by streets76 7 Replies latest jw friends
I've been enjoying "Big Love" on HBO for the past few years. (For those who don't know, it's about the life of a Mormon polygamist and his family in Utah, USA.)
Seems like the Mormons, even without officially sanctioning polygamy, can go toe-to-toe with the JWs in the wackiness department.
So why does Mormonism, as a religious movement, seem more acceptable (than JWs) to the mainstream, and thus more successful?
Any thoughts?
By the way, "Big Armageddon" would be a great name for a JW series on HBO. The cast of characters and script lines could come from right here on JWD. It would write itself.
Not all mormons are polygamists. I know many mormon families. They seem to be family focused. Plus they don't have to separate themselves from the rest of the world in the same way as JW's do. I don't think they do door-to-door as often, either. It seems mostly to be street witnessing, in my experience anyway.
Tammy
Oh drats - I thought you were talking of Timothy Freke's Big Love...I didn't know there was a show about Mormons called that.
I believe Big Love is the way of the future - not Big Armageddon
For more, please read: http://www.trans4mind.com/web2printer/print.php
OOPS sorry, edited to add - didn't mean to hijack your thread...
Mormons make an effort to at least be relevant in society. They hold public office, educate their members, allow holiday celebrations and use the media to some extent in advertising their beliefs.
JW leadership is like an isolationist regime. The only time you hear about JWs in the media is when something bad happens. Their no part of the world mentality just makes them irrelevant in the grand scheme of things.
Now when you get down to brass tacks and look at the beliefs of each, both are wacky.
It shows there is more than one way to skin a cat (or run a cult)
"There's more than one way to run a cult." -- Lost Generation <-- great quote!!
I've been watching Big Love. It's interesting to watch it with a SSBM (still somewhat believing mate) in the room. The last couple of episodes seeing Barb flex her independance and free will was interesting. My wife was cheering her own, yet doesn't see the correlation between being stuck in a Mormon religion and being stuck in the JW religion.
And this past episode the big A was mentioned... no, not Armageddon but apostate!
As wacky as the Hendricksons are, they fit in better in society than most JWs. They hold political office, celebrate the holidays, own shares in a casino. Their biggest thing is the polygamy.
The biggest difference between Mormons (in real life and the H. family depicted in this show) and JWs is that Mormons want to fit in with society. They hold high ideals and morals but they want to be part of the system. They want to make a difference in politics. They want to serve their country in the military. They want they're kids to excel in education.
JWs seek to isolate themselves. They thrive on being different and persecuted.
That's why Mormons are slowly, over time, becoming more and more accepted, I think. Throw out their wacky beliefs and some of their more strict rules (alcohol, caffeine, etc) they're just your next door neighbor or workmate. I think that makes it frustrating for ex-mos. They have a lot of the same complaints about the Mormon church that ex-JWs have against the WTS but as time goes by and more and more people are more accepting of the Mormons, they shrug off the complaints of the disgruntled ones, whereas JWs are still quirky, backwards, irritating and weird enough to make most people wary of them, making it actually easier for ex-JWs to get a hearing ear when speaking of the cultishness of the organization.
Undercover, thanks for sharing your observations.
