Making Queens and Priestesses for the Celestial Kingdom: Nineteenth Century Theology and Mormon Polygamy Today.

For a population of 150,000 (roughly), Mormon polygamists are significantly over-represented in popular culture. This research is part of a larger book project that explores this alternative religious population as peculiar stakeholders in popular culture. The major strands of the Mormon polygamist religious view of celestial marriage are the formation of an interpersonal, connected web in the afterlife; the preservation of Biblical patriarchy; and the righteousness of attempting to love like God does. In contrast with earlier efforts by Mormon polygamists such as George Reynolds v. United States (1878), the Sister Wives family's case for polygamous marriage rights centers less on religious freedom and instead utilizes contemporary discourse around family well-being, diversity of loving relationships, and marriage equality. Alternatively, the characters of a newer show, Three Wives, One Husband, contextualize their polygamist lifestyle within traditional Mormon fundamentalist spiritual beliefs. This paper analyzes religious beliefs about plural marriage, and the representation of these in reality television, using three case studies of Mormon polygamists in Utah. Through which religious or spiritual principles do contemporary Mormon polygamists understand their practice of plural marriage? How accurately do Mormon polygamists think media such as reality TV shows have depicted religiosity, religious belief, or religious culture in contemporary Mormon polygamy? Do they believe the shows have affected or transformed Mormon fundamentalists' culture in any way? The paper contributes to scholarly knowledge about the effects of media on, and the power of media for, religious minorities and sexual minorities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]