing to the views of “Big Love’s” executive producers, who explained their decision to recreate the LDS episode for the show’s significant national audience.

As “TV Guide” reported:

“We researched it out the wazoo,” says [executive producer Mark] Olsen, who along with executive producer WIll Scheffer hired an ex-Mormon consultant to help the set and wardrobe designers re-create even the tiniest details [of the Mormon temple ceremony]. ‘We go into the Endowment Room and the Celestial Room . . . and we present what happens in those ceremonies. That’;s never been shown on television before,’ says Olsen.

“Adds Scheffer, ‘But it’s not for shock value. It’s really a very important part of the storty.’ . . . .

“According to a [Mormon] church insider, ‘If they are in fact trying to emulate those rooms in any way, that would be extremely offensive. The general public is not allowed in our temples yet. Not even all Mormons all. We consider them very, very sacred.’”

“Big Love’s” producers were given further opportunity to both promote the episode and teasingly provide its viewers with more information about the Mormon temple ceremony itself, while offering a carefully-designed “apology” to offended Mormons.

Reported the “New York Times”:

“An episode of ‘Big Love,’ the HBO series about a polygamous Mormon family, above, has courted controversy with the Mormon church and prompted an apology from the cable channel before the show has run, The Associated Press [A.P.] reported. The episode, scheduled for Sunday, will show a character undergoing an endowment ceremony, a religious rite the church considers sacred. In a statement, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints said, ‘Certainly church members are offended when their most sacred practices are misrepresented or presented without context or understanding,’ according to The A.P.

“HBO said that it did not intend to cause offense to the church and apologized but added that the ceremony was an important part of the episode. In a statement the show’s creators, Mark V. Olsen and Will Scheffer, said they ‘took great pains to depict the ceremony with the dignity and reverence it is due,’ The A.P. reported.”

Even in the heart of Mormon Zion, the “Salt Lake Tribune” posted an uncropped stlll photo from the planned “Big Love” episode (that is, before eventually pulling it off its website, as did “TV Guide” with its down-sized version).

Nonetheless, a copy of that photo was made before the “Salt Lake Tribune” could remove it from online viewing and is available for examination (with a link provided earlier in this commentary section).

It appears that Mormon defenders of the indefensible don’t quite know what to do with such accurate exposure. It seems that it’s becoming increasingly difficult for them to lie their way out from under the Internet tsunami.

In recent years, the media’s sniffing snowball has been gaining both size and speed, as more publicity is being given by an increasingly-interested press corps to accounts of Mormonism’s bizarre temple rites and related secrets, as the Mormon Church finds itself under the unwanted glare of increased attention.

This has been a welcome development for the ex-Mormon community, as it finds itself being invited to speak more openly and increasingly for the record about what we know–and about what the Mormon Church doesn’t want others to know. These chances are certainly expanding in the wake of such recent events as anti-gay rights efforts funded by the Mormon Church via Proposition 8 in California, national cable TV exposure of the Mormon Church’s Masonic-rooted temple ceremonies and the arrest of child-abusing fundamenatlist Mormon polygamists who have been guilty of practicing what Joseph Smith was preaching.

–Steve Benson

I was born and raised Mormon. I recently left this cult after several years of studying its history. I was never taught in Sunday school that the founding prophet, Joseph Smith, had over 30 secret polygamous wives. I also learned that the temple ceremony was “revealed” several weeks after Joseph became a Freemason. I started to question everything about my faith. I started to see that it was a ridiculous religion especially the temple ceremony. I concluded that if there really was a god that there was no way that he would require secret words, signs and handshakes to get into heaven. It made to sense. Of course now I welcome the spotlight on this silly so-called sacred ceremony. I hope that it will keep others away from joining this cult.

To all those offended by the the “Big Love” episode, keep in mind the following:

a) This will take place in a fictional setting. I’m sure it will be done realistically but they did not use deception to enter a temple (e.g., with a fake or stolen temple recommend), and they did not tape actual people in an actual ceremony.

b) If you enjoyed the DaVinci Code, the Godfather, Keeping the Faith, Dogma, All About My Mother, Schindler’s List, Seinfeld, M*A*S*H, or any of the other thousands of films or TV shows depicting the sacred practices of another religion, ask yourself how different this is. Yes, Mormons consider these rituals to be “secret” while many of the ceremonies in other churches are open to outsiders (while still sacred to believers), but why should Mormons be privileged to be the only religion that can’t be depicted in their religious practices? We can we make movies about Catholics, Jews, Protestants, Hindus, and whoever else, but not Mormons? Why, exactly?

Also, if you’re reading this you’re mostly like aware of a little invention known as the “internet.” You may have even heard of “bookstores” or “libraries.” In any of these places you can read about every aspect of the ceremonies. And you don’t even have to go to anti-Mormon sites or books. Just pick up a copy of “Duncan’s Ritual of Freemasonry,” originally published in 1866 and having absolutely nothing to do with Mormonism. It’s also available online.

We can debate all day long about why Joseph Smith appropriated Masonic rituals for the temple, but the simple point is that he did. And it’s all out there, easily accessible. (Also, if you think it’s more different than the current ceremony than you expected, that’s because the endowment ceremony has been changed multiple times over the years, taking out the penalties, for example, while the Masonic ritual has remained relatively stable, keeping said penalties.)

Oh, one last thought: HBO is a subscriber-based channel. Don’t subscribe if you don’t want to watch. If you are a subscriber, watch something else Sunday night if you don’t want to see this.

I wonder how many thank you cards and gift baskets HBO has sent to the LDS Church PR Department for making much-ado about nothing!

Steve Benson here.

Below are some not-so-sacred “spoilers” concerning certain elements of tonight’s scheduled broadcast of HBO’s “Big Love” episode, as reported by “New York Post” columnist Linda Stasi.

They have to do with Mormon temple rituals involving symbolic disembowelment and close personal physical contact made by LDS temple veil workers with initiatory patrons. (Both of these activities were eliminated by the Mormon Church from its temple ceremony in 1990, after increasing public revelation of the ceremony’s actual content).

Stasi notes some of those details, as follows:

“I figure that anything that doesn’t involve say, disemboweling sinners . . . or the indiscriminate use of the rack should be open for all to see. What if you wanted to join up – wouldn’t you want to know the secrets before signing on? (You’ll have to watch the show to get the ‘disemboweling’ reference).”

Stasi also quotes apparent “Big Love” reference to contact-point chants made by the Mormon faithful at the Veil (where the temple worker would bring the initiated patron into the close physical “Five Points of Fellowship” Masonic-derived embrace through the veil:

“Although the actual endowment ceremony in real life takes two hours and involves recreating church history, only a small part of the ceremony is shown here [in the 'Big Love' episode], and it involves the wearing of veils and confirming that one wants: ‘Health in the navel, marrow in the bones, strength in the loins and [in] the sinews, power in the priesthood be upon my posterity through all generations of time and throughout eternity.’”

(“‘Love Story’: Linda’s Take on ‘Big’ Strife,” at: http://www.nypost.com/seven/03142009/tv/love_story_159434.htm
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A Mormon blogger offers the following recap of the episode on his group blogsite (http://www.mormonmentality.org/2009/03/15/the-controversial-big-love-episode.htm ):

The plot lead up

Near the start of the episode, Barb (the 1st wife, who was brought up LDS) receives a visit from her bishop and stake president. She confesses her polygamous relationships to them, and they talk about the possibility of a church disciplinary council.

Barb visits her mother and sister, and she begs them to lend her a temple recommend to “take out her endowments,” which doesn’t make any sense at all, because (a) she would have already received her own endowments, and (b) neither of the women she spoke to would have an endowment for a live ordinance to lend her.

Barb’s mother resists the plea to lend Barb her temple recommend, saying that it’s only been a few years since they eliminated the references to slit the throat and disembowel anyone who messes with the ceremonies. Barbara chides her mother that she never really bought into that superstition. Finally, Barbara gets on her knees to beg. The scene cuts to another plot line.

(Note: What follows does not reveal anything significant about the temple ceremony, but it does relates in detail how the temple ceremony was portrayed on television.)

What they show in the temple
After a few other plot lines develop, the camera switches to Barb in full temple attire performing the last sign in the prayer circled around an alter with a black top (personally, I’ve never seen black). We then cut to the veil, where Barb is asked, “What is this?” and she is offered the final token. A choir version of Samuel Barber’s Adagio for Strings plays in the background, and we watch a run through of the exchange at the veil from that point until the end.

Barb then enters the Celestial Room to see her mother and sister there (if they lent her one of their recommends, then how did they both get in?) The three of them have the following conversation:

Barb’s Mom: This is just a little foretaste of what eternity will look like. This is what binds us to each other. Let’s just sit here for a moment and soak up this delicious feeling.

Barb: [starts to cry]

Barb’s Mom: Oh, honey. What is it?

Barb’s Sister Cindy: Mother let her have a moment!

Barb: I’m fine.

Temple Worker: [offering her a tissue] Here you are dear

Barb’s Mom: What? Tell me!

Barb: I can’t.

Barb’s Sister Cindy: Mommy, why don’t you just let her be.

Barb: The stake president has called me to love court. The other shoe’s finally droping. I’m facing a disciplinary hearing tomorrow

Barb’s Mom: Why didn’t you tell us

Barb: I was so ashamed

Barb’s Mom: Oh, no. I thought you were gonna leave Bill.

Barb: No.

Barb’s Mom: Oh, I can’t bear this, the thought of loosing you

Barb’s sister Cindy:Leave him!

Barb: Oh, Cindy!

Barb’s sister Cindy: You can stop this. This is your chance to get away. Just say your sorry and be repentant. I didn’t mean it to come to this.

Barb: You didn’t mean what to come to this? Cindy, answer my question!

[Cindy runs away]

Temple worker: I’m sorry. You’re 15 minutes are up. [wtf?]

The Aftermath
Barb faces a disciplinary council with Margene at her side, after suffering mightily under the guilt associated with abandoning the church she was raised in, even having a nightmare about being cast into outer darkness. Barbara accuses them of executing orders from higher up due to the Henrickson’s attempt to interfere with a letter that the church purchased to cover up John Taylor’s authorization of polygamy. The stake president tacitly acknowledges this, and cites President Packer as saying “Some things that are true are not very useful.” The Stake President pronounces her excommunicated, while a choir sings “Nearer My God to Thee.”

My Analysis

So the temple ceremony scene was word-for-word accurate. On the one hand, the episode related quite meaningfully what Mormonism ment to Barb — including temple participation. And the portion of the ceremony that it displays is the portion that will clarify for non-Mormon viewers the role that temple worship plays in the lives of many Mormons; viz., its emphasis on mortality placed in the context of the Eternities and the reaching to God that reflects the mortal yearning to commune with our Creator.[...]

On the other hand, it really was superfluous. It seems to me that the authors wanted to display the most sacred parts of the ceremony, and they knew that no matter how they displayed them, they would offend Mormons. Thus, they did it as tastefully as possible to preserve deniability. Essential to the plot? Not by a long shot. The purpose of the scene was simply to use a sacred part of our worship to provide television entertainment. From a religious point of view, there’s no excuse for this.

[...] of the controversy over the endowment ceremony scene—which sparked a lengthy and fascinating debate here last week—we may as well divide up this week’s Big Love into That Scene and Everything [...]

I watched the temple episode at the home of some acquaintances, along with a few other guests–none of whom were either Mormons or practicing Mormons.

It is truly amazing how faithful Latter-day Saints are so up in arms about a show that forthrightly–yet without silly circus hype–provided a revealing and credible window into the secretive, bizarre and mind-controlling aspects of Mormon belief, practice and worship.

Hiding behind their curtain of so-called “sacredness” is simply a way by which insecure Mormons seek to avoid personal embarrassment and accountability with regard to what they actually teach and practice.

I thought the depiction of the Mormon-Mason temple endowment scenes was accurate, relevant and appropriately cultish: http://www.dailymotion.com/deliciousfeeling/video/14583859

The instrusive, patriarchal excommunication hearing was heart-wrenching.

The historical connection made between the original polygamous teachings/practices of the Mormon Church and those of contemporary fundamantalist Mormon polygamist groups was clearly and significantly made.

As one former Mormon in our group noted, “The temple preparation classes [provided by the LDS Church to those gearing up to go through for their own temple ‘endowments’) are absolutely worthless.”

In contrast, what went on at our little get-together was a temple warning class that hopefully served a more worthwhile purpose.

The Mormon Church is finding itself under the hot glare of increasing and justified scrutiny.

I sense it is beginning to melt.

–Steve Benson

Steve. . .you are awesome!

Mormons (who loudly insist that they are a mainstream Christian sect) complain that the “Big Love” episode in question ridicules and disrespects their sacred temple beliefs and practices. Yet, given the Mormon church’s historic trail of attacking the tenets of faith which Christians hold dear, Mormons are hardly in a place to lecture members of other faith on that score.

Below are some of the full-blown assaults on the Christian faith by high-ranking leaders of the Mormon Church. Please keep them in mind when you hear Mormons loudly protesting that their religion is not being afforded its proper and due respect:

“What is it that inspires professors of Christianity generally with a hope of salvation? It is that smooth, sophisticated influence of the devil, by which he deceives the whole world.”

-Mormonism’s Founding Prophet and Church President Joseph Smith, in “Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith,” p. 270
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“Both Catholics and Protestants are nothing less than the ‘whore of Babylon’ whom the Lord denounces by the mouth of John the Revelator as having corrupted all the earth by their fornications and wickedness. Any person who shall be so corrupt as to receive a holy ordinance of the Gospel from the ministers of any of these apostate churches will be sent down to hell with them, unless they repent.”

-Mormon Apostle Orson Pratt, in “The Seer,” p. 255
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“After the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was organized, there were only two churches upon the earth. They were known respectively as the Church of the Lamb of God and Babylon. The various organizations which are called churches throughout Christendom, though differing in their creeds and organizations, have one common origin. They all belong to Babylon.”

-Mormon Apostle George Q. Cannon, in “Gospel Truth,” p. 324
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“When the light came to me I saw that all the so-called Christian world was grovelling in darkness.”

-Mormon Prophet and Church President Brigham Young, in “Journal of Discoursesm” 5:73
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“With a regard to true theology, a more ignorant people never lived than the present so-called Christian world.”

-Mormon Prophet and Church President Brigham Young, in “Journal of Discourses,” 8:199
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“The Christian world, so-called, are heathens as to the knowledge of the salvation of God.”

-Mormon Prophet and Church President Brigham Young, in “Journal of Discourses,” 8:171
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“Brother Taylor has just said that the religions of the day were hatched in hell. The eggs were laid in hell, hatched on its borders, and then kicked on to the earth.”

-Mormon Prophet and Church President Brigham Young, in “Journal of Discourses,” 6:176
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“Christians—those poor, miserable priests brother Brigham was speaking about—some of them are the biggest whoremasters there are on the earth, and at the same time preaching righteousness to the children of men. The poor devils, they could not get up here and preach an oral discourse, to save themselves from hell; they are preaching their fathers’ sermons —preaching sermons that were written a hundred years before they were born. . . . You may get a Methodist priest to pour water on you, or sprinkle it on you, and baptize you face foremost, or lay you down the other way, and whatever mode you please, and you will be damned with your priest.”

-Mormon Apostle Heber C. Kimball, in “Journal of Discourses,” 5:89
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“The Gospel of modern Christendom shuts up the Lord, and stops all communication with Him. I want nothing to do with such a Gospel, I would rather prefer the Gospel of the dark ages, so called.”

-Mormon Prophet and Church President Wilford Woodruff, in “Journal of Discourses,” vol. 2, p. 196
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“Christianity…is a perfect pack of nonsense…the devil could not invent a better engine to spread his work than the Christianity of the nineteenth century.”

-Prophet Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, vol. 6, p.167 “Where shall we look for the true order or authority of God? It cannot be found in any nation of Christendom.”

-Mormon Prophet and Church President John Taylor, in
“Journal of Discourses,” 10:127
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“What! Are Christians ignorant? Yes, as ignorant of the things of God as the brute beast.”

-Mormon Prophet and Church President John Taylor, in “Journal of Discourses,” 13:225
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“What does the Christian world know about God? Nothing… Why so far as the things of God are concerned, they are the veriest fools; they know neither God nor the things of God.”

-Mormon Prophet and Church President John Taylor, in “Journal of Discourses,” 13:225
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“Instead of having apostles, prophets, and other inspired men in the church now, receiving visions, dreams, revelations, ministry of angels and prophesies for the calling of officers, and for the government of the church–they have a wicked, corrupt, uninspired pope, or uninspired archbishops, bishops, clergymen, etc., who have a great variety of corrupt forms of godliness, but utterly deny the gift of revelation, and every other miraculous power which always characterized Christ’s Church.”"These manmade, powerless, hypocritical, false teachers, make merchandise of the people, by preaching for large salaries, amounting in many instances to tens of thousands of dollars annually. They and their deluded followers are reprobate, denouncing the faith once delivered to the Saints.”

-Mormon Apostle Orson Pratt, in “Divine Authenticity of the Book of Mormon,” p. 20
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“Must we, under the broad folds of the American Constitution, be compelled to bow down to the narrow contracted notions of Apostate Christianity? Must we shut up our consciences in a nut shell, and be compelled to submit to the bigoted notions, and whims, and customs of the dark ages of popery, transferred to us through the superstitious of our fathers? Must we be slaves to custom and render homage to the soul-destroying, sickening influences of modern Christianity? No!”

-Mormon Apostle Orson Pratt, in “The Seer,” Vol.1, No.7, p. 111
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“And also those to whom these commandments were given, might have power to lay the foudation of this (Mormon) church, and to bring it forth out of obscurity and out of darkness, the only true and living church upon the face of the whole earth . . . .”

-Supposedly the Mormon Jesus himself, in “Doctrine and Covenants,” 1:30
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“My object in going to inquire of the Lord was to know which of all the sects was right, that I might know which to join. No sooner, therefore, did I get possession of myself, so as to be able to speak, than I asked the Personages who stood above me in the light, which of all the sects was right (for at this time it had never entered into my heart that all were wrong)—and which I should join.”

“I was answered by God that I must join none of them, for they were all wrong; and the Personage who addressed me said that all their creeds were an abomination in his sight; that those professors were all corrupt; that: “they draw near to me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me, they teach for doctrines the commandments of men, having a form of godliness, but they deny the power thereof.” He again forbade me to join with any of them; . . . .”

-Founding Mormon Prophet and Church President Joseph Smith, in “Joseph Smith History,” 1:18-20

*****

The above and more at:

http://www.i4m.com/think/history/mormon_christians.htm