Oprah Oprah Oprah

The Oprah show has a lot of pictures and commentary available on the Harpo site for her show called: Behind the Yearning for Zion Gates. The show is on today (4 p.m. Utah time), but until you can watch the program, you might find this other material interesting.

Oprah is intelligent and sharp. She sees things. I'm intrigued with this show in a way that I wasn't with the first. The fact that Oprah went into the ranch personally is fascinating. I'm interested in hearing what she thinks about it.

One Year After the Raid - YFZ Ranch Families

Here are several articles and some photo galleries featuring the YFZ ranch families:

Deseret News: FLDS are still Feeling Effects One Year Later

Salt Lake Tribune: Texas vs FLDS - A Year After the Raid

Go San Angelo: FLDS Members Use Faith to Cope with FLDS Raid

Yea! - Another Pound Lost & I'm Finally Feeling on the Mend

Yes, I finally dropped another pound after a week and a half of hovering. That's a total of 10 pounds lost. I think I'm a quarter of the way to where I want to go. That's nice. Another ten pounds and I'll really see some difference, I think. I haven't been able to work out as consistently as I was before I got sick and threw out my back, but I'm finally starting to feel close to normal and slowly getting back my energy again.

That's a total of 10 pounds lost. Yahoo. :o) Now I just need to renew my exercise commitment; my diet is still going very well. I don't have the cravings I used to have, and when I do, I eat a little of something I want and that seems to satisfy.

Just saw the stunning pics of Valerie Bertinelli in a bikini after her now 50 lb weight loss. Phenomenal! I'm happy for her victory.

Still Sick...and Oprah Visits the YFZ Ranch Personally

Apparently I'm still sick. I'm very tired and still trying to recover. I guess I just needed a reminder to take it easy??

Oprah has visited the YFZ ranch personally, and the show will be aired Monday, March 30. Check your local listings for times. Here is the blurb from the website:

"A year after the raid, Oprah goes inside the polygamist ranch. Isolated from the world…see how they live. Cameras have never been allowed inside this once-sacred temple."

Follow this link for the video preview.

I pulled the "contrary" blog links temporarily, because I am too tired to deal with controversy or hurt feelings. I just want some more time to think about it...

Polygamy is Coming (to Canada)

Here is an editorial from the Ottawa Sun that you might find of interest:

Polygamy is coming!

The Ottawa Citizen
March 27, 2009

Looks like a historic legal battle is shaping up over polygamy, the outcome of which will surely be determined by the Supreme Court of Canada.

I understand why, for political reasons, the government feels compelled to fight polygamy tooth and nail, but I suspect the government will lose. The polygamists have what seems to be an unassailable constitutional position. If polygamy is an expression of their religion, and if the participants are all consenting adults, then I don't see how the state can say no.

READ MORE HERE

Sore Back & Sickness - Blech!

I'm feeling a little better today. At least, I see the light at the end of the tunnel. I've had sick kids, a sick husband, and I've been sick myself on and off for the last couple of weeks. Last week, I threw out my back and could hardly walk for two days (which, frankly, is nothing compared to what some people go through!). I'm not in horrible pain anymore, but I'm being cautious. On top of that, I came down with a sinus infection this weekend and had to go on antibiotics.

I've been thinking about Regina (Just Ducky) and hoping to hear that she is recovering well.

In any case, I've tried to post some things occasionally to keep up the blog, but I might be slow on the up-take for a little while as I catch up on all my work.

Too tired to say much right now. Do plan to add more links along the side, including some opposing opinions (I've already updated it a few times), but I haven't figured out how to classify everything I want to add. I don't want to label people and get anyone in a huff. :o) If I add your site and you think it should be classified differently, or if you want me to drop it, no prob, just drop a line and let me know. I like to be accurate and believe people should be able to define themselves...

In the meantime, I'm tired. Sorry, it's all I can think to say right now. Probably need to go back to bed till I'm fully well. Best wishes...

BBC Report - Quest to Legalize Polygamy in Utah

Quest to legalise[sic] polygamy in Utah

Some 40,000 people in the US state of Utah live in illegal polygamous families in which a man takes more than one wife. These fundamentalist Mormons have now begun a campaign for a change in the law they regard as discriminatory and unfair. Humphrey Hawksley met some of the families involved.

"All right everyone, listen up," shouted Kody Brown, brushing his shoulder-length hair clear of his face.

He put both hands out in front of him, pointing towards 12 children aged between four and 14 gathered around a square table in the middle of a huge kitchen. Six were on one end. One all alone in the middle and five with their mother stood at the other end.

For the rest of this article, and two video clips, PLEASE GO HERE.

Social Science Research Paper - "How have Policy Approaches to Polygamy Responded to Women's Experiences and Rights?"

An interesting paper on polygamy is now available on the Social Science Research Network website:

How Have Policy Approaches to Polygamy Responded to Women's Experiences and Rights? An International, Comparative Analysis: Final Report for Status of Women Canada

by Angela Campbell
McGill University - Faculty of Law

May 31, 2005

Abstract:

Devising effective legislative and policy strategies for dealing with polygamy in Canada requires an analysis as to how practices associated with plural marriage impact upon the lives of women. This report seeks to illuminate how life within a polygamous marriage might affect women's social and economic status, as well as their overall health and well-being. This report also undertakes an examination of law and policy approaches to polygamy worldwide, with a view to assessing whether existing responses to polygamy adequately address the needs, rights and realities of women living within plural marriages. Based on this analysis, recommendations are made as to the most appropriate approach to polygamy in the Canadian context.

To My New Friend 'Just Ducky' - Please Get Well Soon!

My thoughts and prayers are with you!

Big Love - "Outer Darkness" - The Controversial Episode

I actually thought it was handled very respectfully. I was touched by the scene. I think it helped me have more understanding for why they feel it is a "sacred" experience for them. My husband, who went through the temple when he was an LDS Church member (he left in the late 1980s), was not offended by it; Anne Wilde, my colleague was a little upset by it, but she watched the episode with LDS friends who were shaken up by it, too. At the same time, she thought the episode was very good.

She and I are going to watch it again this week "on demand".

I watched it with my husband, a teen daughter (who is a huge fan), a friend and my parents (who have only seen a few episodes from the first season). My mother and I cried through parts of it, and I and several others I know felt that the excommunication scene rang true to them, with one exception. Generally, men are excommunicated by the Stake President, and women by the Bishop, but not both. Occasionally, women are handled by a stake president (like me!), if she is high profile or if the Bishop has passed on doing it himself for some reason. I was not excommunicated, but apparently my request to have my name removed in 1995 (by a letter of resignation) somehow didn't fully resolve the matter, even though I thought I was a non-member since that time. I've been going through my own Stake President meetings over the last several weeks, which made the Barb storyline hit close to home for me.

My friends and I really wanted Barb to be stronger in standing up for her decision against the leadership. Those kinds of situations, while shaking you up, also tend to push you to be even more assertive and firm in expressing your feelings. She was more assertive about it being none of their business to ask about her underwear than about her testimony and commitment to her family.

Even with that, we thought the episode was very good and we think season three is the best so far. The show just continues to get better.

Minor critique: we didn't like the dream sequence technique with Bill this time (it was frustrating), though it showed him in a quandary and wrestling with his feelings.

With regard to Bill: Ideally, in real life, Bill would not sleep with Nikki when he is considering divorce. They would have no sexual intimacy while their marriage is in question. (But since when has Bill actually proved he can control himself when it comes to that? He should not have slept with Ana during courtship, either, and we would consider that a violation of his "covenants" with his family, and the end of their marriages.)

Truly, Bill has become himself everything he condemns in everyone else (hm, a fairly common human quality...), and he seems to be the one who is really on the verge of "outer darkness" right now.

Meridian's Response to Big Love

This is a really good article. It asks the question, "Is Something Sacred?" rather than my earlier question, "Is Anything Sacred?" The author, Terrance D. Olson does a nice job answering it in an insightful, poignant way. Orson Scott Card referred to this article in his own that I posted in a separate entry, but I felt it merited its own post.

Enjoy.

*******

Is Something Sacred? Meridian's Response to Big Love
By Terrance D. Olson

Editors' Note: As most of you know, HBO's “Big Love” is running a show next Sunday, March 15th, which they claim to feature a portion of the temple ceremony. This is an article that addresses the issue about the importance of granting to people what is sacred to them as a prerequisite for a civilized society.

I had the lead in the high school junior play. I played a psychopath who was "caring" for an elderly lady. My character carried a hip flask full of water that he swigged from as if it were an alcoholic beverage that helped him get from moment to moment. We had completed about five performances through a two-week run. Just before going on stage for performance number six, I was greeted by a solemn prop crew. They had my flask. Their message to me was approximately this:

"Terry, we want you to know everything is all right now. But someone wanted to pull a prank on you and they had filled the flask with gin. They were laughing about it and told us to watch what happened when you took a swig on stage. We were horrified and immediately said, 'But Terry doesn't believe in drinking. He's a Mormon.' (The pranksters stopped laughing.) They didn't know what your beliefs were until we told them. They apologized. We have rinsed this out about ten times. It is okay."

Follow this link to READ MORE.

Orson Scott Card Shares His Opinion on Big Love, and Mis-represents Modern-day Polygamists

While I respect Orson Scott Card's desire to support his mainstream LDS Church convictions, he is unfortunately in error with regard to how he claims polygamists view his church, and its temples. While he argues that the "sacred" religious traditions of the LDS Church should be respected (which I, btw, agreed with in an earlier blog post), he fails to offer the same respect to modern-day polygamous people (and their differing beliefs), by instead misrepresenting their beliefs and desires in his article pasted below. Many fundamentalist Mormons are as sincere and faithful in their religious commitment as I assume Mr. Card is to his own.

Here is the article he wrote about the controversial 'Big Love' episode, "Outer Darkness", with my notations in italics.

Mary

************

March 13, 2009 4:00 AM

Big Love? Big Deal
Yes, Mormons are targets, but let’s not get too excited about it.
By Orson Scott Card
National Review

In the aftermath of Proposition 8, it’s open season on Mormons, and the producers of HBO’s series Big Love are in the best position to give the Mormons (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) a big slap.

The series focuses on members of one of several splinter groups that have left the Mormon Church over the issue of polygamy. To understand what this means to Mormons, it’s worth indulging in a little history.

When the Mormon prophet Wilford Woodruff declared in 1890 that it was God’s will that Latter-day Saints no longer take multiple wives, some Mormons clung to the “Principle of Plural Marriage” and rejected the authority of the president of the church. (He ignores the fact that the LDS Church continued to authorize new plural marriages secretly for another 30 years or so before finally abandoning the practice altogether. Refer to the book, Solemn Covenant, The Mormon Polygamous Passage, for a thorough examination of the underground period following the 1890 manifesto.)

This is akin to what happened when Protestants declared that they would no longer follow the pope, and polygamist sects are about as Mormon now as Baptists are Catholic. (No, Baptists, Protestants and Catholics are all "Christian", regardless of whether or not they follow the pope; fundamentalist Mormons and the LDS Church are all "Mormon", regardless of whether or not they follow the LDS Church prophet.)

The fastest way to get yourself excommunicated from the Mormon Church is to advocate plural marriage. (True)

But the polygamist sects still do most of their recruiting among Mormons (WRONG! The largest number of new converts to fundamentalist Mormonism comes from the LDS Church but NOT DUE to RECRUITING; it is due to searching the scriptures and studying Mormon history), and there is a constant struggle between the church and the polygamists. (Fundamentalist Mormons are like the little kid from the Emperor's New Clothes, an uncomfortable reminder that something is missing.)

Many of these polygamists still believe that it is in Mormon temples that their marriages must be solemnized (Wrong! Fundamentalist Mormons DO NOT believe this ~ They believe marriages can be solemnized anywhere, and were, in fact, solemnized in a variety of places in the early days of the church, including during carriage rides). The temple is a focal point in their religion (a temple is important, but not in the way he presumes) — but if they admit they’re polygamists, they can’t get in.

So it actually makes artistic sense for episodes of Big Love to center on their effort to get into the temple (also not true; the only people who try to get into LDS Church temples are LDS Church members, NOT the non-LDS [yet still Mormon] polygamists who do not recognize LDS temple ceremonies as efficacious). It reflects the real concerns of some polygamists (Wrong again! It reflects concerns of LDS members who convert to fundamentalist Mormonism and who wrestle with what that conversion might mean with regard to their love for the church verses their belief the church is not everything they thought it was; further many LDS members who convert to fundamentalism do not perceive that a change in beliefs [which can hardly be construed as a SIN?] could possibly merit excommunication, so they retain their membership until they discover otherwise), and it is accurate to show the official church as doing its best to keep them out.

You’re not supposed to enter the temples, once they’re dedicated, unless you’re a member of the church who is keeping the major commandments — which polygamists most flagrantly are not. (What is he talking about? Are LDS Church policies "commandments"?)

Big Love is not doing anything new. Anti-Mormon groups have been describing, depicting, or showing ersatz versions of the temple ceremonies for many years. Anyone who wants to know what goes on in the temples can find out with very little effort. So why are we Mormons upset about Big Love’s foray into anti-Mormon “exposé”?

It’s offensive when believers in one religion hold up the sacred rites of another religion to public ridicule. So we’re hurt — but we’re not surprised.

Mormons have always been the exception to America’s policy of religious tolerance. Throughout our history in America, Mormons have been oppressed by government, killed or driven out by mobs, slandered, and libeled — always by fellow Americans who professed to believe in religious tolerance. (This was certainly the case while the LDS practiced polygamy, and that experience is part of a shared heritage of all Mormon people, including modern-day polygamists ~ after the LDS Church abandoned polygamy, where did the persecution go?)

Go to Big Love? Big Deal
Yes, Mormons are targets, but let’s not get too excited about it for the rest of this article.

Principle Voices' Anne Wilde on 'Big Love' Controversial Episode

March 15, 2009
'Big Love' in big trouble with Mormons
by Manya Brachear
Chicago Tribune

Did the creators of HBO’s “Big Love” cross a line in Sunday's episode by portraying a ritual that normally happens behind the sealed doors of a Mormon temple? Some members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints say there are corners of the religious landscape where Hollywood is just not welcome.

I checked in with polygamist fans of the show who I've written about in the past—fundamentalist Mormons who practice the kind of plural marriage portrayed in “Big Love.”

Anne Wilde, a plural wife for 33 years until the death of her husband, also voiced her objections to Sunday’s episode.

“It seems that many religions have sacred elements that are not for public view--and certainly the LDS temple ceremony is one of them,” said Wilde, co-founder of Principle Voices, a plural marriage advocacy group. “It will probably be offensive to both mainstream LDS members as well as Fundamentalist Mormons, most of whom have no access to the temple, but nevertheless support the sacred and private nature of its ceremonies.”

To READ MORE, go to: 'Big Love' in Big Trouble with Mormons

Beatles: 1964 the Tribute

Dh and I had a great time at the 1964 Beatles tribute show tonight. He won the tickets and we enjoyed it. The band is terrific. Some of the songs were outstanding.

We both grew up on Beatles, but he learned how to play the piano so that he could play their music, then expanded his repertoire to other musicians, such as Stevie Wonder, Billy Joel, Status Quo, Deep Purple, Queen, Emerson Lake and Palmer, Styx, Boston, Journey, Bad Company, Eagles, Foreigner, Led Zeppelin, etc.

I can't play an instrument, but I can sing. I only sing rock songs driving in my car... :o)

My mom used to play the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Beach Boys, Elvis Presley. My siblings and I danced in our living room and on one of the Rolling Stones songs we would spin in circles faster and faster until we collapsed on the floor and the room would spin around us.

When I was eight years old, I bought my first record. It was a Foreigner album with favorites Feels Like the First Time, Urgent, Double Vision, Hot Blooded, Juke Box Hero, etc. I came home so excited and proud, put the record on my mom's stereo and sang along happily to Feels Like the First Time, only to hear my mom call out: "They sound like they're dying!"

I was a little put out by the fact that she didn't like MY music as much as I liked HER music, but I got over it quickly. The next record I bought was Billy Joel's The Stranger.

I'm still fighting this cold/flu. I felt great earlier today, just tired, and then halfway through the tribute concert I started feeling a head cold coming on, and now the right side of my face, head and neck aches. I'm off to bed...

The Children of the YFZ Ranch - Featured in People Magazine (and on the cover)

Check out this week's People, now available on newsstands. You can apparently see the pictures and the entire article at the Free the FLDS Children blog.

PEOPLE EXCLUSIVE
Cover: "The Children of the Texas Polygamy Cult"
By Alex Tresniowski
Originally posted Wednesday March 11, 2009 06:45 PM EDT

When little Gloria Barlow feels happy, she makes a purring sound, "like she doesn't even know how to express it," says her mom, Nancy. But other times the 3-year-old screams for no apparent reason. "After the raid they kept her separate from our other children," Barlow tells PEOPLE in its new cover story, on sale Friday. "So she learned how to scream."

Gloria is one of the 439 children seized in an April 2008 raid targeting suspected sexual abuse on the compound of a breakaway Mormon sect, the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, in Eldorado, Texas. FLDS church officials granted PEOPLE access to her family, and others, in an effort, they said, to strip away the mystery surrounding the sect – and to show how the raid changed their lives.

"It's been like a natural disaster," says Gloria's father, Bob Barlow. "Like a hurricane hit us."

To read more of the online preview, go to: Cover: The Children of the YFZ Ranch, or pick up this week's People.

I will say that the magazine's use of the word "cult" in the title of the article is disappointing (not surprising). The term carries strong derogatory meaning with it even though it can apply very broadly to any religious group. Look at the following definitions and ask yourself which one everyone thinks of when they see or hear the word "cult":

cult:
–noun
1. a particular system of religious worship, esp. with reference to its rites and ceremonies.
2. an instance of great veneration of a person, ideal, or thing, esp. as manifested by a body of admirers: the physical fitness cult.
3. a group or sect bound together by veneration of the same thing, person, ideal, etc.
4. Sociology. a group having a sacred ideology and a set of rites centering around their sacred symbols.
5. a religion or sect considered to be false, unorthodox, or extremist, with members often living outside of conventional society under the direction of a charismatic leader.
6. the members of such a religion or sect.
7. any system for treating human sickness that originated by a person usually claiming to have sole insight into the nature of disease, and that employs methods regarded as unorthodox or unscientific.

Whether or not it was intended to be derogatory, it was unnecessary to use that term. It would have been appropriate to title the article as I have titled my entry: The Children of the YFZ Ranch. or The Children of the Texas Polygamy Ranch if they had to have polygamy in the title.

Salt Lake Tribune's Reader Advocate Kind of Apologizes to LDS Members?

So now the Reader Advocate of the Salt Lake Tribune is offering her own semi-apology of the fact the trib ran a photo of 'Big Love' character Barb dressed in LDS temple robes. She says that 151 people "objected" to the photo, and then writes the following:

"Although a tightly cropped version of the photo appeared in the print edition, the larger shot was pulled from the Web site and the photo archives as soon as Tribune Editor Nancy Conway saw it. She believes the photo added nothing to the story by Vince Horiuchi about the controversy surrounding the episode that airs Sunday evening."

I find that interesting considering the photo was the first one shown on the front page of the tribune website in the morning, then ran well into the afternoon alongside Horiuchi's article.

This means the larger photo of Barb ran almost all day long on March 10, 2009 online, either on the main page or along with the Horiuchi article, and then a smaller, cropped version of Barb rant in the print edition on March 11, 2009. It sounds like the Tribune is somewhat divided on this controversy, too, with someone making the decision to run the photo, and another pulling it later.

Read the entire article, along with some Trib reader's comments expressing their objections to the running of the photo, here: 'Big Love' Photo Draws Big Criticism'

Robert Kirby's Humorous Take on Big Love's LDS Temple Ceremony

Thought you all might enjoy this article:

Kirby: Are ceremonies so sacred, or are Mormons insecure?
By Robert Kirby
Tribune Columnist
Updated: 03/12/2009 04:32:40 PM 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."

Follow this link to READ MORE.

He also references the FLDS near the end:

"Should the media refrain from exploring anything that might offend a religious group? We kicked the crap out of the FLDS and everyone (except the FLDS) seemed to think it was fascinating. Hollywood has featured American Indian rituals and even displayed their mummified dead. Meanwhile, Jews don't have a secret left."

He's right. Mormons are popping up everywhere in movies and TV shows, in satire and in critical essays, and it's only the beginning.

Wow - Teresa Steed Non-Suited; Merrianne Jessop to Live with Her Aunt?

Well, there have been some new developments today with the FLDS child custody cases. Teresa Steed was non-suited, though it appears a new case was opened pertaining to her and her son. Also, CPS is recommending that Merrianne be permitted to live with her aunt, Naomi, with the ultimate goal still being reunification with her mom, Barbara.

Salt Lake Tribune reports: State agency asks judge to approve FLDS girl's move to relative's home

Deseret News reports: Texas drops another FLDS case, wants last child placed with relative

Another Perspective on the Controversial 'Big Love' Episode

The Salt Lake Tribune's TV critic doesn't believe 'Big Love' or HBO should apologize for its use of LDS Church temple ceremony.

Vince Horiuchi writes the following in the March 12, 2009 article: No need for an HBO apology on 'Big Love'

"I can never pretend to understand the sanctity of divine LDS temple ceremonies. As my mother-in-law, who is a devout Mormon, told me: 'It's like trying to explain to someone who's been blind from birth how beautiful the sunrise is.'

But while I respect the sacred nature of these practices, I also believe nothing -- no church, religion, idea, government entity, or leader -- is above parody, satire, criticism and open discussion. Just because one group deems a subject too sacrosanct to discuss doesn't mean it becomes off limits to everyone else for inspection and debate.

That includes a cartoon depicting Muhammad, which Muslims deemed sacrilegious, or a re-enactment of the JFK assassination, which our film critic wrongly opined should be off limits in the movie 'Watchmen.'"

I will be watching the show. I am a fan and I've enjoyed the show. In fact, I have had some of my own experiences with the LDS Church, even in recent weeks, that seem coincidentally, to parallel Barb's and that's just weird. (Of course, that might not be unique to fundamental Mormons who were raised in the LDS Church and who later enter into polygamy...)

HBO and 'Big Love' Creators Apologize, but Controversial Episode Will Air Sunday

HBO, Mormons square off over airing of sacred rite
By JENNIFER DOBNER – 5 hours ago

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — HBO on Tuesday 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.

HBO said it did not intend to be disrespectful of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and apologized.

"Obviously, it was not our intention to do anything disrespectful to the church, but to those who may be offended, we offer our sincere apology," the premium cable channel said in a statement issued Tuesday.

Please follow this link for the rest of this article: HBO, Mormons square off over airing of sacred rite

Update on 'Big Love' Controversy

It is interesting to see how the entertainment news and hard news media are approaching this controversy.

The Salt Lake Tribune's TV writer addressed the controversial episode in this article: LDS Temple secrets? 'Big Love' TV episode alarms Mormons. Earlier this morning, a picture from the show depicting Barb clad in temple robes in what is supposed to be the "celestial room" of the temple, was the first picture to come up on the online version of today's Salt Lake Tribune (March 10, 2009). There is a smaller pic of just Barb's upper body in the print version. This afternoon, the larger picture has been moved from front and center to accompany Vince Horiuchi's article linked above. In this pic, you can see two men standing off to the back of Barb and to the right, behind a bench, also dressed in temple robes.

The TV Guide apparently printed the portion of the picture with Barb in it, above an article about the episode. That guide was published this week.

The Deseret News reported "some LDS Church members began e-mail chains calling for cancellation of subscriptions to AOL, which, like HBO, is owned by Time Warner," in its article about the episode, sans picture.

I wonder if the picture in the TV Guide would have been noticed, or circulated as widely as it now has, if the LDS Church had not released its statement about it? It seems the picture was picked up to run with the attendant stories about the church's disapproval...and may not have earned the attention of the Salt Lake Tribune otherwise. It remains to be seen what the AP will run, but I'll link that article here as soon as I see it.

It's interesting that the LDS Church itself comments on this catch-22 scenario about dealing with publicity in its statement (linked above).

Is Anything Sacred? LDS Church Upset by TV Depictions of Sacred Rituals

Hm. It appears that the answer to the above question is, no, not anymore.

The LDS Church released a statement today (Monday, March 9, 2009) in response to concerns from its members about an upcoming 'Big Love' episode which will apparently depict an LDS temple ceremony/ritual, which is considered sacred.

TV Guide has also published a picture of replicas of LDS Church temple garments, fashioned for the show in a likeness of the real thing (which are really called "temple robes", not garments).

Here are some news reports (KSL; Deseret News) about the episode, and here is the LDS Church response.

I think the LDS Church has a point, and even though I am not a member of the LDS Church, I sympathize with its position. I think that it is inappropriate to make light of something which is a private religious ceremony, tradition, or emblem, regardless of whether or not that religion is Christianity, Buddhism, LDS (Mormonism), or smaller break-offs such as fundamentalist Mormonism.

I doubt the show will "mock" these "sacred" things. The question is, should they be depicted in a television show at all?

I griped about this kind of voyeurism before, where I asked if society is really comfortable peeping into every single private aspect of everyone's lives? I think society's answer, so far, is yes.

Well, I'M not comfortable with it. I was aghast when the YFZ ranch was raided by law enforcement; I wept when the children were taken en masse from their homes and families; I was appalled when the police forced their way into the FLDS Temple; I was sickened when media reports proclaimed "SEX IN THE TEMPLE" with young girls based on the fact that there were beds found in the temple, and one was discovered "unmade", along with a long hair (that HAD TO be from the head of a young girl, right?).

When I saw those news reports that horrible day, I went right into the bathroom and threw up, then I spent hours in bed, devastated that something so crazy, so insane, as this could be treated as legitimate news...

There was some frustration throughout that time that NO ONE had the courage to take issue with law enforcement breaking down temple doors and forcing its way inside what was considered by a small, devout church, as a sacred and holy place, their Temple. Where were the advocates of religious protections, where were the defenders of religious freedom, where were the CHURCHES of all faiths to defend the sacredness of THAT temple?

Unfortunately, it's not that big a deal when it's someone else's religion, someone else's church, or someone else's prophet, someone else's bedroom, someone else's medical records or credit reports...

As you know, I have argued (and will yet argue in the future) on behalf of legal boundaries protecting the "privacy rights" of the individual, the accused, or even of the convicted, or of those who are "unpopular". I believe that if we do not protect even THEIR rights, we undermine our own rights, and therefore undermine our freedoms.

I know a lot of people who are willing to fight for their own rights, and their own claims, and their own values and beliefs. It's a rare person (or church?) who is willing to put him/herself on the line to fight for the rights of others, for the claims of others, or for the values and beliefs of others.

To me, it is THIS principle that is at the heart of fairness, justice and equity, in any truly free society.

Have we not heard of "Deus ex machina?", " What goes around comes around?" or "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you? "

Whichever your philosophy, ask yourself this question, are you willing to grant to others what you want for yourself out of life?

Btw, I've gotten a few emails and some phone calls letting me know that the temple ceremonies and things are already available on the internet to read, and there are books published that detail them from early journal accounts and church records. I didn't realize that. So, apparently these things are not so "secret" anymore, but I can understand LDS members desiring that they not be trivialized or treated with insensitivity when they are a sacred part of their faith.

Texas YFZ Search Warrant - Validity Still a Question

Arizona the center of FLDS Texas warrant questions
By Paul A. Anthony (Contact)
Sunday, March 8, 2009

Eleven months ago, the story of Sarah Jessop Barlow captured a nation.

She was a frightened 16-year-old girl forcibly married to a 49-year-old man, physically and sexually abused - and the mother of an 8-month-old baby.

Except she wasn't real.

"I don't think that you're gonna have somebody stand up and say, 'I made the call,'" Texas Ranger Lt. Brooks Long told attorneys in an interview in December.

The alleged figment of a 33-year-old Colorado woman's imagination, the "Sarah Jessop" phone calls sparked a massive raid on the Schleicher County compound of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints that led to the removal of 439 children, the ultimate return of 437 of them, and 12 criminal indictments.

For the rest of this article, READ MORE HERE

'Big Love' ROCKS!!!

My husband and I are absolutely ENTHRALLED with 'Big Love' this season. Granted, the episode where Ana married Bill was somewhat cartoonish with the marriage treated as a kind of afterthought. The episodes since, though, have been fantastic. The road trip vacation with the family to LDS historic sites was entertaining and well-done.

The relationship between Ben and Margene played out uncomfortably, with Ben pouring out his feelings to Margene, and Margene responding with maturity and firmness, and also respect for him and his feelings. It was appropriate of her to handle it herself the way she did, and not expose his feelings to other family members which could have humiliated him.

Some of the lines in this show are real zingers. The characters say the weirdest things in such a matter-of-fact way sometimes that it is such a crack-up.

I was astonished to see that Roman's sister Selma is married to Hollis Green! I did not even know she was a woman, let alone Roman's sister. Then, to see her in a DRESS in preparation for Kathy's forced wedding to Mr. Green... Wow. And wow. And the freaky barn wedding with pigs and swinging pitchforks? Creepy, to say the least, but fun to watch. Felt bad about Kathy.

The affair developing between Nikki and prosecutor Ray was also a great story-line, with it all unraveling Sunday night for Nikki as Ray learned the truth, then made sure Bill and the others learned the truth, too. Not only was Bill hurt by Nikki's betrayal, but so were the other wives.

In the meantime, Nikki is facing rejection from everyone, from Ray, from her father, from Joey, from Bill and the wives. Even though Bill made it clear that Nikki was welcome to come home with them following Kathy's funeral, she couldn't bring herself to go. Clearly, she couldn't face the music of what she'd done, and maybe she is also still confused about what she really wants. She called Ray to try to explain, but he wouldn't listen. At one point she said to him that when she was with him it was the first time she had ever felt like herself. I don't think that is really true, because I don't think Nikki really knows who she is; she is torn between her father & mother and their expectations of her, and Bill and her sister-wives and their expectations of her. With Ray, she wasn't "herself", either. She was a make-believe cosmopolitan woman with no attachment/ties to polygamy or to "Juniper Creek" or anything. She got to pretend to be normal and it felt good to be normal. Still, it wasn't true. It was a lie. This experience will at least awaken Nikki to the fact that something in her marriage to Bill is missing, which is probably another reason she couldn't go home with the family.

I'm still sick, but finally feeling like I'm on the mend. Hopefully tomorrow will be brighter.

Sick ~

Head cold, congestion, stuffy nose, headache, cough... yuck.

Did a partial work-out today, canceled my appointments, spent extra time in bed...

Dh made me some chicken noodle soup. He also made me breakfast. He's been cooking for me a lot to help me on my diet. That's especially nice because cooking is not one of my pleasures.

Just what I needed.

Dr. Phil Says: Ladies, Say NO to Domestic Violence!

With news of Rihanna's assault by boyfriend Chris Brown populating the airwaves, of course it's come up as a topic of discussion between me and my teenagers. My girls at first didn't believe Chris did it; they thought it was tabloid make-believe. Then they heard that Rihanna was cooperating with police on potential assault charges, and they were proud of her. Then the photo of Rihanna leaked and we were all shocked and dismayed at the extent of her bruises. My teens were pretty fiery at that point.

I have talked with them about domestic violence prior to this, and my older daughter has volunteered at the UDVC, and wore a domestic violence awareness pin to school, then distributed tons of awareness pins to her classmates. I have told my teens of a story my mom told me when I was a teen, about how a boy she dated lost his temper and hit her in the face. That was the end of the relationship right there. Period. She walked away, he apologized, and then begged, and she told him she'd accept his apology but she wouldn't date him anymore. He was blown away by that and told her if she accepted his apology, then she should give him a second change. She told him that his second chance would be to be a better man for another woman. There's a very good lesson in that. Whether or not that guy learned he couldn't treat women like that, he certainly learned he couldn't treat my mom like that.

Now, people need to understand, though, that that is the ideal, it is not the reality. Most domestic violence victims are trapped in an abuse dynamic that takes years to break. It is not surprising that Rihanna went back. I was hoping she had taken a firm stand, but the fact is, most dv victims return to abusive relationships several times before they finally break free. It is NOT that they are weak, or that they like being abused; they love the man, they have become disempowered in the relationship and they don't understand what their options are or how to assert themselves and their own personal power because they don't know what power they truly have...

Please PLEASE do not judge domestic violence victims. You cannot help them unless you understand them and domestic violence dynamics. I'm going to put Dr. Phil's comments below. My only reservation is that I feel he is pretty strong against Rihanna's decision to go back to Chris Brown. That is understandable when you consider she is a role model for young girls, but she is also a domestic violence victim. Do not victimize the victim. She is not the guilty party.

Here's what Dr. Phil had to say about domestic violence, and Rihanna's possible acceptance of Chris Brown back into her life:



Moms and Dads, take notice!

Men can have a powerful positive influence in the battle against domestic violence. That first influence might be with their daughters, or their sons, or with their buddies, or with their colleagues; it will certainly make a statement to the women in their lives that they are loved, honored and respected, and something else that some of us take for granted, SAFE.

The domestic violence council has developed a Dating Violence video for teens. If you have any interest in getting a copy of this video for your teens, or becoming involved in the fight against domestic violence, please go to: www.udvc.org, if you are in Utah, or you can find a national link from there for your state. If you think you may be a victim of domestic violence, don't hesitate, please call the UDVC hotline: 1-800-799-7233 (but please call from a safe place, a phone that is not your home or cell phone).

9 1/2 lbs and Counting

Yay! Victory, so far, on my weight loss program, with 9 1/2 pounds lost as of today. Pretty happy about it.

I'm dealing with some private personal matters right now that have been very stressful. I think I'm working through some emotional barriers too, to shed some baggage along with my weight. Hey, Valerie Bertinelli wrote that she found herself when she lost weight, and I'm feeling the same way. I haven't lost a lot yet, but emotionally, I am in a very different place from where I've been in years better when I struggled so hard with my diet and abandoned my efforts many times.

My entire attitude toward food has changed, and my response to it has changed, too.

Even with all the stress, I am sticking to my diet and hanging in, which tells me I'm more than committed this time around, I'm actually winning.

Canadian Financial Services Prepared for Polygamy?

This is an interesting article from the Morning Star, which claims that financial services, and the insurance industry, is capable of adapting the polygamy, contrary to arguments that legalizing polygamy would create a legal morass for our courts, records and insurance systems to deal with.

How financial services would adapt to polygamy

04 Mar 09
by Steven G. Kelman

Insurance industry is already well equipped to deal with multiple spouses.

You can be sure that more than a few senior people in the financial services industry will be watching how a couple of British Columbia prosecutions involving alleged polygamy will work their way through the courts.

Polygamy is illegal in Canada. But lawyers for the two men charged, Winston Blackmore and James Oler who are members of a fundamentalist Mormon sect, will likely argue that the law violates the accused's freedom religion.

The fact is that British Columbia could have laid charges against alleged polygamists years ago but didn't because authorities were concerned they would lose to a freedom of religion defense under Canada's Charter of Rights. In January, B.C. Attorney General Wally Oppal announced the arrests and stated that the prosecution would "provide legal clarity as to the constitutionality of section 293 of the Criminal Code."

Please follow this link for the rest of this article.

I'm a sucker for the little guy, or gal (whatever the case may be)

I know what it feels like to be unpopular. I know what it means to be outside the "in" crowd, to be a wallflower and to be ignored, and I know what it's like to bullied and victimized.

I know what it feels like to stand on something alone, to step outside the box and please nobody. I know what it's like to agree with some opinions of one side, and some opinions of the other side, and not feel wholly comfortable with either side, so that I have to create a side of my own, with my own opinions and my own conscience to fall back on.

I believe that every person deserves the benefit of the doubt, and that most offenses are unintended. Some people prove to me over time that they do not deserve the benefit of the doubt, that their intrusions into my life and into my personal space are intentional or malicious. Even then, oftentimes it is they themselves with whom they are truly at war, not me. I was merely a vehicle for them to vent their insecurities, unhappinesses, jealousies, power struggles, animosities, etc., or to test their convictions in a fairly safe way (safe because I don't, and won't, return their offenses with spiteful ones of my own). Still, there are some genuinely devious people in the world, people who prey on others and steal from them, be it possessions (things), relationships with others, or even personal dignity and hope...

I forgive when I am slighted. I regret when I'm misguided. I suffer when I'm misunderstood; I am horrified when I hurt someone else...

I don't like it when I can't get along with everybody. I don't understand why disagreement or different life choices should create division, strife, rejection or hatred.

I have gay friends and I love them. I LOVE them (despite Biblical disapprovals). They are human beings with feelings, and family and children, and they share this world with us and should be able to live life free from brutality or abuse, just as any other human being.

I am hurt when I see derogatory terms or nasty comments about gays, because it shows a lack of understanding at best, and horrible ignorance at worst. It is not okay with me.

If bullying, demeaning and abusive conduct is generally viewed as cruel and inappropriate, why is it in any way okay and excusable if it is aimed at a nerd, or a racial minority, or a homosexual?

Disagree with a conduct or with a philosophy, but treat people with human decency. Every person deserves that.

This is how I approach my life. It is how I approach people of other faiths. It is how I approach people of opposing views. It is how I approach people of differing values. It is how I approach people who leave my religion, or who hate my religion, as well as those who espouse it.

Every one of us, at some point in our life, is going to be vulnerable, be it to another person, to a mob, to an angry or disapproving majority, to a broken heart, to disappointment, to disenchantment, to failed (or false) expectations, to idealism, to personal failings, to frailty, to frustration, to confusion, to poor judgment, to lack of wisdom, to greed, to selfishness, to the intentional or unintentional slights of others...

Approve of me or don't approve of me. I appreciate when I don't have to stand alone, but I know sometimes I will be alone. Some of those times, I will be wrong, and hopefully I will have the ability to acknowledge it, learn from it, and live with it as a valuable experience in my life.

I am not going to link blogs to mine that do not adhere to my standard of common decency in dealing with others. I just want to make that clear. I do not appreciate slang terms, disparagement, epithets, or personal attacks against anybody (or minority classes). I don't think slurs against homosexuals are appropriate, whether or not you believe it is moral or immoral, or a lifestyle choice or an innate condition.

Healthy discussions do not need to breed contempt, but contempt never will breed healthy discussions.

Love, MPB