ANo. Although "Big Love" depicts the Utah common man situation in many ways, LDS Mormons have not practiced polygamy since 1890. Any new case of polygamy has led to excommunication from the Church since then. It's true that there are many so-called fundamentalist groups in Utah who call themselves "Mormons", most of them still practicing polygamy, but those groups are not part of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Given this, polygamous families' depiction in the LDS Chapels or Temples, as well as some other Mormon situations, such as baptisms, civil marriages or even Temple ordinances, should be treated as free literacy by the writers of the drama argument itself, but not as the reality of most Mormon's beliefs and practices.The official posicion of the LDS Church on "Big Love" can be found in the following links:
http://newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/commentary/church-responds-to-questions-on-hbo-s-big-love
http://newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/commentary/the-publicity-dilemma
AThey have 13 basic beliefs, which are listed here:
http://scriptures.lds.org/a_of_f/1
[
url]www.mormon.org[/url]The Church's main website includes the latest news, on-line version of the books of scripture: King James version of the Bible (both Old and New Testaments), the Book of Mormon (Another Testament of Jesus Christ), the Doctrine & Covenants (modern-day revelation concerning the re-establishment of Christ's Church in our day) and The Pearl of Great Price (a collection of scripture from various periods).www.lds.orgJoseph Smith was born into a religious family. Although they were religious in nature, many of his siblings and even parents attending different churches, which led him to question, which, if any of these churches was true. He read James 1:5 in the Bible, which says: "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him." Following the counsel offered by James, Joseph Smith went to a grove of trees near his home in Palmyra, New York, where he knelt and offered a prayer to God, desiring to know which of the churches, if any, he join. He gives his account, which can be found in The Pearl of Great Price 1:15-18, saying:"I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me."It no sooner appeared than I found myself delivered from the enemy which held me bound. When the light rested upon me I saw two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the other--'This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!'"I was answered that I must join none of them, for they were all wrong; and the Personage who addressed me said that all their creeds were an abomination in his sight; that those professors were all corrupt; that: they draw near to me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me, they teach for doctrines the commandments of men, having a form of godliness, but they deny the power thereof.It was at that time when Joseph Smith was instructed by God to restore the gospel of Jesus Christ to the earth, which had been lost shortly after the death of Christ. After suffering great persecution from people in the Northeast, where the restoration of the church originated, Joseph Smith received revelation to move West to Nauvoo, Illinois, where he was imprisoned under false pretenses and murdered by a mob determined to put a stop to the work. Brigham Young was called to be the succeeding prophet. Brigham Young received instruction from God to go West to find a place where Christ's restored church could prosper and grow unmolested by those who opposed it. As pertains to Big Love, on the way West (possibly due to the high number of widowed wives and fatherless children wrought by the casualties of the perilous journey West), Brigham Young received yet another revelation, that some men take extra wives. Contrary to popular belief, the amount of men who took more than one wife was extremely low, with the overwhelming majority of men being in monogamous marriages. However, some members left the church after this announcement. After arriving in Utah, where the church began to flourish, Brigham Young was told by God that the practice of plural marriage was no longer required of men, and that any who should marry more than one wife from that point on would be removed from the church.
