Big Lie.

The big downside of living in temporary housing that has free cable with HBO is that every time I flip through the channels I bump into it.

Usually HBO is not interesting enough to catch my attention, but tonight I happened to land right in the middle of "Big Love", HBO's show on polygamists living in Utah. I didn't stay long, but long enough to catch the following lines:

• "Don't you dare look me in the eyes when you talk to me."
• "If you go to Mormon seminary you're going to turn into one of those snotty ******** just like all the rest of them. They'll brainwash you -- make you think your body is dirty."
• "I know what I saw." .... "Let's never talk of this again."
• "You were drivin' real fast..." "Yeah, I was late for work. Gotta go, see ya."
• "Just stuff from my old life. And I hate it."

Look, I don't know who the writers are, but they've never met me and my family. This stuff is *ridiculous*, not only in content but in *attitude* and *feeling*. In 3 minutes (!), they've managed to portray Mormons as authoritarian, manipulative, flesh-despising, deceiptful, and deeply angry people.

That's not Mormonism. That's the opposite of Mormonism. If Mormonism were like that I wouldn't be a Mormon. "Learning" about Mormons from that show is like learning about life in America in an Al Qaida training camp. I'm surprised the church hasn't sued for slander -- but then again I imagine very few active members are watching it.

There's a warmth and comfort about being a Mormon that is more beautiful and meaningful than I've seen anywhere else. Why would someone construct a story to misrepresent it so badly?

But as angry as it makes me, I still have to step back and remember that it's not *my* church they're misrepresenting -- it belongs to One who will address the problem far better than I ever could. And I'm okay with that.