Sacred, but not so secret?

For those who haven’t heard, as part of it’s series Big Love, HBO is planning on portraying LDS temple ceremonies.

A former LDS student at the University of Washington wrote a little opinion piece about it. At the top of the piece is a link to a TV guide pdf with a little more detail.

Members and nonmembers alike have already entered the fray with facebook groups to stop HBO gaining members like wildfire and the blogosphere spewing forth its own contributions. The LDS church itself has now released a statement somewhat addressing the issue.

I guess my own take on this whole thing is that it makes me a little sad. I know that a lot of my friends and family will be hurt by a station’s decision to air something which is, to them, part of very sacred rituals.

I want to clarify that I’ve never actually seen Big Love. I’ve also never been through the temple other than open houses and baptisms for the dead. I’ve had the ceremony described to me, and while I certainly think it sounds… bizarre, I also think that personal religious ceremonies which are not causing physical harm to someone should probably be respected.

(In a whole side issue which I will probably avoid for the time being, there’s the question of psychological harm. I think there are some pretty strong arguments regarding religion’s ability to cause psychological harm. But frankly I think most everyone, religious or not, brainwashes their children into their own ideology and how does one decide what is more harmful than another. So I guess I did just go into it. Oops. Oh well.)

Some have argued that showing the temple ceremonies will make it clear to curious onlookers, members or not, the strangeness of temple ceremonies and open their eyes to the inconsistencies in the LDS church. Others say it doesn’t really matter because contents of temple rites are easily found by a google search anyway.

I think those who would begin to question their religion would do so no matter what. There would be another trigger somewhere down the road. And those who don’t care how weird temple ceremonies might be, are not going to question because of a Big Love episode. I also find the “it’s already out there” mentality kind of troubling. Just because other people are willing to reveal secrets does not mean you should. But on the flip side of the coin, I also think people should know what happens in the temple. Too often people go through the temple right before a mission or a marriage, and while they may have doubts about what has just happened, they really have to just go through with it.

I realize my thoughts can be easily dismissed by others as the ramblings of one to spiritually immature to truly understand the import of the temple ceremonies. I obviously have a different opinion of them and myself. I understand how special they are to those who observe them.

This blogger, who a friend pointed me toward, makes some interesting points. He points out that the Mormon church used to be much more open in talking about temple ceremonies. Additionally, he talks about how members only have a few and very specific things they are not supposed to talk about with those who have not been through the temple.

Overall I’m curious about what will be included and excluded (since the whole ceremony will obviously not fit in one episode). I still lean toward the idea that it would probably be better to exclude it, but show producers claim that it’s included not for shock value, but because it’s essential to the plot. I guess we can only wait and see.

~ by lifeofdi on March 9, 2009.