For the past couple of days I’ve been very curious about the new HBO show Big Love, about a man with three wives.  The people in the show are explicitly not Mormon but members of a breakaway sect.  It’s an interesting topic to me for reasons that are obvious to those who know me.  For those who don’t, I grew up a Mormon–excuse me, Latter-day Saint–and am in fact descended from polygamous ancestors.  My great-great grandfather on my mother’s side had six wives.  When polygamy was made illegal in the late 1800’s he fled with his family to Mexico, then moved back into US territory a few years later.  And so it came to be that I was born in Arizona and not in Utah.  Thanks, federal government! (Seriously.)  

Anyway, so I don’t remember exactly how it happened, but while sitting at my desk between classes today I followed hyperlink from hyperlink, and ended up on the wikipedia page about LDS church history.  There I found a link to a page for a group calling themselves New Order Mormons, LDS church members who no longer believe some (or all) of church doctrine, but still continue to be active in the church, usually to maintain peace in their families.  I was fascinated as I read through the site, as I really had no idea such people even existed.  When I was in the church I had such a black and white, in or out, with us or against us point of view (which is indeed how the church wants its members to think) that I failed to understand the full spectrum of beliefs among the members and levels of personal commitment.   I knew open and vocal apostates in my day, especially when I was a missionary, but now I suddenly see there is a whole under-current of silent skeptics.  Amazing.  On their site I was especially interested in a series of tongue-in-cheek Sunday School lessons offering liberal interpretations of Mormon doctrines that I’ve never been exposed to before.  They’re also quite funny, but I think you almost have to have been heavily involved with the church at some point for it to truly make sense.  

Ok so that page somehow took me to The Daily Kirk, a blog belonging to a church member.  In his March 10th posting he reminisces about some friends of his who sought to thwart a rule against dancing in Provo, Utah (I know, right?) by becoming ordained ministers of the Church of Universal Life, headquartered in Modesto, California.  That story reminded me that I too am a ULC minister, and have even used my ministerial powers to perform a wedding.  

Back in 2002, just before I left Portland to come to Korea, my friends Cyndy and Matt were getting married.  Cyndy is one of my dearest friends, almost like a sister really.  Matt’s brothers were his best men, and I didn’t know Matt all that well at the time anyway, and I couldn’t very well be a bride’s maid, yet I really wanted to participate in the wedding in some way.  Cyndy asked if I would marry them.  It was totally like that episode of Friends where Joey married Monica and Chandler, except Joey is a lot cuter than I am.  So to marry them I had to have some authority.  A quick Google search brought me to the Church of Universal Life where I became ordained simply by submitting a form on the website and clicking the “Ordain me” button.  You can too if you want.

So that’s how I spent my day.  As a footnote, I was able to watch the first episode of Big Love tonight.  It was a little on the slow side, but I’m willing to give it a chance.  Oh, and as you may imagine, since I spent all my time today surfing web pages and writing this blog entry, I got zero work done on my class today.  Oops.