Strange Rituals: Forbidden Sex transcript

Last night, I found the transcript for "Strange Rituals: Forbidden Sex." I still have not seen the show, so it was interesting for me to read the transcript. Our segment was sandwiched right in between a segment on incest and tantric sex. It's nice to know that we are in good company. lol

As usual, I was baffled by the journalism. They would copy and paste segments of different parts of our interviews and patch them together in a way that makes us seem incoherrent.

So without further ado, here is the transcript (with my commentarin bold):


>>>NARRATOR: New York, 1820.
A time of intense religious revivalism.
A 14-year old boy by the name of Joseph Smith Jr. was struggling to find a congregation that shared his beliefs.
One day Joseph had a vision in which he came face to face with God, who told him that none of the churches were right for him.

>> JANKOVIAC: In the early 19th century there was a tremendous religious upheaval in America.
The traditional churches were being challenged.

WHO IS JANKOVIAC? RELATED TO WEIRD AL?

>> NARRATOR: Later Joseph records another vision of an angel, Morona, who helps him find sacred scriptures buried in the family farm.
The translation of the texts later becomes the Book of Mormon.
By the time Joseph is 24, he has his own church, a growing congregation ready to believe him and his visions.

>> JANKOVIAC: Somewhere during that time Joseph Smith had a revelation.
He said that in order to be saved, everyone had to take more than one wife.

THIS IS NOT EXACTLTY TRUE. PLURAL MARRIAGE WAS NEVER AN ISSUE OF SALVATION FOR THE SAINTS, BUT OF EXALTATION. THERE IS A DIFFERENCE.

>> NARRATOR: Polygamy, or marriage to multiple spouses simultaneously, has cropped up in several cultures throughout history.
It is still common in Africa and parts of Asia.
Even in the Hebrew bible, Abraham is married to three wives.
But to introduce polygamy as a new divine dictum in mid-19th century America was asking for trouble.

>> JANKOVIAC: Other Christian groups reacted with hostility.
It was proof, for many people, that this really was not God's religion, but the Devil's religion.

>> NARRATOR: In 1844, a posse stormed a jail where Joseph Smith was being held.
He was shot dead as he tried to escape through a window.
He left 33 widows behind, and a large congregation of polygamous families.

>> JANKOVIAC: After the Civil War, the American federal government was so appalled by this practice they thought they had to save Mormon women.

>> NARRATOR: The next prophet, Brigham Young, led the Mormons to a safe, isolated area in Utah, and to safeguard the church from persecution, denounced polygamy.

ALSO NOT TRUE… BRIGHAM YOUNG NEVER DID DENOUNCE POLYGAMY. NEITHER DID HIS SUCCESSOR JOHN TAYLOR. POLYGAMY WAS NOT DONE AWAY WITH UNTIL THE TENURE OF WILFORD WOODRUFF IN 1890. EVEN THEN, IT WAS NOT REALLY DONE AWAY WITH IN THE CHURCH UNTIL 1904.

>> JANKOVIAC: Eventually, by the early 1920s, the next generation of descendants had completely rejected polygamy.
That being said, there were some who went back to these scriptures, and they decided they had an obligation to reintroduce the more perfect form of Mormonism-- fundamental Mormonism.

IN TRUTH, THEY NEVER REALLY DECIDED TO REINTRODUCE IT. THERE WAS NEVER A BREACH IN THE PRACTICE

>> NARRATOR: Today, the remaining fundamentalist Mormons are pushed to the fringes of civilization.
Like here, near Concho, Arizona, 200 miles east of Phoenix.

>> MORONI: Time to get the kids going.
Come on, wake up.
It's time to get ready.
Sophie, it's time to get up.
Wake up.
It's time to go to school.
Come on.
Morning.

>> NARRATOR: Moroni and Martha Jessop have been married for 16 years.
They have seven children.

>> MARTHA: I was 18 when I met Moroni, but he was just my friend.
(laughs) I had no idea that I would fall in love with him.

>> MORONI: Well, Martha and I decided that we would live a plural marriage but, you know, I went through a whole year where I couldn't even bring up the subject to Martha.

>> MARTHA: Polygamy was practiced by the early Mormon prophets.
If you want to go back in history to the Bibletimes, you can see it in the Bible.

>> NARRATOR: Five years into his marriage with Martha, Moroni married Temple.

ACTUALLY 7 YEARS PREVIOUS…

>> MORONI: Good morning, sweetie.
How did you sleep?
We met, two months later we were engaged, two months later we were married.
It was just a whirlwind.
It was just a perfect fit, you know, for our family.
And I said, "Aha! I get it now.
I know how to live this lifestyle."

ACTUALLY THIS WHOLE EXCHANGE IS NOT CONGRUOUS TO ME. THEY ARE MIXING THINGS I SAID WITH DIFFERENT STORIES. IT DOES NOT MAKE SENSE TO ME.



>> TEMPLE: I have a room and she has a room, and he just goes between the two rooms.
He doesn't have a room.

>> MARTHA: We do pretty much stick to every other night.
If one of us is mad at him, a lot of times he'll end up on the couch.

>> TEMPLE: It's not that complex.
There are special circumstances.
If one of us feels like we need him more, then he'll change nights.

>> NARRATOR: The transition into a polygamous marriage was not easy for Martha.

>> MARTHA: Well, I think there is always jealousy because we're human.
I did have insecurities just like any woman.

>> MORONI: I realized, you know, she's going to have a hard time, and be jealous seeing me with this other woman.
And I realized that this was kind of a little life lesson for me, you know, on jealousy.

>> MARTHA: 'Cause I'd had Moroni to myself for a while, I was not sure if he was going to love me or view me the same way as he did before.

>> TEMPLE: I was in love, starry-eyed.
Everything was great.
So I... I mean, that was my adjustment.
And I knew that's what the Heavenly Father wanted for me, so...

>> MARTHA: We have to learn that he still loves us, no matter what.
If he's a good man, he's going to bring his wives into this with love for that wife, but he's not going to love any of us differently.

>> MORONI: Come on, go sit at the table.

(all talking) >> NARRATOR: The Jessops live in a three-bedroom trailer.
They have no running water or electricity.
The nearest town is 15 miles away.

>> TEMPLE: This is Sophie's bed.
Christian's bed.
The bottom bunk is Ethan's.

>> MARTHA: Yeah, it's difficult.
The four older kids share a room, and then we've got kids that are in bedrooms with us.

>> TEMPLE: Well, ultimately, we're responsible for our own kids.

>> MARTHA: But, I mean, there is always helping out with each other.
Sometimes, Temple will come in and dress my baby, or... or sometimes, you know, just...
just different things.

>> TEMPLE: Whatever needs to be done to get out the door.

>> MARTHA: I think that it's fine.
We want our kids to be close.
'Cause I've known families where every mother has their own house, and the kids grow up saying, "That's not my brother," and, "That's not my sister." We don't want that.

>> NARRATOR: In the middle of the desert, the Jessops are kept together with a combination of faith and tradition.

>> MARTHA: If you don't come into this lifestyle saying, "I'm giving my 100% no matter what," it's going to be doomed for failure.

>> NARRATOR: As the family grows, so do its isolation and challenges.
But the Jessops' solution for the future seems to defy logic.

DEFIES LOGIC?? HOW?? I DON’T GET IT!


>> MORONI: My name is Moroni Lopez-Jessop.
Moroni: That I'm mormon.
I'm named after an angel in the Book of Mormon.
Second, Lopez, that I'm Latino.
And Jessop, that I come from a polygamous family.
My father was a very important figure in my life.
And him entering polygamy is hard to describe.
He wound up getting excommunicated from the Mormon church.
After that, the rest of the family was excommunicated.
After that, we basically just associated with other people who believed in polygamy like we did.

AGAIN, SO MUCH WAS CUT OUT OF THIS INTERVIEW THAT IT MAKES NO SENSE TO ME. IT MAKES ME SOUND INCOHERENT.

>> NARRATOR: Nowadays, mainstream Mormons denounce polygamists.
There aren't many groups left for the Jessops to associate with.

>> MARTHA: The biggest disadvantage is how other people look at you.
You feel their animosity toward you.

>> MORONI: There's a culture of paranoia that has cracked into polygamist culture.
It's only in recent years, you know, recent decades that polygamists have been put in prison simply for being polygamous.

>> NARRATOR: Last time the Arizona state troopers went to arrest Mormon fundamentalists for polygamy was in the 1950s.
When the public saw how the children were separated from their parents, the protests forced the law officials to reunite the families.

>> MORONI: Ethan, would you say the blessing, please?

>> ETHAN: Sure.
Dear Kind Heavenly Father, please bless the food, help it to strengthen our body, bless us, keep us safe.
In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

("Amen" all around) >> NARRATOR: Shunned by other communities, the Jessops find solace in their own faith and family, something Joseph Smith would have been very familiar with.

>> MARTHA: I believe that we can be as God.
Honestly, I believe that God was once like us, and that we can attain what He has.

>> MORONI: Heaven is not just family, but heaven is the presence of both male and female, interconnected inseparably, and so...

>> NARRATOR: The Jessops pay a price for their lifestyle.
Even their neighbors are suspicious of their every move.
Their isolation may be the reason for their decision to increase the size of their family yet again by adding a third wife.

>> MARTHA: We want someone who's going to come in and say, "We love this family for who they are, and we will accept them for who they are, and we want to be part of this family." >>

MORONI: Come on out on the porch.
That's all right.

>> TEMPLE: I think, more than anything, I want her to be willing to give 100% of herself, just as we have, and we will continue to do.

>> MORONI: All right, everybody looking right here.
Stand up straight.
Look at him.

>> TEMPLE: Look over there.
Be still.

>> MARTHA: 'Cause I love Moroni that much, and I believe that a man needs to have more than one wife.
He will become more whole with more wives, and so will I.

>> MORONI: Very nice.

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