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I've long thought that a show about life in a cult would make for some fascinating entertainment. HBO must have agreed with me. In 2006, Big Love debuted right after their flagship series The Sopranos to positive reviews and solid ratings. Its fourth season debut is on January 10th.

Whether or not Mormonism qualifies as a cult is, of course, debatable. Many would argue it isn't, but the lifestyle of the Henricksons is something different. They're polygamists, or fundamentalists. That's a whole other thing, if Mormon doctrine is to be believed. The Church of Latter Day Saints condemns plural marriage. I think.

I did a little research before writing this piece and, I must admit, I got all confused. For a religion that the mainstream looks upon with such condescension, there seems little unification amongst themselves. There are splinter groups within splinter sects, and, before long, I couldn't make heads or tails of it all. For that matter, the sect to which the Henricksons align themselves, the UEB, is fictional, though based on actual sects. Where are Trey Parker and Matt Stone with a satirical little ditty boiling it all down for me when I need them?

Of course, my glib reference to an even glibber South Park episode does miss the point of Big Love quite a bit. Creators Mark Olsen and Will Scheffer did years of research in order to give us a show that purports to find drama in a polygamist household, presenting a realistic depiction of Mormonism, and one without judgment.

I'm not quite sure if they succeed or not. I tend to walk away from each episode both fascinated and repulsed. I can't tear my eyes away from the family, yet I feel both unsettled and voyeuristic watching. Maybe that's what I'd feel if I were to see a real polygamist family. Perhaps Olsen and Sheffer's judgments come through despite their best efforts. I don't know about all of that, but I do know this. Big Love is far creepier to me than Buffy, with its vampires and demons, Lost, with its killer smoke monsters, or True Blood, with its even eviler vampires. Those polygamists get me where I live.

I think it comes down to my central question, is Mormonism a cult? For that matter, what separates a cult from a religion? It's not an easy show to watch, because it not only forces us to look upon a marginalized belief system in America, but it forces us to ask ourselves how really different our own beliefs are. Don't misunderstand me, I'm aware that most religions don't condone polygamy, but part of the brilliance of Big Love is that it causes us to question whether or not such a thing is so bad right before showing us exactly why it's so bad.

But if one belief system invites its adherents to accept an abhorrent behavior as a divine goal, then what damaging behaviors do we in our more mainstream faiths condone? For that matter, what damaging behaviors do our faiths prevent?

This, I think, is why centering the show on a faith that straddles the line between religion and cult is quite a genius stroke. Were it a show about a group commonly accepted as a cult, Scientology say, it would be easy to dismiss and laugh at the crazies. Were it a show about a major religion, it would tend to have a polarizing effect; the believers would love it, the non-believers would reject it. Right in the gray area in which Big Love exists, however, we much challenge what we see, and relate it to our own spiritual lives, as well as to our family lives, and societal codes of behavior.

How can people live in a pluralistic household? Well, Big Love shows us. And it's both appealing and repulsive. I walk away fascinated, but I need a shower. I guess that's about exactly what I'd expect from a drama about life in a cult.