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Once you blow up a societal consensus it cannot be easily reconstructed to protect only those practices or beliefs you like while still banning those you think ought to be kept beyond the pale. That’s the upshot of a case decided late on Friday in a Federal District Court in Salt Lake City, Utah that essentially decriminalized polygamy. The case, Brown v. Buhman, which was brought by the stars of Sister Wives, a TLC cable channel reality show depicting the life of a man with four wives and 17 children, who challenged the Utah statute that not only prohibited marriage...

“Being a Mormon isn't an easy path.” Heather Beeseck, a sophomore secondary education major at Potomac State College, would know. She has been involved with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints for two years and was baptized into the faith on August 6, 2011. The Church, according to the National Review, is the fourth largest religious organization in the United States. Its numbers expand at 2.5 percent higher rates than the Roman Catholic Church and may soon pass the United Methodist Church in size. Matt Slick of the Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry published estimates that 800...

Kody Brown is a proud polygamist, and a relatively famous one. Now Mr. Brown, his four wives and 16 children and stepchildren are going to court to keep from being punished for it. The family is the focus of a reality TV show, “Sister Wives,” that first appeared in 2010. Law enforcement officials in the Browns’ home state, Utah, announced soon after the show began that the family was under investigation for violating the state law prohibiting polygamy. On Wednesday, the Browns are expected to file a lawsuit to challenge the polygamy law. The lawsuit is not demanding that states...

UTAH, September 16, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The stars of a controversial new TLC television show are gearing up to help change America's idea of the family, encourage an end to what they call “discrimination” and promote legal acceptance of a new definition of marriage.But this Utah family is not concerned about redefining marriage as between two men or two women, but as between one man and two, three, four, or more women."I just fell in love, and then I fell in love again, and then I fell in love again," says Kody Brown, a fundamentalist Mormon, in a sneak peek at the...

The LDS Church - and many of its members - objected last spring when HBO's hit series "Big Love" depicted a plural wife participating in a temple ceremony, calling the episode an offensive act that trivialized a sacred practice. But an entire context is needed to sanctify an image, gesture, ritual or event, said Alex Caldiero, and without its unique context, the sacred cannot be violated. "The sacred sort of protects itself against any inappropriate, any misuse or any foul play by being so protected and encased in a context," said Caldiero, artist-in-residence at Utah Valley University in Orem. "What...

CBS merely brushed off the controversy that upset many members of the Mormon Church when interviewing HBO’s “Big Love” star Bill Paxton on March 16, 2009. The TV series about a Mormon polygamist has not surprisingly gotten plenty of attention in its three years on air. This time, however, “Big Love” is causing trouble because the March 15 episode showed a highly sacred Mormon temple ceremony. CBS’s The Early Show host Chris Wragge mentioned the controversy during an interview with Paxton: read more here: http://www.cultureandmedia.com/articles/2009/20090316141843.aspx

SALT LAKE CITY -- Local health experts say potential missionaries for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints should shed a few pounds before heading to the mission field if they're extremely overweight. Steven Aldana, CEO of Wellsteps, spends his life speaking about the problems of obesity. He says anyone obese, whether a missionary or not, is going to face health issues such as being sick more often. "The obesity problem reduces productivity across the board," he said. Aldana says the problem gets even worse for those choosing to serve senior missions. "About the time seniors reach retirement age...

I just finished watching this season’s second to last episode of HBO’s Big Love soap opera, and I believe there may be another hidden reason that the show makes Mormons uneasy. Much of the media’s attention has been on the fact that this episode portrayed a scene in a Mormon temple, however, the show did have one line that caught me: the main character expressly claimed that the Mormon church was just as corrupt as the show’s main antagonists who are practicing polygamy and generally in trouble with the law. This theme has underlined the entire season of the show....

If The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints had not uttered a single word about this Sunday's episode of "Big Love," it wouldn't have exploded into the hotbed of controversy it has become. Now, a lot more people are sure to watch Sunday night's episode. In a statement released on Monday, the Church criticized an upcoming scene inside an LDS temple that shows sacred practices, rooms and garb. "Certainly Church members are offended when their most sacred practices are misrepresented or presented without context or understanding," officials said. No one outside of the network has seen the episode, including...

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — HBO...defended its plans to depict a sacred Mormon temple ceremony in an upcoming episode of "Big Love." The drama about a Utah polygamous family will show an endowment ceremony Sunday. ... ...the ceremony is an important part of the "Big Love" story line, HBO said. In the scene, actress Jeanne Tripplehorn's character, Barb, goes through the endowment ceremony as she faces losing her membership in the Mormon church... ... Only church members in good standing can enter temples to perform or witness sacred ceremonies. The ceremonies are centered on religious teachings and re-enactments of Bible...

"Big Love," HBO's television drama about a polygamous Utah family, will air an episode March 15 depicting a sacred and private LDS temple ceremony, prompting an official response from the church criticizing the network. According to a TV Guide interview with series creators Mark V. Olsen and Will Scheffer published in this week's magazine, both said the episode will include the depiction of an endowment ceremony within a Mormon temple. Only LDS members with a temple recommend and in good standing may witness such ceremonies. "We go into the endowment room and the celestial room, and we present what happens...

The confluence of Hollywood and politics continues for Mitt Romney's presidential bid, revolving around his Mormon faith. On Sunday night, "Big Love," the HBO drama about a Mormon family, included a reference to Romney. In the scene, the family's patriarch is watching TV when a woman's voice comes over the air: "He saved the Olympics. Who cares if he lets his dog ride on the roof of his car. People are just out to get him for any little thing." Romney has generally won plaudits for leading the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, but has been criticized after...

TV: Big Love starts new season By Vince Horiuchi The Salt Lake Tribune Article Last Updated: 06/11/2007 09:04:21 AM MDT Ginnifer Goodwin, Chloe Sevigny, Bill Paxton, Jeanne Tripplehorn. (Ron Batzdorff)Related More 'Big Love' Jun 11: Big Love illustrates good writing, directing and actingAt Bill Henrickson's house, you can feel a lot of love in the room. A lot of love. That's because tucked away in a suburb of Sandy is Bill's three-house tract where the small-business owner lives with his three wives. It's the central family unit behind HBO's polygamist drama, "Big Love," which begins a second season of marital...

In her battle to legalize polygamy, the only thing Valerie hasn't revealed is her last name. The mother of eight has been on national TV; her photo along with that of her two "sister-wives" has graced the front cover of a glossy magazine dedicated to "today's plural marriages." She has been prodded about her sex life: "He rotates. It's easy -- just one, two, three." Quizzed about her decision to share a husband with two other women: "You really have a good frame of reference when you marry a man who already has two wives." Interrogated about what it's like...

The Book of Mormon is often dismissed as gibberish by those who have never taken the trouble to read it. In fact, its very existence poses a serious puzzle if it is not what it claims to be - an ancient record. Below is the Book of Mormon Challenge, an assignment that Professor Hugh Nibley at BYU sometimes gave to students in a required class on the Book of Mormon. The following text is taken from the Collected Works of Hugh Nibley, Vol.8, Ch.11, Pg.221 - Pg.222: Since Joseph Smith was younger than most of you and not nearly so...

"Big Love," HBO's new take on a fictional polygamous family in the suburbs of this city, was on the television. The Viagra-popping Bill Henrickson (Bill Paxton) was thrashing in bed with Margene (Ginnifer Goodwin), the youngest of his three wives. The five women watching the show — covering their eyes during the sex scenes, chiding the competitive wives, urging Bill to take control — were critics with special credentials: a current or past polygamous marriage. And despite the show's flaws, these women called "Big Love" a cultural benchmark, one with the potential to cast a warmer light on their lives....

HBO is set to launch an entertainment series that openly promotes polygamy. Beginning March 12, the “bold new series” Big Love will replace the Sopranos on the station’s Sunday night line-up. Starring Hollywood’s Jim Paxton, Big Love attempts to show the “endearingly normal” side of a typical American man who “happens” to have three wives. The producers worked hard to ensure they found an All-American actor to play the lead role, reports the Star Telegraph, to minimize any potential “creepiness” of the material.Mark V. Olsen and Will Scheffer, the show’s scriptwriters, are both gay. Although the producers deny there was...