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Mormon Temple Ceremony on HBO’s Big Love.

Posted by John on March 16th, 2009 at 9:34 am · 25 Comments

This reenactment of the last bits of the endowment ceremony is amazingly accurate. They captured even some of the feeling that many faithful Mormons might feel (as based on my own memories and experience). Even the kleenex bit in the celestial room was spot on. If the act of depicting it weren’t so offensive, this treatment (out of the context of the story) could be considered quite respectful.

Update (16:21): I’m trying to think of a way to share some of the video that would still generate discussion and critique but keep it within fair use. Stay tuned.

Tags: Uncategorized

25 responses so far ↓

  • 1 Lessie // Mar 16, 2009 at 10:07 am

    God, yeah. That brings back memories. I haven’t seen the episode, so I don’t know what’s making her so sad at the end. But I remember when the temple ceased being beautiful for me and made me cry like that.

    At any rate, yes. An accurate and respectful portrayal.

  • 2 ryan // Mar 16, 2009 at 11:49 am

    …and it’s gone. *shakes fist at DMCA*

  • 3 chanson // Mar 16, 2009 at 12:37 pm

    I watched the clips, and I was impressed by this portrayal. I felt like it was artfully done and I got a sense of why this ritual is important to the character. Personally, I’ve never seen the temple ceremony IRL, but from what I’ve heard about it, it always sounded way more corny than this.

  • 4 Craig // Mar 16, 2009 at 12:40 pm

    I thought it was portrayed very fairly and rather neutrally. What I really want to know is what never Mormons thought about it.

  • 5 John Williams // Mar 16, 2009 at 12:42 pm

    [Responding to the fact that that youtube link is already dead]. Apparently, HBO’s Mormon temple portrayal is even more sacred than the Mormon temple portrayal. Nothing is more sacred than corporatized DRM content [just ask Lawrence Lessig].

  • 6 Quin // Mar 16, 2009 at 2:03 pm

    HBO is one of the most aggressive in asserting DRM. Bleah. What ever happened to fair use?

  • 7 angryyoungwoman // Mar 16, 2009 at 2:23 pm

    It didn’t strike me as disrespectful. It did bring back some memories. I don’t remember the endowment that well, though, and I always got confused when I did it, so it seemed odd that she didn’t get confused after having been away for so long.

  • 8 John // Mar 16, 2009 at 3:13 pm

    I may keep experimenting with this, but I’m not one to disappoint my readers. Try it again! :)

  • 9 Jonathan Blake // Mar 16, 2009 at 3:29 pm

    I think it was pretty well done. I felt a bit nostalgic after watching it.

    In case you haven’t gotten a chance to see it, Mormon Coffee has it. Get it while it’s good!

  • 10 Jonathan Blake // Mar 16, 2009 at 3:30 pm

    Sorry, John. I didn’t see your comment before I sent the link to Mormon Coffee.

  • 11 xJane // Mar 16, 2009 at 9:14 pm

    As a never Mormon (who just hangs out with Mormons), I thought it was kinda goofy, but certainly no more so than other religious ceremonies. I felt that the whole situation (I watched the whole ep, not just the scene) made it really clear that this is an integral part of her self—as religion is. Were the costumes bizarre? Absolutely, but every religion has their own weird costume. I was curious about the woman in white with the kleenex, tho—why wasn’t she in full get up? And are you really limited to 15 minutes in Heaven—which you can spend hanging out with your mom and sister like you’re in a living room?

    All in all, tasteful, respectful, and totally not worth the uproar. If LDS was more open about the beauty of their ceremonies, I think there would be more respect toward them in general. Religion is, at the end of the day, a personal choice. All religions are beautiful in their way. All are messed up in their way. Denying the former only accents the latter.

  • 12 Craig // Mar 16, 2009 at 9:25 pm

    The temple worker (the person who gave her the kleenex) didn’t have the temple robes on because she was staffing the temple, not doing endowment sessions.

    And generally there are about 15 minutes between new groups of people coming into the celestial room from an endowment room (many temples have several, so they are staggered every 15 min. or so). Though of the exactly 13 times I’ve been through the temple, I’ve never seen anyone asked to leave. Which is probably because I always left promptly instead of lingering.

    I thought it was very respectful and neutral, though it did seem that the scene at the veil didn’t quite fit into the narrative and was a little sensationalistic, but I’m totally ok with that.

  • 13 kaitlyn // Mar 17, 2009 at 8:14 am

    I would like to share my feelings with you. I know that God the Father and Jesus Christ live and I know that they love all of us no matter what religious we are. They are aware of each of our lives, our struggles, our needs, and the desires of our hearts. I know that Jesus Christ died for each of us on the cross and suffered for each of our sins in Gethsemane all so we could return back and live with him someday- to live as God’s and Goddesses, just as He does with our families forever- forever in happiness. The LDS temples make all this possible and I am so grateful for the sacred ceremonies held within that seal the ones we love most to us for eternity.
    I am not perfect and I do not know everything- especially about my church and the temple, but one thing that I do know is that they are true and everything that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saits does within the walls of our temples and churches is what Jesus Christ would do if he were here on this earth. Our gospel has been around since Adam and Eve, we learn this in the temple and through the Bible and through the Book of Mormon. Jesus Christ taught while he was on this earth “Come unto me, ALL ye that are heavy laden, and I will give ye rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me for I am meek and loley in heart and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is ligth” He wishes everyone- HBO producers, ex-mormons, Catholics, Jews, Orthodox, and members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints to come unto Him. It doesn’t matter what you think about each other’s religion and their beliefs, who is right and who is wrong, He just wants ALL to come unto Him. Pray. Read the scriptures- the Bible, the New Testament, The Book of Mormon- whatever you can find, and learn of him. Let him give you his yoke that is light and easy and give him your burdens. Ask him to guide you in your life and you will find rest unto your souls because through his sacrifice and atonement, he is able to give you that rest because he knows what you are going through and he wants to help lift your burdens.
    He knows what all of us are going through- all people throughout the world. He doesn’t care what religion you belong to, all he cares about is YOU. He cares about each of his children and wants us to return back to him safely home in his presence- to not get entangled in the world and it’s fashions and arguments- he wants us to come unto him. It’s easy. Get on your knees and ask him if he cares. Ask him if he is there. Ask him to lead you to the right church and as you study the scriptures and live your life by keeping the commandments and following what Jesus would do, he will lead you to where you need to be. Let us come unto Christ because He is the perfect one and He knows everything. I testify that this is true will all of my heart because I have knelt down and asked these same questions and I have received an answer through a burning in my bosom and soft words that whispered that He lives. I have found happiness because of it and even though I am LDS and I have been through the beautiful temple and have been sealed to my wonderful husband, I do not know everything, but I do know that the temple ordinances are beautiful and sacred and can only be that way while in the walls of the temple and I know that through the sacred temple ordinances, I am able to become perfect someday and be sealed forever to the ones that I love in never ending happiness. I know that Joseph Smith restored Jesus Christ’s gospel here upon the earth in this last dispensation- he restored the same gospel that was on the earth while Jesus was here, and the same gospel that was in the beginning with Adam and Eve. I know that the Book of Mormon is true and that it’s writings of the ancient American prophets and people are true and they testify of Jesus Christ. I have found Jesus Christ and he has blessed me for coming unto him, however, I do fall short everyday because I am not perfect, but he is there to pick me back up again. And for all of this, I am eternally grateful for my Savior and owe him everything I have. I have received ultimate happiness because of Him…and isn’t that all that really matters? I believe that you can find that happiness in whatever religion you belong to and wherever you live, and I know that Jesus Christ will answer your prayers if you get on your knees and talk to him. It may take a while but don’t give up. Come unto Him. I say all this and testify in His holy name- Jesus Christ that I know it is true.

  • 14 Jana // Mar 17, 2009 at 9:20 am

    far out, kaitlyn…

  • 15 ryan // Mar 17, 2009 at 9:35 am

    tldr.

  • 16 Jonathan Blake // Mar 17, 2009 at 9:36 am

    It’s easy. Get on your knees and ask him if he cares. Ask him if he is there. Ask him to lead you to the right church and as you study the scriptures and live your life by keeping the commandments and following what Jesus would do, he will lead you to where you need to be.

    Hey, Kaitlyn. I know you’re trying to help, so the first step in helping someone is to try to understand them. I—and many of us—have already done as you suggest, and I’m where I am because of the answers that I didn’t receive.

    All the best.

  • 17 Craig // Mar 17, 2009 at 11:10 am

    Wow. It’s not like I haven’t heard that five hundred thousand times growing up.

    As Jonathan said, we’ve tried it. It doesn’t work. We need more than easily manipulated emotion and groupthink to prove that there is anything real behind Mormonism or religion in general.

    Ask him if he is there.

    Believe me, I did. He’s not. No one is. And that’s ok.

  • 18 Elaine // Mar 17, 2009 at 11:38 am

    kaitlyn…I did ask, every single day for years on end. Never got an answer, unless you count complete and utter silence as an answer.

    And, no, I wasn’t doing anything that the church said could preclude me from being worthy to receive an answer.

    And after a very long time, I realized that the silence was my answer. None of it is true; it’s just something that was made up by human beings.

    I don’t mean to disrespect the answer you say you’ve gotten, but it has gotten to the point where I kind of resent it when I get told that there is something wrong with me just because I didn’t get the answer that some people told me was the “right” answer.

    Banging my head up against a wall repeatedly, with no visible result, for years on end, is not my idea of a good nor a productive time.

    Elaine

  • 19 adamf // Mar 17, 2009 at 1:10 pm

    I have to say I felt a little uncomfortable reading kaitlyn’s comment, and wondering what the responses to it would be like. However, I have been impressed by the often humble responses. While I am a believer, and feel like I have enough of an answer, I have close friends who have described their lack of an answer in much of the same ways Jonathan and Elaine etc. have described. If God exists, he loves and accepts atheists too.

  • 20 xJane // Mar 17, 2009 at 7:33 pm

    I also think that the last scene of the episode, where she gets excommunicated, was the most powerful. Her reaction as it happened—strong in her faith that what she was doing was right according to her God but still devastated that she was being rejected by her Church—was all that I needed from HBO to prove that they intended to show this religion (and it could have been any) for what it is. And that is not only comfort and home in a spiritual way but also manipulative and political, just like humans.

  • 21 Craig // Mar 17, 2009 at 11:27 pm

    @xJane

    I agree. That last scene was very emotional for me. Watching her being forced to be excommunicated because of the narrowness of Mormonism brought back a lot of memories – most of them bad. I wasn’t always atheist, and there was a long while where I wanted desperately to be able to be Mormon and gay.

  • 22 Bruce // Mar 20, 2009 at 7:54 pm

    Thanks Katilyn,

    I did what you said! It is true!
    I thank you for your sharing with us this great treasure.
    It’s all true. Keep up the great work.

  • 23 xJane // Mar 21, 2009 at 8:56 am

    MoF: bringing people back to the Mormon church since…well, since just now.

  • 24 BJM // Apr 17, 2009 at 4:51 pm

    This is for Kaitlyn — thank you for being that brave. It is true. I’ve learned that our testimonies are a gift and we need to cultivate them every day.

    I was LDS for two years, and then I wasn’t for eleven years. I had gotten on my knees and asked for truth and I received it multiple times, but I wasn’t at a point in my life where I was able to recognize it or know what the answer would look like. In 2004, I was in seminary in NYC to become an ordained minister in another faith. As part of my studies, I took a tour of the Manhattan LDS Temple before its dedication. I felt the Spirit there and received my answer. But I didn’t know what to do. I was preparing for a new career that I was looking forward to and for which I’d worked hard. I graduated to become a hospice chaplain and I did that for two years, until I realized that I missed the LDS Church too much. I left my chaplaincy and I chose my moment and showed up at my local ward the following Sunday. That was two years ago and I’ve since received my endowment, been sealed in the temple to my husband, and done a ton of family history work. I did something that seemed like it would be really hard at the time; I gave up what I thought I was for what I felt I could become. For me, it was all worth it.

    Again thank you, Kaitlyn. You inspired me in a moment when I was surfing the web for something else.

    For everyone else on this thread — I think you’re living as Joseph Campbell would encourage, living your truth and continuing to search for it. That’s the only important thing. I think when we stagnate in that, we lose a substantial portion of our humanity.

  • 25 Clint // Jan 17, 2011 at 7:25 am

    I’ve done what Kaitlyn said hundreds of times throughout my life, and gotten the answer that the LDS church is true, unmistakably. Then one day I was brave enough to test to see if the spirit is a valid way to determine truth, no offense intended toward God, and I got contradiction. After studying the issue I now see how thoroughly the “spirit” is explained by basic principles of hypnosis, and I’ve confirmed it rationally and scientifically. It was pretty disheartening after a lifetime of devout mormonism, but I wouldn’t consider myself any kind of seeker of truth otherwise. I encourage everyone to not let their perception of truth be influenced by comfortable feelings, because, while seemlingly harmless and positive on the outside, it’s actually quite dangerous. And there’s no way to see exactly how dangerous until you try to leave.

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