What's most interesting though about the episode, from a public relations standpoint, was not the Temple Ritual. Let's be honest. The internet is filled with accounts of such rituals, and even printed accounts of the rituals exist. What the Mormon establishment should have been much more worried about took place later in the program, where an excommunication is performed. Why? Because the ritual was a positive portrayal of formalized spirituality. And had the genuine enthusiasm for that which is greater than oneself that one might associate with Sufi mystics or a Grateful Dead concert.
But the excommunication was like a ritualized witch burning, or sadistic psychological manipulation.
If I was seeking to bolster the public's positive predisposition towards my religion, I would welcome the Temple ritual portrayal as respectful and positive. And I would cringe and then weep about the cruelty of the excommunication -- and seek a path which doesn't involve such rituals.
What's most interesting to the cineastes, of course, are the musical queues and dramatic constructions that mimic Hitchcock's Vertigo. Too subtle to distract from the story, but present enough to entertain -- and add to the tension. Bravo.
