Kirby: Are ceremonies so sacred, or are Mormons insecure?

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Kirby: Are ceremonies so sacred, or are Mormons insecure?

By Robert Kirby

Tribune Columnist
Updated: 03/13/2009 10:55:16 AM MDT

A bunch of us were in Bammer's garage when we learned that an upcoming "Big Love" episode would feature elements of the LDS temple ceremony. His only wife came out and read it to us from the newspaper.

She showed us the photo the newspaper had published of an actress dressed in Mormon temple clothing. After a withering look at the only Tribune employee present, she went back inside.

Because everyone in the garage was "go-to-church" Mormon, the reaction was interesting. It ranged from a simmering annoyance to nuclear outrage. How could television presume to display something Mormons consider so sacred that even a lot of Mormons aren't allowed see it?

Me, I thought, "Wow, now I know exactly how Catholics felt when the movie 'Disco Demons IV' showed a priest performing a jive exorcism on a possessed mirror ball."

OK, I didn't really think that until just now. At the time I was too busy actually wondering what had taken Hollywood so long. It's not like what happens in the temple is a secret. You can find it on the Internet.

I'm not bothered by "Big Love's" perceived insensitivity. Probably because I don't need HBO's respect or validation for what I consider sacred. Furthermore, I totally get the interest.

Mormons are, frankly, a big draw right now thanks to fundamentalist polygamy, Proposition 8, liquor laws and "Big Love." So it's only natural that people are going to be curious.

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