HBOh-No, Part I

Of course I need to chime in on the recent, controversial "Big Love" episode that reportedly depicted part of the endowment session. I didn't watch it - in fact, I've seen maybe six total minutes of the show, and didn't find it overly compelling. Anyway, it's tough to say this objectively given my mixed feelings about the temple (Have I written about those yet?), but even if I were an unconditional fan, I think my inclination would be to tag this as a non-event, for the following reasons:

1) I couldn't care less about what opinion HBO holds of my beliefs (OK, my semi-beliefs and traditions...or at least those of my forefathers), or whether others develop misdirected opinions as a result of consuming HBO's product. "But what about its impact on missionary work?" Well, if they're "honorable [people]...who were blinded by the craftiness" of Time Warner, won't they get a chance to accept and progress later?

2) Every last detail about the temple ceremony (including previous versions) is "Mormon temple ceremony" Google away. (It gets especially interesting on YouTube.)

3) The Church is growing. And we're glad about it. With size comes conspicuousness, which we also welcome. But we have to understand that we can't dictate the terms of that conspicuousness or control every unintended consequence. (Just ask the Catholics, who have taken no small beating at the hands of media and pop culture.) Can we seriously exult that "the sun never sets on congregations of the Latter-day Saints" while hoping to keep our secret and sacred matters in the dark?

Besides, isn't this fulfillment of prophecy? In a way, we should be glad it's happening, because it validates the teachings of yore.