About Temples

With the current controversy swirling around HBO's portrayal of a "Mormon" temple ceremony on the show Big Love, I felt the need to talk a little about my feelings on the matter and temples in general.

Now, the show Big Love, which portrays a polygamous family living in Utah, isn't really an issue to me. While I don't particularly appreciate the blurred lines it creates in people's minds between my faith and an off-shoot religion that participates in plural marriage, its existence really doesn't bother me one way or another. However, having learned that HBO intends to portray a temple scene in an upcoming episode, I am saddened for several reasons.

Temples are sacred to Latter Day Saints. Within, we make covenants to God and feel His presence. Taking certain elements from the temple out of context, twisting things to meet certain needs and then portraying it as entertainment is sickening to most members of my faith. We find it disrespectful and disheartening.

The temple experience is deeply spiritual and deeply personal.

If you would like to learn more about LDS temples and their purpose, I enthusiastically endorse the documentary Between Heaven and Earth. You can watch clips of the 44 min video in its entirety (14 separate mini clips) on YouTube here. I find the insights from religious scholars of varying faiths to be fascinating.

For the Cliff Notes version, here is the latest video released by the Church in response to the controversy.



I do so appreciate the Church's stand of disengaging from conflict and contention and seeking instead to inform and illuminate.

Along a similar vein, I recently came across an interesting panel discussion held at Harvard University called "Engaging Religious Difference: Personal Quests for Purpose." Journalist Sally Quinn moderated a fascinating dialogue between 5 students of 5 different faiths. One of the students included was 20-year-old Mormon Rachel Esplin. I found her discussion of our faith incredibly poised and articulate. If you're interested, here is her portion of the panel:


Day of Faith: Personal Quests for a Purpose - 3. Rachel Esplin from Harvard Hillel on Vimeo.

The message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is peace and love.
And that is what I wish for all of us. ♥