Mormon Wives: Drama and Faith Explored

Hello beautiful, how you doing today? How you doing today? You want to learn something useful today? Not the right video. Today we're learning about some useless brain rot knowledge, okay? Also, but you know what? I'm actually gonna throw in some some actual knowledge throughout this video So stick around you'll actually learn something you could take away from this experience, I think. But unlike this video you are stunning and smart and dare I say sagacious. Jay you gotta put that on the screen. Probably most of them don't know I had to look it up myself. Anyway, today we're gonna talk about the infamous viral show The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives and if you don't know anything about the show, this is honestly the perfect video for you It's a good synopsis. So you don't have to watch this show, which I wouldn't necessarily recommend But if you like shows reality TV shows that you could just throw it in the background, it's fine to do that It's entertaining enough. But yeah, let's get into it So let's first off start with the synopsis of the show. The scandalous world of a group of Mormon mom influencers implodes when they get caught in the midst of a swinging scandal that makes international headlines. Now their sisterhood is shook to its core. Faith, friendship, and reputations are all on the line. Will hashtag mom talk be able to survive and continue to give the rule book a run for its money? Or will this group fall from grace? The wording in this synopsis is crazy coming from a Christian background. Crazy! Yeah, I mean, that's a pretty good synopsis in and of itself, but it is quite literally that. It's seven, eight, eight of them? I don't know. I'll talk about them. It's eight Mormon or ex-Mormon and Mormon moms just thrown into this mix. Kind of like the... Yeah. housewives of Orange County or Beverly Hills or some shit. I never watched those shows. And it's basically just talking about their lives and what kind of scandals they've been through, how they came out of the Mormon church or how they're in the Mormon church, how Mormon they are, how Mormon they aren't. And it's just been going crazy on the internet because a lot of people have a lot of opinions about it. Mormons got opinions about it. Regular people loving the show because they don't even understand what's going on. Yada, yada. I think I've seen quite a few videos about this show, but nobody really delves into Mormonism in the history of it. And I think I think that's important, like to understand the show and to understand what's going on and like perspectives of the actually religious people that follow those religious rules and who doesn't. So I think, and this is the little, we're going to learn something part. We're going to delve into the history of Mormonism, otherwise known as the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-day Saints, otherwise known as the LDS. And then we're going to be talking about the show and all the scandals and all the, all the, all the, all this shit. Let's start with the history lesson. Okay. Let's talk about it. So, Mormonism, otherwise known as the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-day Saints, aka LDS, was founded in the 19th century by Joseph Smith, aka what my boyfriend calls the first iPad baby. If you get it, you get it. If you don't, you don't. It's fine. I also want to preface that I have no opinions on anything really. I grew up in the Christian world and stuff and I'm just like, I'm basically just giving a brief history about this. I'm not gonna... Like I don't have really much of an opinion because I think everybody can believe in what they believe in as long as nobody's getting harmed and I'm good with it. So anyway, so the movement emerged during a time of religious revival in the United States, particularly in upstate New York, known as the Second Great Awakening. And here's a breakdown of how kind of it all started and evolved. So first off, we have Joseph Smith and the First Vision and we're going back to 1820. All right, so Joseph Smith was born in 1805 in Vermont, and he grew up in a religiously active family. During his teenage years, he was confused by the conflicting doctrines of Christian denominations. And in 1820, at the age of 14, Smith claimed to have experienced what is called the First Vision. And in this vision, he reported seeing God the Father and Jesus Christ. That's pretty cool. Who told him that all existing Christian churches were corrupted, and that he was the chosen to restore the true church. And then in comes the Book of Mormon from 1827 to 1830. So in 1823, Smith claimed he was visited by an angel named Moroni. Moroni? I don't know. Who directed him to a set of golden plates buried in a hill in Palmyra, New York. And these plates were written in an ancient language, and they were said to contain a religious history of ancient American civilization. And Smith, being the only one who could transcribe these plates, translated them into what became the Book of Mormon. And this was published in 1830. And the book tells a story of a group of Israelites who sailed to the Americas around 600 BCE, and the teachings of Jesus Christ to these peoples after his resurrection. So the book serves as an additional scripture alongside the Bible. And I just want to say that I'm not I do kind of want to talk about a little bit of the controversy surrounding this, because I think it's important, honestly, so people can have like the full idea of it. But basically, the controversy of it was that the plates that were given to Joseph, when people asked like, whoa, where are the plates? He's just like, the angel took them back. I don't know. Which, yeah, okay. So, yeah. That happened. So nobody could actually physically verify the existence of the plates, which obviously led people to assume that he fabricated the story. And Smith claimed to have translated the plates by a gift and the power of God using a set of seer stones or Urim and... thumim, or later a stone placed in a hat. And later critics and skeptics would see this and say it was inconsistent with traditional methods of scholarly translation. And one of the most interesting ones is that Martin Harris, who was one of Smith's first followers, was a financial baker. And basically he helped him transcribe, as in he basically just acted as a scribe as Joseph was saying it. And Harris had convinced Smith to let him take those 116 pages home to his wife, who was a skeptical. And then basically she was just like, all right, well, if he was able to transcribe this, then he could transcribe it again. So we're going to lose these pages and then he can transcribe it again. So when Harris went back to Joseph, he was just like, we lost the pages. Can you transcribe it again? And Joseph basically said that it was forbidden by God to retranslate that portion. So critics would see this as a coverup suggesting that Smith invented the story and could not reproduce the same text. So it's a pretty good like... Hey man, I don't make the rules, alright? Where have I said this before? It's like every cult thing that I've ever said before. It's like, hey, it's not me, alright? It's that guy. Okay, I want to re-transcribe it. I wish I could. Okay, but I can't. And there's many, many more controversies, but that's kind of the main overarching one, so we'll get back into the history of it. So we'll talk about the establishment of the church. So on April 6th, 1830, Joseph Smith officially founded the Church of Christ, later named the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-day Saints, a.k.a. the LDS church in Fayette, New York. And the church's early members believed that Joseph Smith was a modern day prophet and that he was restoring the true Christian faith. And the church would- quickly grow, attracting converts from various states, but it also faced significant opposition and persecution, kind of like what I was talking about before with all the controversy surrounding it. So some of the key events that happened in Mormon history first started with the migration to Ohio and Missouri. So Smith and his followers would move to Kirkland, Ohio, where they would hope to build a very strong and religious community. And during this time, they would establish a temple in Kirkland. and gain many converts. And in 1838, the Mormons would face severe persecution in Missouri, leading to the infamous extermination order issued by the governor, which essentially legalized violence against Mormons. And they were forced to flee. I don't agree with that. I don't agree with forcing any violence upon anyone. I think that's horrendous. So the Mormons would move and then settle in a Nauvoo, Illinois. Sorry if I'm saying that wrong. Where they built a new thriving community. In Nauvoo, Nauvoo. Navy, I'm sorry, quickly grew to become one of the largest cities in Illinois. And it was here that Joseph Smith really started to introduce some controversial doctrines, such as plural marriage, which you've probably heard of, and it's called polygamy, which drew both internal dissent and external opposition. And in 1844, tensions between the Mormons and non-Mormons grew and grew and escalated very quickly. culminating in the arrest of Joseph Smith. And while imprisoned in Carthage jail, Smith and his brother Hiram were murdered by a mob in June 27th, 1844. So then comes the Exodus to Utah. So after Smith's death, Brigham Young became the leader of the majority of the Mormons, facing continued prosecution along the way. So Young would lead the Mormons on a westward exodus, and eventually settling in Salt Lake Valley in present-day Utah, 1847. So the Mormons would establish a new home in what was Currently at the time a Mexican territory creating a theocratic community they called the desert and then in the 1850s the Mormon community Absolutely flourished in Utah as we know now a lot of them still live there, but tensions with the US government continued particularly over the practice of polygamy, which had become more public under Brigham Young. So the church would officially renounce polygamy in 1890 under the President Wilford Woodruff to facilitate Utah's acceptance as a U.S. state. And although the mainstream LDS church abandoned that practice, splinter groups such as fundamentalist Mormons continued to practice polygamy. So let's talk about the Mormon beliefs. So Mormon theology is both based off of the Bible and other scriptures unique to the LDS faith, most notably the Book of Mormon. So Mormons believe in the Godhead, consisting of God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost as separate. So they're distinct beings, but unified in purpose. So this differs from traditional Christian concept of the Trinity, where God is seen as one being in three persons, basically. And then comes their plan of... Salvation, which is basically Mormons believe in pre-mortal existence, where human spirits lived with God before being born on Earth. Earth life is basically just a test, and depending on how individuals live, they will return in God's presence or to a lesser degree of glory after death. And there are three degrees of glory, or heaven as some may say. There's celestial, terrestrial, not those terrestrials, I know what you're thinking, and telestial. And the celestial kingdom is the highest and is reserved for those who have fully accepted the teachings of Jesus Christ and that followed the LDS ordinances. And Mormons also believe in the continuing revelation and this means that God continues to speak through modern-day prophets, which is very prevalent in in Mormonism. Joseph Smith being the first and continuing with a subsequent leader of the LDS church. And they also have temples, which are basically sacred buildings where special ordinances are performed, such as baptisms for the dead, eternal marriages, and ceilings that bind families together for eternity. In addition to the Bible, like we talked about before, Mormons accept the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine of the Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price as scripture. And there were lots of other branches of Mormonism as well, similar to Christianity, where people people believe in certain things and other things, this is just kind of the overall arching. So I don't wanna claim that each Mormon is the exact same because that's not the case, but this is just the overarching history of it. And Mormons, like a lot of other religions, kind of have a set of practices and guidelines that they need to follow, and they call it the word of wisdom. And these are rules that shape the way they live their life. So the word of wisdom being, it prohibits the consumption of alcohol, tobacco, coffee, tea, and illegal drugs. I would be screwed. I'm just kidding. Just the coffee part basically. And it encourages the consumption of healthy foods and advises against over consumption of meat as well. And then there is tipping where members are expected to contribute 10% of their income to the church to support operations and or charitable work. And then they have the Sabbath day where members are encouraged. to keep the Sabbath day holy, meaning they avoid work or recreational activities on Sundays. And then there's also missionary work, where young men and sometimes women are encouraged to serve in missionaries for a period of 18 months to two years. And this is a central part of the LDS faith and spreading the LDS faith. So a list of things Mormons can't do. I think the list is extremely long, but the kind of main ones are that they cannot have premarital or extramarital sejules. No panagrapha. You know what I'm saying? Cornography. Uh, no gambling and no tattoos or piercings. And again, there are-I'm sure there are plenty of Mormons that do all of the above. I mean, I only speak about Christianity because I grew up in the Christian faith, but similar to Christian-you know, like, a lot of rules are broken, but with Christianity, you're basically born a sinner, so you're kind of like just expected to sin, and then you just, you know, say, I'm sorry I did that. You just have to be cognizant of it, basically. So I'm not saying that, you know, if you do all these things, you're not Mormon. I don't know how it works. Okay, I don't know. I have no idea. I'm just a messenger right now, okay? I'm just saying what I read. So let's go on to modern Mormonism then. So today the LDS Church is one of the fastest growing religious movements in the world with more than 16 million members globally. Its headquarters are in Salt Lake City, Utah and is led by a prophet president. Kind of like who Joseph Smith was, each one following him was a prophet president. So the current prophet president of the LDS Church is Russell M. Nelson. And he became the 17th president of the LDS Church in January 14th, 2018 following the death of his predecessor Thomas S. Monson. And me having my true crime mind just just looked into like what cults have stemmed out of Mormonism and stuff and there's a lot And basically these cults are just kind of like splinter groups from Mormonism and they're called cults because of extreme practices I think that's when it indicates it's a cult is when it's extreme when it's not normal You know, so first off you have the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-day Saints, aka the FLDS. They're one of the most prominent groups that kind of broke away from the LDS church and this was after they officially abandoned the practice of polygamy. So the FLDS, they're like, that's stupid, we like polygamy, we're gone. So the FLDS officially split from Mormonism in about the 1930s and this group was based in Colorado City, Arizona. and Hilldale, Utah. And the FLDS was led by a self-declared prophet, classic cult, who wields nearly absolute authority. Not good. Sounds a little dictator-y to me. And one of its most notorious leaders is Warren Jeffs, who assumed leadership in 2002 after the death of his father, Rulon Jeffs. And some of the controversies surrounding Warren specifically were that his arranged marriages were not great in age ranges, if you know what I mean. You know, girl, guy. Gross. And there was a lot of sejljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljl and sentenced to life in prison. Nice. But despite Jeff's imprisonment, the LDF, the FD, oh my God, it's all getting mixed up in my head. The FLDS remains active, although significantly weakened by legal actions and internal divisions. But they still practice polygamy. Essentially, that's like the main thing that they do. That's different from the LDS church. There's also the Kingston clan, also known as the Order, which is scary sounding, or the Davis County Cooperative Society. doesn't roll off the tongue. And it was founded around the 1930s as well by Charles Eldon Kingston. And like the other fundamentalist groups, the Kingston clan broke away from the mainstream LDS church to continue the practice of polygamy. They just loved that idea. They're like, this is lame now. It's lame. Okay. Give me more wives. But the Kingston clan specifically was notorious for incestuous marriages. Big no-no. Big bad no-no. And this was to keep the bloodlines pure. I knew another guy that liked to keep bloodlines pure. You know what I'm talking about? And the leadership of the Kingston clan is basically passed down through the Kingston family. Every time I hear Kingston, I just want to be like, Hey, O'Shawn, you're Mr. Kingston. If you know, you know. Which brings me to the Church of the Firstborn of the Lamb of God. That's a mouthful. Where we have Ervil LeBaron, who declared himself the rightful prophet of the Mormon faith and introduced the doctrine of the blood atonement. That sounds scary. Which basically justified the killings of individuals who opposed the leadership of the church. So basically, him. He claimed that those who defied his authority were guilty of grave sins that could only be forgiven through their deaths. Not cool. And LeBron's teachings would lead to a series of assassinations known as the LeBaron's killings. Did I say LeBron? I'm sorry. LeBaron. It's LeBaron. If I said LeBron somewhere, it's because that name was just, I don't know. I don't know. And this is where LeBaron basically ordered the murders of rival leaders, including one of his own brothers, Joel. Sounds like a standup guy. And by that, I mean... He's not a great guy, but he would be arrested in 1979 and he would be ordered to life in prison But even from prison he ordered several other murders that would happen even even though he was in prison So this guy had like some serious power and then there's there's other offshoots I could go on for quite literally a long time, which I don't think you want But there's a true in the Living Church of Jesus Christ in the latter-day saints. There's the Church of the firstborn Etc. Anyway, that is like the gist of Mormonism. Obviously the cults that I was talking about, it does not revolve around that technically. I just thought that that was an interesting offshoot that I know you guys appreciate hearing about. But all that, and we go to the brain rot, okay? We come to hashtag mom talk, aka hashtag brain rot, okay? And like I said before, it is a show on Hulu with a series that's out. It has, I- I think eight episodes, I had to double check. Yep, eight episodes, it's all a blur. And for those of you who don't know what hashtag mom talk is, I'd suggest you don't go down that route. But basically it was self-founded, I guess it was probably started before her, but it was self-founded by Taylor Frankie Paul, which she's like the OG mom talk, the OG Mormon mom talk. That's kind of what mom talk revolves around. I know there's plenty of moms on TikTok that aren't Mormon, but that's what it kind of revolved around. There came a group. of Mormon moms that collectively made up hashtag mom talk. I'm gonna try to break this down in the most layman's term interesting way I can. I'm not gonna get into the nitty gritty. There's a lot of other videos if you wanna get like the nitty gritty details, I'll tag some of them below, but this one's just gonna be very brief synopsis. So the original mom talk group isn't who's actually in the show. There's only actually a few people from that original mom talk group that made the show, which at first people were like, oh my God, what happened? What's the tea? I don't know. We don't really know. But what we do know is that everything kind of stemmed with a scandal, with that swinging scandal, that soft swinging scandal that we talked about in the synopsis of the beginning of the video. And I'll talk about it briefly right now. So in 2022, Taylor Frankie Paul, the OG of mom talk, the OG Mormon mom talk girl, she was on a TikTok live stream and she was sharing that her and her then husband Tate Paul were getting a divorce. However, it was not the only bomb to be dropped. She also said that her and Tate had been soft swinging. And if you don't know what that is, it's this. I'm going to put it right here. Just let you read that. And for those of you who didn't read it, it's basically it means that they would switch partners with another couple and hook up without going all the way, AKA soft swinging, not going all the way, I guess. I don't know. But Taylor claimed that she would hook up. with other pairings of the Mormon TikTok community. And in the video, she argues, no one was innocent. Everybody has hooked up with everyone in this situation. And this everyone being the rest of the group that was in the original mom talk. But she didn't give specific names, but it was pretty, pretty clear who she was talking about. Causing an absolute dumpster fire of accusations across their corner of the internet, obviously. Have you talked to your bishop or the church about anything? No. No? How? come i don't know because like what if they're gonna like excommunicate me hey when you are out soft swinging what do you expect and what is soft swinging explain that so swinging is where you full-on switch partners like swingers right yes and so for us we like opened up our relationship we're like playing games being intimate all in front of each other so we weren't like full-on switching per se you know yeah yeah so that's why they called it soft swimming which i didn't come up with that term by the way so in the series all the women except Taylor very explicitly deny ever swinging or engaging in non-monogamy. And while they never name drop any of the members of the swinging group, it is implied that they are not the cast of the show. Am I convinced? Not really. Because these bitches are crazy. In like, I guess, Mormon way. They're not like that crazy, but we'll get into that as well. But from what I've seen, I've seen a lot of Mormons react. to the show specifically. And a lot of them say that swinging is pretty common in Mormonism because a lot of them get married at a very young age, which I'll go over the cast and how young some of them were, where they got married being like 16 and 18 and starting to have kids. So like at the time they're older, they're just like, I need to let loose. I need to, I need to, you know, F your husband and you need to be with my husband and my wife or my wife or something. I don't know. But they just basically were children when they started being adults are having responsibilities so they feel like they need to let loose. That's what I hear, not me, but it kind of makes sense. So some of the OG moms that were in the original MomTalk, as far as I know, Kelly Munday and Miranda MCW, that's their names on TikTok or whatever, they aren't on the show. So they replaced them with other Mormon moms, basically. And Mormons did not like the idea of the show being on. There was even a petition that was being signed by a lot of people for the show not to be aired. And apparently, I read that Mormons don't use the term Mormon anymore, I guess. Their most recent prophet exclaims, it's the Church of Jesus Christ Latter-day Saints. So I don't, or maybe Mormonism. So if I've been saying that wrong, I don't know. That's what it says literally everywhere I look. People who are Mormon refer to themselves as Mormon. So I don't, that's just like one article I read. So I don't know if I'm saying that wrong. But if I am, I'm sorry, I'm ignorant. Okay, but let's go over the show's cast. Okay, and if I got any of that mom talk drama wrong or names, I... don't care that much. But here's the show stuff, okay? So essentially, to start off and from my research, basically none of them are really truly Mormon, according to Mormons, okay? According to my research. Like, they're not acting Mormon. Some of them... claim to be Mormon and some of them have completely dissociated from the church completely. Basically they split off into groups of saints and sinners. Saints being the ones that are still in their first marriages, which isn't really said on the show but it kind of just makes sense because it is what it is, but saints being the ones that are in their first marriages and that for the most part practice Mormonism still, and sinners being people that basically are in second marriages or or not in marriages or divorced. And they don't practice Mormonism as much or if at all. So let's go over the saints and the sinners. So first we'll start with Jen Affleck. No, she's not related to Ben Affleck. Or she might be because she kept saying it on the show kind of, but not really also. They're like, well, if you marry him, you get to say you're related to Ben Affleck. But she's like a second cousin. His dad's only met him like once. But like I'm like, yes, I'm related to Ben Affleck. You are. And I was named after J-Lo. like I'm here to take their place. So Jen is known as a saint as she is still in her first marriage. She's considered like the second most Mormon out of the group. She wears garments regularly and has also had a baby blessing in the show, which are both extremely Mormon practices, basically. And temple garments are basically a type of underwear worn by members of the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-day Saints. Oh my gosh, I'm sorry. And they are worn as a reminder of the covenants. made in temple ceremonies and to symbolize the wearers of the connection to God. So they're very important in the religion, I would say. And she's really one or I think two of them wear them, maybe three. It's all a blur. But anyway, most of them don't wear them, but Jen was known to wear them. But she also like swears on camera. And sometimes she did wear immodest clothing without her garment. So like she wouldn't be considered a true Mormon, I guess. But I would say she's like up there. And Jen's storylines basically revolves around her and her difficult marriage with her very controlling husband. And she struggles with emotional manipulation and divorce fears, make her one of the most sympathetic characters in the show. Fans and media and myself empathize with her vulnerability as she navigates through the challenges of the show. So that's Jen. And the next saint is Michaela Matthews. She's also in her first marriage and she was the one who was married at only 16 years old. And she was married to a guy that was 21 years old. And apparently- Looking into Utah law, basically it says that anyone who is 14 to 15 years old can legally agree to have consensual Sejual interdiction, you know what with someone who is four years or younger or four years old Wait under under four years older. Does that make sense? So he would have to be 20 So that means she had it what she did wasn't legal or what that person did to her wasn't legal I should say and that's just not like said in the show at all and I'm just like I don't know math very well, but I mathed it. So that was weird. That was very strange. And it's also just kind of sad. But yeah, she was her basically her childhood was stolen away from her. She also got pregnant at like 16. She is one of the youngest cast members as well. And she's basically just grappling with the expectations of early motherhood and her conservative upbringing and her storyline focuses around her struggle to reconcile her youth with the expectations placed by the Mormon community. So I would say she's pretty up there as like one of the most Mormon of the group as well. But you know. Not perfect. And that brings us to the next saint who is Macy Neely. She's still in her first marriage. And I'd say she's like probably a fan favorite. She's very much a girl's girl. Like she's for everybody. She's not like manipulative like some of the other ones or like very judgy like some of the other girls. She's like the most Mormon out of all of them. I wouldn't say like a true Mormon, but you know, she's the most Mormon in practicing. She does a lot of the practices within Mormon. She goes to... you know, church every Sunday. She's very mindful of what she says and she's not drinking alcohol. All that, you know? And she even answered some backlash on TikTok when people were saying that she wasn't Mormon, which was interesting. I am indeed Mormon. I am also active in the church. I grew up Mormon. I've been Mormon my entire life. Besides maybe a two-year period where I was an active in college. I attend church every single Sunday. I also have a calling in the church. I also have a temple recommend. She basically plays a central role in some of the season's biggest revelations and viewers really often sympathize with her as she navigates personal. in group conflict. So she's awesome. I think she's great. And then we have our final saint, but I would say sinner. But anyway, she's in her first marriage, which makes her a saint or whatever. But Whitney. Whitney Leavitt. Leave it. Leave it. Leave it alone. She is like the clear villain of the show. Like so clear. And those are kind of the people I live for in these shows. Some people think that's their favorite because they love it, love the drama and the going against things, but also being for it. I don't know. But basically, she's the most polarizing figure in the show. Whitney balances religious conservatism with her influencer life. She has the infamous RSV TikTok incident, which I didn't even realize was her. And after I realized it, I was like, and they even talked about it on the show. And it's kind of funny. Obviously not funny, the kid's fine and that's good, but she literally and pointed at her baby who was like dying of RSV on TikTok and she's just like... And it's so cringy, um, but here's a clip. In that video, people thought I was using my child's sickness for clout and for attention. So that was a big point, a note in the show. I can only feel for her because I've been in her exact shoes and it sucks and it will really mess with you mentally and I feel like... Yes, to us and maybe everyone else it's not that deep, but to her going through that right now, it's very deep. And you just know that you, it's not good for your mental health, regardless of how she's acting out. And then she also had a very provocative brand deal, which was also brought up with a Sejual toy. And this also came up when something else came up about one of them never before, which is also just crazy. We'll get into that. But yeah, she's both. admired and criticized for her candidness and willingness to push boundaries, let's say. Next up, we have the sinners, okay? The ones that make the show interesting. First up, we got Demi, or Demi, or Demi, I don't know. She's kind of like the fan favorite sinner, I'd say, I guess, I don't know, from what I've read. She kind of came on strong a lot at first. very clearly just wanting to be famous and wanting to be like noticed or whatever. But then she kind of, as the season goes forward, she really like speaks about how women aren't treated equally within Mormonism, in her opinion, and how basically women are set up to fail in that faith and everything, which was really interesting. She doesn't claim to be Mormon anymore at all, although she was raised Mormon. But yeah, her story is very interesting. Again, it's not a bad show. It's interesting to just watch people's lives. I think that's why people like reality TV. It's obviously so over-dramatized and romanticized. a lot of people went into the show. Like we saw TikToks after the show was released, that all of them thought that they were like the hero of the show, but it was so clearly not that most of them sucked. So it's just, that's why I don't like reality TV that much. Just cause it's like, you're just watching like a fake life. It's like a real person's life because you never know what's true or what's not so and then the next sinner is Jesse and she's basically like the least Mormon she she like she drinks she swears She's baddie, you know, she completely left the Mormon Church. She's just like I get a shot She like brings like a friggin flask everywhere. She goes with vodka in it or whatever. It's like over the top but also Kind of slay. I don't know. She also has a hair extension company which kind of is funny because it goes along with like the modern Mormon beauty standards. They all look the exact same. If I watched maybe the first five episodes, I couldn't tell you who was who really because they all look the same. Maybe except for Whitney because she has like shorter hair, but it's kind of scary how similar Mormon women look. Like they look the exact same. So that's really interesting. But anyway, she has the hair extension. Sorry, I have something in my eye. That's what I get for talking shit. I'm not really talking shit. I'm talking truth. I'm spitting facts. I'm spitting straight facts. I don't know what I was saying. But yeah, Jesse's character doesn't really always take center stage, but when it It does. Her loyalty and emotional depth become very evident. That's why she's like, she is pretty liked, I think, among most people. She's viewed as like a very like stabilizing force within the group. Although she's usually caught in like the middle of larger conflicts, but she's like one of the more level-headed-ish group. I don't know. Again, it's kind of all blur. I did notes and then I just kind of, I got ADHD brain, man. Anyway, that's her. Next sinner, we have Taylor Frankie Pauly, aka OG of the group. OG mom, talk, or whatever. She is- the sinner, not the sinner, but like, you know, I'd say the most, I'd say the most polarizing person on the show, just given her history. So she's obviously divorced and she's also remarried. She's kind of known as like the, the imperfect hero of the group and to a lot of other people, especially on social media. She's trying, she tried to take that swinging scandal and try to turn it into something better. Like she's trying to become a better person. And I do this because I don't know. And I say, I don't know because she also got arrested for domestic violence. Bomb drop. And basically you're saying, well, what happened? Did she like slap her husband across the face or something? No, she threw a chair at a wall, I guess that it, but it didn't, it hit her kid. It hit her five-year-old child and she got, she got arrested for that. It's pretty bad. And it's kind of hard to like just dismiss and they kind of dismiss it in the show because the show really tries to. paint her as like a heroine. She's basically, she's a woman trying to make herself better, going to like probation meetings and doing all these good things, basically. But it's kind of hard to just forget that she threw a chair at her kid. Sometimes it's hard to take the show seriously because like you don't know whether to feel bad for her because at some moments you really do. And she's also pregnant during the show. So that just adds to that kind of empathy. But sometimes I always think, cause I'm just a cynical person, that it's very calculated and it's reality TV. You know, all of them want to become rich and famous. That's why they're on the show. All of them want money and fame. There's no other way to go about it. So like, it's hard to think that she's not very calculated in how she's presenting herself. There's also like clips of her in the past with her, I believe ex-husband at the time, just acting. strange and I don't know, it's just all weird. And I don't like automatically feel bad for her. I kind of just, I'm questioning intentions basically. Not that I think anybody can't change. I think that's life, you know? But when it's on reality television, everyone's full of shit, pretty much, so. And last but not least, we have Layla. the last sinner. And she's actually the only single one as well. She is also one of the ones that got married at a very young age, which was 18 years old. And she would be divorced at 22 years old and have a child. So she literally went through like some of the most pivotal years of her life being married and divorced. And like by the time most people can drink and are halfway through college, she had already married, divorced and had a kid. So like, I can't even imagine that, as a woman, as a human being, just like how much that would... with your head and they kind of show that journey as well and she's the one that said she's never finished in her life as well which brings up all the sejual toy scandal with whitney and everything and it's just kind of sad it's just kind of sad to see how some of the women are just so blind to the rest of life they're so like pushed into this one little pocket even though they are like out you know they're still in it like they don't like most of them besides what's her face who drinks vodka they they're like vice is pop or soda for the americans i say pop because i'm canadian and it's crazy. That's like how they get like, they're just like freaking like doing shots of pop. It's just like what's happening right now. 44 ounce sparkling water with sugar-free coconut, sugar-free vanilla, sugar-free raspberry, sugar-free pineapple, and coconut cream. Chef's kiss. And like the funniest thing about this all is like, they're all like twerking on TikTok. They're all like doing basically anything that you would assume a Mormon wouldn't do. They're just doing it. They're wearing like. like scantily clad clothing, not all of them, but most of them. And it was just all strange. I don't know. Again, I just think reality TV in general is just like brain rot. But what do I know? Speaking of twerking, did you guys-actually this has nothing to do with twerking, not really, but it's fun It's fun and cool like twerking I guess and it's sour boys I wanted to give you guys another little promo, another little promo because you guys have been loving the candy and we love that We have little guys, we have new sour boys candies And I just wanted to gift you a little something if you've hung around this long in the video, you know I think an appropriate little promotion code will be twerk. Let's do it. Let's do it together. Let's say all caps twerk Let's do percentage off. Let's give you 15% off your whole order. And let's do, I think last time we did 500. Let's do, let's do 500. Let's do 500 orders. So the first 500 of you will get 15% off, which I think is pretty cool. Thank you guys for supporting my little co-owned business with my lovely, lovely boyfriend, Caleb. And let's get back to it. Let's get back to the twerking moms. So use code twerk. at Cheka, or you can just use the link that I put in the description of the comments or somewhere down below. But yeah, the whole show just navigates like Mormonism and, and scandals and relationships, faith, everything. It is interesting, but again, like it being reality TV, you just don't know how much is like completely made up or, or manipulated or all that. So it's just hard for me to like, really in, encapsulate myself in it. Like some other people do, I guess, but the most I'd say, I would go over every single episode, but I want you to. you know, hang around. So I'll basically just go over like the biggest scandals. First of all, one of the biggest scandals within the series was the swinging scandal, obviously, where Taylor Frankie Paul confessed her involvement in soft swinging and that lifestyle where couples swap partners and whatnot, and that most of the other moms do the same thing. And this I think is what really captivated viewers to start watching the show as well. And then we have Whitney's villain arc. basically. She has like a very hypercritical behavior, criticizing Taylor's lifestyle while posting a sponsorship Instagram photo of a Sejual toy, like I said, which left viewers like completely flabbergasted, which is hilarious. And Whitney also had like multiple tense confrontations with some of the other cast members. And she was called out by other fellow cast members for her being like really judgmental with her attitude towards people that weren't like as Mormon as her and like cutting ties with former friends, which led to some explosive feuds. And then we have Jen Affleck's relationship. with her very controlling husband. It was a very major storyline within the show. He even threatened to divorce her at some point in the show if she attended the Chippendales ceremony, if you will. Do you want to go to that? No, I think it's more of like a funny thing if we do end up going. Being divorced and taking care of two kids would be kind of tough. So I guess you made the decision. It was basically like the trip to Vegas. That's it. And that's all just sad, dude. I hate. I hate that. I hate watching that. It was-it's like hard to watch. But it basically showcased like the oppressive dynamics within some marriages portrayed in the show, which sparked a lot of like controversial and emotional manipulation gender roles within the Mormon community. And then we had, you know, the infamous baby shower like feud where basically like one of them had a baby shower and some of them weren't invited because they weren't Mormon enough and couldn't go into the temple and it was just a whole big thing. It was just like, what the f-Oh, is Whitney not here yet? I don't know. Fashionably late. Did she tell her she's not coming? No, and I told her maybe she should, but she said that Taylor's probably not even gonna notice. And then there's a whole Vegas meltdown and toilet paper incident where during a dinner scene after an emotional blow up, Whitney returns to the table with a piece of toilet paper stuck to her shoe, which is just like classic. And like, so I feel like staged. And the editors highlighted it like so much, which maybe it wasn't staged, but it's like pretty funny. So it was like kind of a comical moment within the series with many calling it like reality TV gold, which if that's gold on TV, we are doomed. But anyway, there was a lot of like pivotal moments and there's a lot of emotional moments and everything and like hearing about their lives with having children and getting married young and getting divorced and not being accepted in their community. It's all interesting. But some critics do feel that the show didn't really deeply dive into the Mormon values and instead focused on sensationalism, which is fair. And this probably gave the viewers a very skewed image of religion. And that's kind of why I went over all the stuff in the beginning of the video, because I think it is important to have context. Context matters. Context matters. A lot of creators have pointed out how the show really emphasizes like interpersonal feuds such as power struggles within marriages and friendships over genuine exploration of faith and obviously as we know that the Mormon community doesn't really like the show to be fair It's basically drawn attention to all like the most negative parts of the culture essentially and the influencer lifestyle that these women lead is not in line with most people in the Mormon culture, so it's kind of like an insult almost. But from watching a lot of Mormon creators, they're like, no, this is kind of what it's like. So many people said that the Secret Lives of Mormon Wives would not be an accurate representation of Mormonism, but after binging the A show I could not disagree more. Okay, these are my thoughts on Secret Lives of Mormon Wives. I know a lot of people are not super happy about like, I'm using the word Mormon in the title, whatever. They feel like it's misrepresenting Utah and mostly like the church. I don't feel like that's true at all. I feel like everything that I saw was very, very accurate. Which is also fair. Like, they're just like, no, nobody's perfect. And nobody's like, I'm perfect and I'm gonna follow the rules. So that's fair as well. And this is just coming from like the Mormon church. The like, you know, the... the ones that are deep in it. But in a statement shared in August about the show, the LDS church hinted at its dissatisfaction with the portrayal of its religion in a wider message titled, When Entertainment Media Distorts Faith. And then they said, we understand the fascination some in the media have with the church, but regret that portrayals often rely on sensationalism and inaccuracies that do not fairly and fully reflect the lives of our church members or the sacred beliefs that they hold dear. So, I mean, you know. Fair. People aren't perfect and people are gonna live their lives and people are gonna be in religions and people are just like they're gonna follow it the way they follow it so it's just it just is what it is. If anything it highlights that people are imperfect and how true that is, which I think is valuable, you know? But anyway, yeah, overall the secret lives of Mormon wives, my lord. It offers plenty of drama and controversy and it has a lot of, you know, deeper implications regarding marriage and faith and emotional abuse. And it sparks some serious discussions among viewers and critics alike, especially like creators like myself and on TikTok are talking about it. Some are very, you know, for it. It's like a must watch reality show and they're all like reality enthusiasts. And then there are some people questioning the ethics behind the show and the portrayal of the sensitive topics, which I'm kind of not in either side of the category. I'm like, I watched it mostly for this video. Um, and I think it's TV. You know, I think you really just shouldn't take it that seriously, especially reality TV. It's mostly brain rot. Like I said, um, I, like I say, always do your, always do your homework, you know, do your homework and be nice. So also Buy some sour boys at sour.gg with code twerk. 15% off. If you want. If you want a little something sweet after a little bit of sour talk. But anyway, I hope you learned something in this video. If you like the video, please like the video. It really helps the channel. And also subscribe if you haven't subscribed. This is the best YouTube channel ever. And until next time, I will see you beautiful face in the next episode. All right. Bye.

Hello beautiful, how you doing today? How you doing today? You want to learn something useful today? Not the right video. Today we're learning about some useless brain rot knowledge, okay?

Also, but you know what? I'm actually gonna throw in some some actual knowledge throughout this video So stick around you'll actually learn something you could take away from this experience, I think. But unlike this video you are stunning and smart and dare I say sagacious.

Jay you gotta put that on the screen. Probably most of them don't know I had to look it up myself. Anyway, today we're gonna talk about the infamous viral show The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives and if you don't know anything about the show, this is honestly the perfect video for you It's a good synopsis.

So you don't have to watch this show, which I wouldn't necessarily recommend But if you like shows reality TV shows that you could just throw it in the background, it's fine to do that It's entertaining enough. But yeah, let's get into it So let's first off start with the synopsis of the show. The scandalous world of a group of Mormon mom influencers implodes when they get caught in the midst of a swinging scandal that makes international headlines.

Now their sisterhood is shook to its core. Faith, friendship, and reputations are all on the line. Will hashtag mom talk be able to survive and continue to give the rule book a run for its money?

Or will this group fall from grace? The wording in this synopsis is crazy coming from a Christian background. Crazy! Yeah, I mean, that's a pretty good synopsis in and of itself, but it is quite literally that. It's seven, eight, eight of them?

I don't know. I'll talk about them. It's eight Mormon or ex-Mormon and Mormon moms just thrown into this mix.

Kind of like the... Yeah. housewives of Orange County or Beverly Hills or some shit. I never watched those shows. And it's basically just talking about their lives and what kind of scandals they've been through, how they came out of the Mormon church or how they're in the Mormon church, how Mormon they are, how Mormon they aren't.

And it's just been going crazy on the internet because a lot of people have a lot of opinions about it. Mormons got opinions about it. Regular people loving the show because they don't even understand what's going on. Yada, yada. I think I've seen quite a few videos about this show, but nobody really delves into Mormonism in the history of it.

And I think I think that's important, like to understand the show and to understand what's going on and like perspectives of the actually religious people that follow those religious rules and who doesn't. So I think, and this is the little, we're going to learn something part. We're going to delve into the history of Mormonism, otherwise known as the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-day Saints, otherwise known as the LDS. And then we're going to be talking about the show and all the scandals and all the, all the, all the, all this shit. Let's start with the history lesson.

Okay. Let's talk about it. So, Mormonism, otherwise known as the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-day Saints, aka LDS, was founded in the 19th century by Joseph Smith, aka what my boyfriend calls the first iPad baby.

If you get it, you get it. If you don't, you don't. It's fine. I also want to preface that I have no opinions on anything really.

I grew up in the Christian world and stuff and I'm just like, I'm basically just giving a brief history about this. I'm not gonna... Like I don't have really much of an opinion because I think everybody can believe in what they believe in as long as nobody's getting harmed and I'm good with it.

So anyway, so the movement emerged during a time of religious revival in the United States, particularly in upstate New York, known as the Second Great Awakening. And here's a breakdown of how kind of it all started and evolved. So first off, we have Joseph Smith and the First Vision and we're going back to 1820. All right, so Joseph Smith was born in 1805 in Vermont, and he grew up in a religiously active family.

During his teenage years, he was confused by the conflicting doctrines of Christian denominations. And in 1820, at the age of 14, Smith claimed to have experienced what is called the First Vision. And in this vision, he reported seeing God the Father and Jesus Christ.

That's pretty cool. Who told him that all existing Christian churches were corrupted, and that he was the chosen to restore the true church. And then in comes the Book of Mormon from 1827 to 1830. So in 1823, Smith claimed he was visited by an angel named Moroni.

Moroni? I don't know. Who directed him to a set of golden plates buried in a hill in Palmyra, New York.

And these plates were written in an ancient language, and they were said to contain a religious history of ancient American civilization. And Smith, being the only one who could transcribe these plates, translated them into what became the Book of Mormon. And this was published in 1830. And the book tells a story of a group of Israelites who sailed to the Americas around 600 BCE, and the teachings of Jesus Christ to these peoples after his resurrection.

So the book serves as an additional scripture alongside the Bible. And I just want to say that I'm not I do kind of want to talk about a little bit of the controversy surrounding this, because I think it's important, honestly, so people can have like the full idea of it. But basically, the controversy of it was that the plates that were given to Joseph, when people asked like, whoa, where are the plates? He's just like, the angel took them back. I don't know.

Which, yeah, okay. So, yeah. That happened.

So nobody could actually physically verify the existence of the plates, which obviously led people to assume that he fabricated the story. And Smith claimed to have translated the plates by a gift and the power of God using a set of seer stones or Urim and... thumim, or later a stone placed in a hat.

And later critics and skeptics would see this and say it was inconsistent with traditional methods of scholarly translation. And one of the most interesting ones is that Martin Harris, who was one of Smith's first followers, was a financial baker. And basically he helped him transcribe, as in he basically just acted as a scribe as Joseph was saying it. And Harris had convinced Smith to let him take those 116 pages home to his wife, who was a skeptical.

And then basically she was just like, all right, well, if he was able to transcribe this, then he could transcribe it again. So we're going to lose these pages and then he can transcribe it again. So when Harris went back to Joseph, he was just like, we lost the pages. Can you transcribe it again? And Joseph basically said that it was forbidden by God to retranslate that portion.

So critics would see this as a coverup suggesting that Smith invented the story and could not reproduce the same text. So it's a pretty good like... Hey man, I don't make the rules, alright?

Where have I said this before? It's like every cult thing that I've ever said before. It's like, hey, it's not me, alright?

It's that guy. Okay, I want to re-transcribe it. I wish I could. Okay, but I can't. And there's many, many more controversies, but that's kind of the main overarching one, so we'll get back into the history of it.

So we'll talk about the establishment of the church. So on April 6th, 1830, Joseph Smith officially founded the Church of Christ, later named the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-day Saints, a.k.a. the LDS church in Fayette, New York. And the church's early members believed that Joseph Smith was a modern day prophet and that he was restoring the true Christian faith. And the church would- quickly grow, attracting converts from various states, but it also faced significant opposition and persecution, kind of like what I was talking about before with all the controversy surrounding it.

So some of the key events that happened in Mormon history first started with the migration to Ohio and Missouri. So Smith and his followers would move to Kirkland, Ohio, where they would hope to build a very strong and religious community. And during this time, they would establish a temple in Kirkland. and gain many converts. And in 1838, the Mormons would face severe persecution in Missouri, leading to the infamous extermination order issued by the governor, which essentially legalized violence against Mormons.

And they were forced to flee. I don't agree with that. I don't agree with forcing any violence upon anyone. I think that's horrendous.

So the Mormons would move and then settle in a Nauvoo, Illinois. Sorry if I'm saying that wrong. Where they built a new thriving community.

In Nauvoo, Nauvoo. Navy, I'm sorry, quickly grew to become one of the largest cities in Illinois. And it was here that Joseph Smith really started to introduce some controversial doctrines, such as plural marriage, which you've probably heard of, and it's called polygamy, which drew both internal dissent and external opposition.

And in 1844, tensions between the Mormons and non-Mormons grew and grew and escalated very quickly. culminating in the arrest of Joseph Smith. And while imprisoned in Carthage jail, Smith and his brother Hiram were murdered by a mob in June 27th, 1844. So then comes the Exodus to Utah.

So after Smith's death, Brigham Young became the leader of the majority of the Mormons, facing continued prosecution along the way. So Young would lead the Mormons on a westward exodus, and eventually settling in Salt Lake Valley in present-day Utah, 1847. So the Mormons would establish a new home in what was Currently at the time a Mexican territory creating a theocratic community they called the desert and then in the 1850s the Mormon community Absolutely flourished in Utah as we know now a lot of them still live there, but tensions with the US government continued particularly over the practice of polygamy, which had become more public under Brigham Young. So the church would officially renounce polygamy in 1890 under the President Wilford Woodruff to facilitate Utah's acceptance as a U.S. state. And although the mainstream LDS church abandoned that practice, splinter groups such as fundamentalist Mormons continued to practice polygamy.

So let's talk about the Mormon beliefs. So Mormon theology is both based off of the Bible and other scriptures unique to the LDS faith, most notably the Book of Mormon. So Mormons believe in the Godhead, consisting of God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost as separate. So they're distinct beings, but unified in purpose. So this differs from traditional Christian concept of the Trinity, where God is seen as one being in three persons, basically.

And then comes their plan of... Salvation, which is basically Mormons believe in pre-mortal existence, where human spirits lived with God before being born on Earth. Earth life is basically just a test, and depending on how individuals live, they will return in God's presence or to a lesser degree of glory after death.

And there are three degrees of glory, or heaven as some may say. There's celestial, terrestrial, not those terrestrials, I know what you're thinking, and telestial. And the celestial kingdom is the highest and is reserved for those who have fully accepted the teachings of Jesus Christ and that followed the LDS ordinances.

And Mormons also believe in the continuing revelation and this means that God continues to speak through modern-day prophets, which is very prevalent in in Mormonism. Joseph Smith being the first and continuing with a subsequent leader of the LDS church. And they also have temples, which are basically sacred buildings where special ordinances are performed, such as baptisms for the dead, eternal marriages, and ceilings that bind families together for eternity. In addition to the Bible, like we talked about before, Mormons accept the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine of the Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price as scripture.

And there were lots of other branches of Mormonism as well, similar to Christianity, where people people believe in certain things and other things, this is just kind of the overall arching. So I don't wanna claim that each Mormon is the exact same because that's not the case, but this is just the overarching history of it. And Mormons, like a lot of other religions, kind of have a set of practices and guidelines that they need to follow, and they call it the word of wisdom.

And these are rules that shape the way they live their life. So the word of wisdom being, it prohibits the consumption of alcohol, tobacco, coffee, tea, and illegal drugs. I would be screwed. I'm just kidding.

Just the coffee part basically. And it encourages the consumption of healthy foods and advises against over consumption of meat as well. And then there is tipping where members are expected to contribute 10% of their income to the church to support operations and or charitable work. And then they have the Sabbath day where members are encouraged. to keep the Sabbath day holy, meaning they avoid work or recreational activities on Sundays.

And then there's also missionary work, where young men and sometimes women are encouraged to serve in missionaries for a period of 18 months to two years. And this is a central part of the LDS faith and spreading the LDS faith. So a list of things Mormons can't do. I think the list is extremely long, but the kind of main ones are that they cannot have premarital or extramarital sejules.

No panagrapha. You know what I'm saying? Cornography. Uh, no gambling and no tattoos or piercings. And again, there are-I'm sure there are plenty of Mormons that do all of the above.

I mean, I only speak about Christianity because I grew up in the Christian faith, but similar to Christian-you know, like, a lot of rules are broken, but with Christianity, you're basically born a sinner, so you're kind of like just expected to sin, and then you just, you know, say, I'm sorry I did that. You just have to be cognizant of it, basically. So I'm not saying that, you know, if you do all these things, you're not Mormon.

I don't know how it works. Okay, I don't know. I have no idea. I'm just a messenger right now, okay?

I'm just saying what I read. So let's go on to modern Mormonism then. So today the LDS Church is one of the fastest growing religious movements in the world with more than 16 million members globally. Its headquarters are in Salt Lake City, Utah and is led by a prophet president. Kind of like who Joseph Smith was, each one following him was a prophet president.

So the current prophet president of the LDS Church is Russell M. Nelson. And he became the 17th president of the LDS Church in January 14th, 2018 following the death of his predecessor Thomas S. Monson. And me having my true crime mind just just looked into like what cults have stemmed out of Mormonism and stuff and there's a lot And basically these cults are just kind of like splinter groups from Mormonism and they're called cults because of extreme practices I think that's when it indicates it's a cult is when it's extreme when it's not normal You know, so first off you have the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-day Saints, aka the FLDS.

They're one of the most prominent groups that kind of broke away from the LDS church and this was after they officially abandoned the practice of polygamy. So the FLDS, they're like, that's stupid, we like polygamy, we're gone. So the FLDS officially split from Mormonism in about the 1930s and this group was based in Colorado City, Arizona. and Hilldale, Utah. And the FLDS was led by a self-declared prophet, classic cult, who wields nearly absolute authority.

Not good. Sounds a little dictator-y to me. And one of its most notorious leaders is Warren Jeffs, who assumed leadership in 2002 after the death of his father, Rulon Jeffs. And some of the controversies surrounding Warren specifically were that his arranged marriages were not great in age ranges, if you know what I mean.

You know, girl, guy. Gross. And there was a lot of sejljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljljl and sentenced to life in prison.

Nice. But despite Jeff's imprisonment, the LDF, the FD, oh my God, it's all getting mixed up in my head. The FLDS remains active, although significantly weakened by legal actions and internal divisions.

But they still practice polygamy. Essentially, that's like the main thing that they do. That's different from the LDS church. There's also the Kingston clan, also known as the Order, which is scary sounding, or the Davis County Cooperative Society. doesn't roll off the tongue.

And it was founded around the 1930s as well by Charles Eldon Kingston. And like the other fundamentalist groups, the Kingston clan broke away from the mainstream LDS church to continue the practice of polygamy. They just loved that idea.

They're like, this is lame now. It's lame. Okay. Give me more wives. But the Kingston clan specifically was notorious for incestuous marriages.

Big no-no. Big bad no-no. And this was to keep the bloodlines pure.

I knew another guy that liked to keep bloodlines pure. You know what I'm talking about? And the leadership of the Kingston clan is basically passed down through the Kingston family.

Every time I hear Kingston, I just want to be like, Hey, O'Shawn, you're Mr. Kingston. If you know, you know. Which brings me to the Church of the Firstborn of the Lamb of God. That's a mouthful.

Where we have Ervil LeBaron, who declared himself the rightful prophet of the Mormon faith and introduced the doctrine of the blood atonement. That sounds scary. Which basically justified the killings of individuals who opposed the leadership of the church. So basically, him. He claimed that those who defied his authority were guilty of grave sins that could only be forgiven through their deaths.

Not cool. And LeBron's teachings would lead to a series of assassinations known as the LeBaron's killings. Did I say LeBron?

I'm sorry. LeBaron. It's LeBaron.

If I said LeBron somewhere, it's because that name was just, I don't know. I don't know. And this is where LeBaron basically ordered the murders of rival leaders, including one of his own brothers, Joel. Sounds like a standup guy. And by that, I mean...

He's not a great guy, but he would be arrested in 1979 and he would be ordered to life in prison But even from prison he ordered several other murders that would happen even even though he was in prison So this guy had like some serious power and then there's there's other offshoots I could go on for quite literally a long time, which I don't think you want But there's a true in the Living Church of Jesus Christ in the latter-day saints. There's the Church of the firstborn Etc. Anyway, that is like the gist of Mormonism. Obviously the cults that I was talking about, it does not revolve around that technically. I just thought that that was an interesting offshoot that I know you guys appreciate hearing about.

But all that, and we go to the brain rot, okay? We come to hashtag mom talk, aka hashtag brain rot, okay? And like I said before, it is a show on Hulu with a series that's out. It has, I- I think eight episodes, I had to double check. Yep, eight episodes, it's all a blur.

And for those of you who don't know what hashtag mom talk is, I'd suggest you don't go down that route. But basically it was self-founded, I guess it was probably started before her, but it was self-founded by Taylor Frankie Paul, which she's like the OG mom talk, the OG Mormon mom talk. That's kind of what mom talk revolves around. I know there's plenty of moms on TikTok that aren't Mormon, but that's what it kind of revolved around. There came a group.

of Mormon moms that collectively made up hashtag mom talk. I'm gonna try to break this down in the most layman's term interesting way I can. I'm not gonna get into the nitty gritty. There's a lot of other videos if you wanna get like the nitty gritty details, I'll tag some of them below, but this one's just gonna be very brief synopsis. So the original mom talk group isn't who's actually in the show.

There's only actually a few people from that original mom talk group that made the show, which at first people were like, oh my God, what happened? What's the tea? I don't know. We don't really know.

But what we do know is that everything kind of stemmed with a scandal, with that swinging scandal, that soft swinging scandal that we talked about in the synopsis of the beginning of the video. And I'll talk about it briefly right now. So in 2022, Taylor Frankie Paul, the OG of mom talk, the OG Mormon mom talk girl, she was on a TikTok live stream and she was sharing that her and her then husband Tate Paul were getting a divorce. However, it was not the only bomb to be dropped.

She also said that her and Tate had been soft swinging. And if you don't know what that is, it's this. I'm going to put it right here. Just let you read that. And for those of you who didn't read it, it's basically it means that they would switch partners with another couple and hook up without going all the way, AKA soft swinging, not going all the way, I guess.

I don't know. But Taylor claimed that she would hook up. with other pairings of the Mormon TikTok community.

And in the video, she argues, no one was innocent. Everybody has hooked up with everyone in this situation. And this everyone being the rest of the group that was in the original mom talk.

But she didn't give specific names, but it was pretty, pretty clear who she was talking about. Causing an absolute dumpster fire of accusations across their corner of the internet, obviously. Have you talked to your bishop or the church about anything?

No. No? How?

come i don't know because like what if they're gonna like excommunicate me hey when you are out soft swinging what do you expect and what is soft swinging explain that so swinging is where you full-on switch partners like swingers right yes and so for us we like opened up our relationship we're like playing games being intimate all in front of each other so we weren't like full-on switching per se you know yeah yeah so that's why they called it soft swimming which i didn't come up with that term by the way so in the series all the women except Taylor very explicitly deny ever swinging or engaging in non-monogamy. And while they never name drop any of the members of the swinging group, it is implied that they are not the cast of the show. Am I convinced? Not really.

Because these bitches are crazy. In like, I guess, Mormon way. They're not like that crazy, but we'll get into that as well.

But from what I've seen, I've seen a lot of Mormons react. to the show specifically. And a lot of them say that swinging is pretty common in Mormonism because a lot of them get married at a very young age, which I'll go over the cast and how young some of them were, where they got married being like 16 and 18 and starting to have kids.

So like at the time they're older, they're just like, I need to let loose. I need to, I need to, you know, F your husband and you need to be with my husband and my wife or my wife or something. I don't know.

But they just basically were children when they started being adults are having responsibilities so they feel like they need to let loose. That's what I hear, not me, but it kind of makes sense. So some of the OG moms that were in the original MomTalk, as far as I know, Kelly Munday and Miranda MCW, that's their names on TikTok or whatever, they aren't on the show. So they replaced them with other Mormon moms, basically.

And Mormons did not like the idea of the show being on. There was even a petition that was being signed by a lot of people for the show not to be aired. And apparently, I read that Mormons don't use the term Mormon anymore, I guess.

Their most recent prophet exclaims, it's the Church of Jesus Christ Latter-day Saints. So I don't, or maybe Mormonism. So if I've been saying that wrong, I don't know.

That's what it says literally everywhere I look. People who are Mormon refer to themselves as Mormon. So I don't, that's just like one article I read.

So I don't know if I'm saying that wrong. But if I am, I'm sorry, I'm ignorant. Okay, but let's go over the show's cast. Okay, and if I got any of that mom talk drama wrong or names, I... don't care that much.

But here's the show stuff, okay? So essentially, to start off and from my research, basically none of them are really truly Mormon, according to Mormons, okay? According to my research. Like, they're not acting Mormon. Some of them...

claim to be Mormon and some of them have completely dissociated from the church completely. Basically they split off into groups of saints and sinners. Saints being the ones that are still in their first marriages, which isn't really said on the show but it kind of just makes sense because it is what it is, but saints being the ones that are in their first marriages and that for the most part practice Mormonism still, and sinners being people that basically are in second marriages or or not in marriages or divorced. And they don't practice Mormonism as much or if at all. So let's go over the saints and the sinners.

So first we'll start with Jen Affleck. No, she's not related to Ben Affleck. Or she might be because she kept saying it on the show kind of, but not really also.

They're like, well, if you marry him, you get to say you're related to Ben Affleck. But she's like a second cousin. His dad's only met him like once.

But like I'm like, yes, I'm related to Ben Affleck. You are. And I was named after J-Lo.

like I'm here to take their place. So Jen is known as a saint as she is still in her first marriage. She's considered like the second most Mormon out of the group. She wears garments regularly and has also had a baby blessing in the show, which are both extremely Mormon practices, basically. And temple garments are basically a type of underwear worn by members of the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-day Saints.

Oh my gosh, I'm sorry. And they are worn as a reminder of the covenants. made in temple ceremonies and to symbolize the wearers of the connection to God.

So they're very important in the religion, I would say. And she's really one or I think two of them wear them, maybe three. It's all a blur. But anyway, most of them don't wear them, but Jen was known to wear them. But she also like swears on camera.

And sometimes she did wear immodest clothing without her garment. So like she wouldn't be considered a true Mormon, I guess. But I would say she's like up there.

And Jen's storylines basically revolves around her and her difficult marriage with her very controlling husband. And she struggles with emotional manipulation and divorce fears, make her one of the most sympathetic characters in the show. Fans and media and myself empathize with her vulnerability as she navigates through the challenges of the show. So that's Jen.

And the next saint is Michaela Matthews. She's also in her first marriage and she was the one who was married at only 16 years old. And she was married to a guy that was 21 years old.

And apparently- Looking into Utah law, basically it says that anyone who is 14 to 15 years old can legally agree to have consensual Sejual interdiction, you know what with someone who is four years or younger or four years old Wait under under four years older. Does that make sense? So he would have to be 20 So that means she had it what she did wasn't legal or what that person did to her wasn't legal I should say and that's just not like said in the show at all and I'm just like I don't know math very well, but I mathed it.

So that was weird. That was very strange. And it's also just kind of sad. But yeah, she was her basically her childhood was stolen away from her. She also got pregnant at like 16. She is one of the youngest cast members as well.

And she's basically just grappling with the expectations of early motherhood and her conservative upbringing and her storyline focuses around her struggle to reconcile her youth with the expectations placed by the Mormon community. So I would say she's pretty up there as like one of the most Mormon of the group as well. But you know. Not perfect.

And that brings us to the next saint who is Macy Neely. She's still in her first marriage. And I'd say she's like probably a fan favorite.

She's very much a girl's girl. Like she's for everybody. She's not like manipulative like some of the other ones or like very judgy like some of the other girls.

She's like the most Mormon out of all of them. I wouldn't say like a true Mormon, but you know, she's the most Mormon in practicing. She does a lot of the practices within Mormon.

She goes to... you know, church every Sunday. She's very mindful of what she says and she's not drinking alcohol. All that, you know? And she even answered some backlash on TikTok when people were saying that she wasn't Mormon, which was interesting.

I am indeed Mormon. I am also active in the church. I grew up Mormon.

I've been Mormon my entire life. Besides maybe a two-year period where I was an active in college. I attend church every single Sunday. I also have a calling in the church.

I also have a temple recommend. She basically plays a central role in some of the season's biggest revelations and viewers really often sympathize with her as she navigates personal. in group conflict. So she's awesome. I think she's great.

And then we have our final saint, but I would say sinner. But anyway, she's in her first marriage, which makes her a saint or whatever. But Whitney. Whitney Leavitt.

Leave it. Leave it. Leave it alone. She is like the clear villain of the show. Like so clear.

And those are kind of the people I live for in these shows. Some people think that's their favorite because they love it, love the drama and the going against things, but also being for it. I don't know. But basically, she's the most polarizing figure in the show. Whitney balances religious conservatism with her influencer life.

She has the infamous RSV TikTok incident, which I didn't even realize was her. And after I realized it, I was like, and they even talked about it on the show. And it's kind of funny.

Obviously not funny, the kid's fine and that's good, but she literally and pointed at her baby who was like dying of RSV on TikTok and she's just like... And it's so cringy, um, but here's a clip. In that video, people thought I was using my child's sickness for clout and for attention.

So that was a big point, a note in the show. I can only feel for her because I've been in her exact shoes and it sucks and it will really mess with you mentally and I feel like... Yes, to us and maybe everyone else it's not that deep, but to her going through that right now, it's very deep. And you just know that you, it's not good for your mental health, regardless of how she's acting out.

And then she also had a very provocative brand deal, which was also brought up with a Sejual toy. And this also came up when something else came up about one of them never before, which is also just crazy. We'll get into that. But yeah, she's both. admired and criticized for her candidness and willingness to push boundaries, let's say.

Next up, we have the sinners, okay? The ones that make the show interesting. First up, we got Demi, or Demi, or Demi, I don't know. She's kind of like the fan favorite sinner, I'd say, I guess, I don't know, from what I've read. She kind of came on strong a lot at first.

very clearly just wanting to be famous and wanting to be like noticed or whatever. But then she kind of, as the season goes forward, she really like speaks about how women aren't treated equally within Mormonism, in her opinion, and how basically women are set up to fail in that faith and everything, which was really interesting. She doesn't claim to be Mormon anymore at all, although she was raised Mormon. But yeah, her story is very interesting.

Again, it's not a bad show. It's interesting to just watch people's lives. I think that's why people like reality TV. It's obviously so over-dramatized and romanticized.

a lot of people went into the show. Like we saw TikToks after the show was released, that all of them thought that they were like the hero of the show, but it was so clearly not that most of them sucked. So it's just, that's why I don't like reality TV that much.

Just cause it's like, you're just watching like a fake life. It's like a real person's life because you never know what's true or what's not so and then the next sinner is Jesse and she's basically like the least Mormon she she like she drinks she swears She's baddie, you know, she completely left the Mormon Church. She's just like I get a shot She like brings like a friggin flask everywhere. She goes with vodka in it or whatever. It's like over the top but also Kind of slay.

I don't know. She also has a hair extension company which kind of is funny because it goes along with like the modern Mormon beauty standards. They all look the exact same.

If I watched maybe the first five episodes, I couldn't tell you who was who really because they all look the same. Maybe except for Whitney because she has like shorter hair, but it's kind of scary how similar Mormon women look. Like they look the exact same.

So that's really interesting. But anyway, she has the hair extension. Sorry, I have something in my eye.

That's what I get for talking shit. I'm not really talking shit. I'm talking truth. I'm spitting facts.

I'm spitting straight facts. I don't know what I was saying. But yeah, Jesse's character doesn't really always take center stage, but when it It does.

Her loyalty and emotional depth become very evident. That's why she's like, she is pretty liked, I think, among most people. She's viewed as like a very like stabilizing force within the group. Although she's usually caught in like the middle of larger conflicts, but she's like one of the more level-headed-ish group.

I don't know. Again, it's kind of all blur. I did notes and then I just kind of, I got ADHD brain, man. Anyway, that's her.

Next sinner, we have Taylor Frankie Pauly, aka OG of the group. OG mom, talk, or whatever. She is- the sinner, not the sinner, but like, you know, I'd say the most, I'd say the most polarizing person on the show, just given her history. So she's obviously divorced and she's also remarried. She's kind of known as like the, the imperfect hero of the group and to a lot of other people, especially on social media.

She's trying, she tried to take that swinging scandal and try to turn it into something better. Like she's trying to become a better person. And I do this because I don't know.

And I say, I don't know because she also got arrested for domestic violence. Bomb drop. And basically you're saying, well, what happened? Did she like slap her husband across the face or something?

No, she threw a chair at a wall, I guess that it, but it didn't, it hit her kid. It hit her five-year-old child and she got, she got arrested for that. It's pretty bad. And it's kind of hard to like just dismiss and they kind of dismiss it in the show because the show really tries to. paint her as like a heroine.

She's basically, she's a woman trying to make herself better, going to like probation meetings and doing all these good things, basically. But it's kind of hard to just forget that she threw a chair at her kid. Sometimes it's hard to take the show seriously because like you don't know whether to feel bad for her because at some moments you really do.

And she's also pregnant during the show. So that just adds to that kind of empathy. But sometimes I always think, cause I'm just a cynical person, that it's very calculated and it's reality TV.

You know, all of them want to become rich and famous. That's why they're on the show. All of them want money and fame.

There's no other way to go about it. So like, it's hard to think that she's not very calculated in how she's presenting herself. There's also like clips of her in the past with her, I believe ex-husband at the time, just acting. strange and I don't know, it's just all weird.

And I don't like automatically feel bad for her. I kind of just, I'm questioning intentions basically. Not that I think anybody can't change.

I think that's life, you know? But when it's on reality television, everyone's full of shit, pretty much, so. And last but not least, we have Layla.

the last sinner. And she's actually the only single one as well. She is also one of the ones that got married at a very young age, which was 18 years old.

And she would be divorced at 22 years old and have a child. So she literally went through like some of the most pivotal years of her life being married and divorced. And like by the time most people can drink and are halfway through college, she had already married, divorced and had a kid. So like, I can't even imagine that, as a woman, as a human being, just like how much that would... with your head and they kind of show that journey as well and she's the one that said she's never finished in her life as well which brings up all the sejual toy scandal with whitney and everything and it's just kind of sad it's just kind of sad to see how some of the women are just so blind to the rest of life they're so like pushed into this one little pocket even though they are like out you know they're still in it like they don't like most of them besides what's her face who drinks vodka they they're like vice is pop or soda for the americans i say pop because i'm canadian and it's crazy.

That's like how they get like, they're just like freaking like doing shots of pop. It's just like what's happening right now. 44 ounce sparkling water with sugar-free coconut, sugar-free vanilla, sugar-free raspberry, sugar-free pineapple, and coconut cream. Chef's kiss. And like the funniest thing about this all is like, they're all like twerking on TikTok.

They're all like doing basically anything that you would assume a Mormon wouldn't do. They're just doing it. They're wearing like.

like scantily clad clothing, not all of them, but most of them. And it was just all strange. I don't know. Again, I just think reality TV in general is just like brain rot. But what do I know?

Speaking of twerking, did you guys-actually this has nothing to do with twerking, not really, but it's fun It's fun and cool like twerking I guess and it's sour boys I wanted to give you guys another little promo, another little promo because you guys have been loving the candy and we love that We have little guys, we have new sour boys candies And I just wanted to gift you a little something if you've hung around this long in the video, you know I think an appropriate little promotion code will be twerk. Let's do it. Let's do it together.

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And let's get back to it. Let's get back to the twerking moms. So use code twerk. at Cheka, or you can just use the link that I put in the description of the comments or somewhere down below. But yeah, the whole show just navigates like Mormonism and, and scandals and relationships, faith, everything.

It is interesting, but again, like it being reality TV, you just don't know how much is like completely made up or, or manipulated or all that. So it's just hard for me to like, really in, encapsulate myself in it. Like some other people do, I guess, but the most I'd say, I would go over every single episode, but I want you to. you know, hang around. So I'll basically just go over like the biggest scandals.

First of all, one of the biggest scandals within the series was the swinging scandal, obviously, where Taylor Frankie Paul confessed her involvement in soft swinging and that lifestyle where couples swap partners and whatnot, and that most of the other moms do the same thing. And this I think is what really captivated viewers to start watching the show as well. And then we have Whitney's villain arc. basically. She has like a very hypercritical behavior, criticizing Taylor's lifestyle while posting a sponsorship Instagram photo of a Sejual toy, like I said, which left viewers like completely flabbergasted, which is hilarious.

And Whitney also had like multiple tense confrontations with some of the other cast members. And she was called out by other fellow cast members for her being like really judgmental with her attitude towards people that weren't like as Mormon as her and like cutting ties with former friends, which led to some explosive feuds. And then we have Jen Affleck's relationship. with her very controlling husband. It was a very major storyline within the show.

He even threatened to divorce her at some point in the show if she attended the Chippendales ceremony, if you will. Do you want to go to that? No, I think it's more of like a funny thing if we do end up going.

Being divorced and taking care of two kids would be kind of tough. So I guess you made the decision. It was basically like the trip to Vegas.

That's it. And that's all just sad, dude. I hate.

I hate that. I hate watching that. It was-it's like hard to watch.

But it basically showcased like the oppressive dynamics within some marriages portrayed in the show, which sparked a lot of like controversial and emotional manipulation gender roles within the Mormon community. And then we had, you know, the infamous baby shower like feud where basically like one of them had a baby shower and some of them weren't invited because they weren't Mormon enough and couldn't go into the temple and it was just a whole big thing. It was just like, what the f-Oh, is Whitney not here yet? I don't know.

Fashionably late. Did she tell her she's not coming? No, and I told her maybe she should, but she said that Taylor's probably not even gonna notice. And then there's a whole Vegas meltdown and toilet paper incident where during a dinner scene after an emotional blow up, Whitney returns to the table with a piece of toilet paper stuck to her shoe, which is just like classic. And like, so I feel like staged.

And the editors highlighted it like so much, which maybe it wasn't staged, but it's like pretty funny. So it was like kind of a comical moment within the series with many calling it like reality TV gold, which if that's gold on TV, we are doomed. But anyway, there was a lot of like pivotal moments and there's a lot of emotional moments and everything and like hearing about their lives with having children and getting married young and getting divorced and not being accepted in their community.

It's all interesting. But some critics do feel that the show didn't really deeply dive into the Mormon values and instead focused on sensationalism, which is fair. And this probably gave the viewers a very skewed image of religion. And that's kind of why I went over all the stuff in the beginning of the video, because I think it is important to have context. Context matters.

Context matters. A lot of creators have pointed out how the show really emphasizes like interpersonal feuds such as power struggles within marriages and friendships over genuine exploration of faith and obviously as we know that the Mormon community doesn't really like the show to be fair It's basically drawn attention to all like the most negative parts of the culture essentially and the influencer lifestyle that these women lead is not in line with most people in the Mormon culture, so it's kind of like an insult almost. But from watching a lot of Mormon creators, they're like, no, this is kind of what it's like. So many people said that the Secret Lives of Mormon Wives would not be an accurate representation of Mormonism, but after binging the A show I could not disagree more. Okay, these are my thoughts on Secret Lives of Mormon Wives.

I know a lot of people are not super happy about like, I'm using the word Mormon in the title, whatever. They feel like it's misrepresenting Utah and mostly like the church. I don't feel like that's true at all. I feel like everything that I saw was very, very accurate.

Which is also fair. Like, they're just like, no, nobody's perfect. And nobody's like, I'm perfect and I'm gonna follow the rules.

So that's fair as well. And this is just coming from like the Mormon church. The like, you know, the...

the ones that are deep in it. But in a statement shared in August about the show, the LDS church hinted at its dissatisfaction with the portrayal of its religion in a wider message titled, When Entertainment Media Distorts Faith. And then they said, we understand the fascination some in the media have with the church, but regret that portrayals often rely on sensationalism and inaccuracies that do not fairly and fully reflect the lives of our church members or the sacred beliefs that they hold dear. So, I mean, you know.

Fair. People aren't perfect and people are gonna live their lives and people are gonna be in religions and people are just like they're gonna follow it the way they follow it so it's just it just is what it is. If anything it highlights that people are imperfect and how true that is, which I think is valuable, you know? But anyway, yeah, overall the secret lives of Mormon wives, my lord.

It offers plenty of drama and controversy and it has a lot of, you know, deeper implications regarding marriage and faith and emotional abuse. And it sparks some serious discussions among viewers and critics alike, especially like creators like myself and on TikTok are talking about it. Some are very, you know, for it.

It's like a must watch reality show and they're all like reality enthusiasts. And then there are some people questioning the ethics behind the show and the portrayal of the sensitive topics, which I'm kind of not in either side of the category. I'm like, I watched it mostly for this video.

Um, and I think it's TV. You know, I think you really just shouldn't take it that seriously, especially reality TV. It's mostly brain rot.

Like I said, um, I, like I say, always do your, always do your homework, you know, do your homework and be nice. So also Buy some sour boys at sour.gg with code twerk. 15% off. If you want.

If you want a little something sweet after a little bit of sour talk. But anyway, I hope you learned something in this video. If you like the video, please like the video. It really helps the channel. And also subscribe if you haven't subscribed.

This is the best YouTube channel ever. And until next time, I will see you beautiful face in the next episode. All right. Bye.

Transcript for:Mormon Wives: Drama and Faith Explored

Transcript for:
Mormon Wives: Drama and Faith Explored