Dear Presidents,
 各位會長，
 
You may know HBO in Taiwan will show a TV series "Big Love" in next week which will impact the image of our Church. Per Area Presidency's instruction we send you the attached page of Church's response to questions on HBO's TV series "Big Love" so you can respond to confused members, investigators or friends. This letter will be sent to Mission/Stake/District/Branch Presidents and Bishops by mail on Friday and all of you will be able to receive it by this weekend. Please forward this e-mail to the Bishops and Branch Presidents in your Stake or District immediately.

你們可能已經知道HBO即將於下週播出「三棲大丈夫」的電視影集，此舉將會對本教會的形象有所沖

擊。經由區域會長團的指示，茲隨函檢附一頁關於教會對HBO的「三棲大丈夫」電視影集相關問題的回

答供您使用。

以便回答對此事有所困惑的教友、幕道友及朋友

。本信及附件將於本週五以郵件寄給傳道部/支聯會/區會會長/支會主教/分會會長。

相信各單位能在本週末收到信。請各位會長亦將本電子郵件立即轉送到貴支聯會/區會所屬的主教及分會

會長。

 Please call me if you have any questions.
 若有任何問題亦請來電。

Taipei Key City Public Affairs Council  Chairman
台北重點都市公共事務議會 主席

Elder Jared Yang
 楊宗廷長老

(PS 部落格主人加上)

附上教會的聲明

Church’s Response to Questions on HBO's TV series “Big Love”

[Hong Kong, 18 October 2007]   Later this month, a TV series called “Big Love” will be shown in HBO’s channels in a number of countries in Asia .  In the series, set in a modern suburb of Salt Lake City , the main character keeps up a deceptive life in a fringe world of polygamy with his three wives and households.  This series was shown in the United States in early 2006, and numerous calls from newspaper, magazine and TV entertainment writers about the series were then received by Public Affairs Department at Church Headquarters in Salt Lake City .  Journalists wanted to know what the Church thinks of the program, the subject matter and HBO’s decision to promote it.

In anticipation that Church leaders in the Asia Area might receive similar calls and enquiries from reporters and journalists, as well as confused members or friends, the following clarifications and points as provided by Church spokesmen on the issue would be helpful and serve as a good reference:

1. Concern for abuse victims
The Church has long been concerned about the illegal practice of polygamy in some communities, and in particular about persistent reports of emotional and physical child and wife abuse emanating from them. It will be regrettable if this program, by making polygamy the subject of entertainment, minimizes the seriousness of that problem and adds to the suffering of abuse victims.

2. Confusion over the continued practice of polygamy
The central characters of Big Love are not “Mormons,” or, more properly termed, Latter-day Saints.  HBO has said the script makes it clear that members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints don’t practice polygamy.  Still, placing the series in Salt Lake City , the international headquarters of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is enough to blur the line between the modern Church and the program’s subject matter and to reinforce old and long-outdated stereotypes.

Polygamy was officially discontinued by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1890. Any Church member adopting the practice today is excommunicated. Groups that continue the practice in Utah and elsewhere have no association whatsoever with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Most of their practitioners have never been among its members.

Unfortunately, this distinction is often lost on members of the public and even on some senior journalists.  In this respect, the Church points to the Associated Press style guide for journalists which states: "The term Mormon is not properly applied to the other ... churches that resulted from the split after (Joseph) Smith's death." In other words, polygamous communities should never be referred to as "Mormon" polygamists or “Mormon” fundamentalists.

3. Concern over the moral standards of television entertainment
Despite its popularity with some, much of today’s television entertainment shows an unhealthy preoccupation with sex, coarse humor and foul language. Big Love, like so much other television programming, is essentially lazy and indulgent entertainment that does nothing for our society and will never nourish great minds. Parents who are casual about their viewing habits ought not to be surprised if teaching moral choices and civic values to their children becomes harder as a result.

For that reason and others, Church leaders have consistently cautioned against such entertainment, joining with other religious, education and government leaders in inviting individuals and families to follow a higher road of decency, self-discipline and integrity.

耶穌基督後期聖徒教會