Those Thin-Skinned Mormons
I'm a practicing member of the LDS Church, i.e. I'm a Mormon. We Mormons are, in general, a pretty decent set of folk. It's just that (though maybe not unlike other religious groups) we seem to, again... in general, be pretty thin-skinned. What am I talking about? Well, let me tell you, just today I have received three e-mails about the ongoing e-mail campaign to boycott 'Big Love'. Two e-mails were more or less "have you read about the boycott?" and another was an invitation to participate in the boycott myself.

Here is the full text of the invitation (the only modifcations I made were to include some HTML markup for a clean presentation):

Source of info: www.lds.org click on Newsroom for News Media

HBO's new series, "Big Love", is about a polygamous family and is set in a Salt Lake City suburb. About the likely impact of this sexually driven show, the New York Times said, "We may never look at Utah and think white bread again."

Parodies of beliefs of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints occur- belief in priesthood by a man blessing his hunting rifle, belief in personal revelation from the Holy Ghost by dramatic visions that the polygamous leader discusses casually with a friend. Talk of "celestial kingdom", "free agency", and the "Choose the Right" slogan are included. There is a brief disclaimer stating that the polygamists don't have an active connection with the LDS Church. But if the writers don't intend for viewers to make the connection, one wonders why they set the show in Salt Lake City, the Church's world headquarters, and why they included distortions of LDS beliefs.

NBC recently canceled a show about a dysfunctional Episcopal priest who saw a "Jesus", after almost 700,000 people emailed and complained.

Couldn't we do the same for this show? If you agree, will you:

- forward this email to at least 8 people
- email a polite protest to HBO:

Go to www.hbo.com, scroll to bottom of page, click Contact Us, click on The Sopranos (unless Big Love is listed when you do so), scroll to the light blue box near page bottom, on the line just under Submit an Email, click on Contact Us.Then enter your information, specify it's about Big Love, and leave a message asking them to cancel this offensive show.

One or two sentences is all it takes. Or feel free to copy or edit this message:

I am offended that you would produce the series "Big Love". It demeans and distorts sacred beliefs of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. By setting the show in Salt Lake City, it blurs the line between the Church and the long renounced practice of polygamy. Additionally, it is morally reprehensible to showcase an abusive family situation as entertainment. Please cancel "Big Love" immediately.

For "extra mile" effort and effect, call HBO's operator at 212 512 1208 from 9am to 5pm Mon-Fri EST and ask to leave a message asking them to cancel Big Love.

Thanks!

Source of info: www.lds.org click on Newsroom for News Media

Now, as a matter of context, I heard about Big Love a few days before it premiered. So I asked my neighbor (who subscribes to HBO, I don't) to record it for me so I could check it out at a future date. He obliged and has since then reminded me that his DVR is recording them every week for me now. I haven't had time to watch any of the episodes just yet.

With that said, here is how I responded:

Dear [name omitted to protect the innocent],

That reminds me... I've had my neighbor recording BL for the past few weeks. I need to make some time and go watch it before I can declare that "I am offended". And before you jump on the boycott bandwagon, I recommend that you do the same. Perhaps you already have, if so, then my apologies in advance.

From what little my neighbor has said, I get the impression that the differences between the "polygamists" and the "Mormons" on BL is quite distinct. In fact, he mentioned that the show sometimes seems to go out of its way to cast the mainstream LDS saints in a positive light. Like I said, I'll have to investigate these claims (both positive and negative) for myself and formulate my own opinion. But the fact that my (non-LDS) neighbor has had a positive impression speaks volumes. Of course, that is just one piece of anecdotal evidence that seems to contradict the claims made above, ymmv.

I continued by commenting on the fact that the entire letter is framed between two identical blurbs:

Source of info: www.lds.org click on Newsroom for News Media

Well, as I continued with in my response... I had a look at the official LDS website:

[...] I looked [at the LDS web site], and I found this:

< http://www.lds.org/newsroom/showrelease/0,15503,3881-1-23019,00.html>

But there is no official call for a boycott. There is concern expressed about confusion over the continued practice of polygamy, but as the news release mentions... this is not peculiar to this particular production. (The news release cites a recent "Prime Time" production where polygamy terms were used in an egregiously confusing manner.)

What I do find offensive is using the "Source of info: www.lds.org" in the context of the e-mail in such a way as to give it a thin veneer of official LDS sanction. This subtle (and effective) reference is only included (imho) in order to conflate a non-official boycott with an officially sanctioned one. Doesn't it seem somewhat hypocritical to use such sleight of hand to complain about claims of confusion and distortion? It certainly seems hypocritical to me.

Please forward my concerns on to whomever sent you the original missive and to at least 8 other people. tia.

cheers.

--rus.

I have another longtime non-LDS friend (let's call him "Carl") who wrote to me about his impressions of Big Love. He agreed that, after seeing the show, he thought that the production portrayed modern LDS people positively. After showing him the boycott e-mail solicitation, he had this to say:

If a bunch of mouth-breathers go to the HBO website, click on "Sopranos", cut-n-paste the complaint without specifying "Big Love" instead of "Sopranos", and subsequently manage to get the Sopranos canceled for misrepresenting Mormonism, I'm going to initiate my own personal Jihad against Mormonism, starting with you. There are some things that are sacred.

lol.