Henry VIII and Bill Henrickson; have I gone too far?

I figure you’re thinking one of two things: either “What?” or, “Their having multiple sexual partners is not the same thing.” Well, I suppose some of you might be thinking how Bill is worse as a polygamist than Henry is as an adulterer (I’m looking at you, Sebastian).

But, either way, you’re all wrong. So, ha!

There actually is a bond that Henry VIII of The Tudors, and Bill Henrickson of Big Love share, and it’s not how often they get to simulate sex in front of their respective show’s crew. I’ll give you one hint: old guy, white beard, long flowing robes.

That’s right, it’s their relationship to God. What’s that, you say? Henry was a Reformed Catholic, while Bill is a Mormon who believes in the Principle (is that how you’d explain it, Jen?). There isn’t a lot of theology that overlaps between the two beyond the basics.

Okay, so let’s move beyond what anyone reared in a Judeo-Christian society knows and focus instead on our actual overlap: each man led his own church. Didn’t see that one coming, did you?

That’s right; both Henry and Bill founded their own church. Both did so out of a feeling of persecution and a need to protect themselves and their families (in Henry’s case, that included his people, as it should for any good king.) And both made the break more to allow themselves to shelter their flock with their own open arms, as opposed to as a result of a disagreement in theology (Henry’s desire to divorce Catherine, and Bill’s desire to marry Nicki, notwithstanding.)

What amazes me is the utter nerve it must take to do something like that. Forming your own church! Wow! And think about who they were breaking from: Henry from the Pope (he’s a biggie), and Bill first from the Church of Latter Day Saints, and then definitively from the Compound and the Grants. The sheer will it must take to say “I’m now tending to the spiritual needs of my flock, and I can provide for them better than you.” Let’s give that another “wow.” Parenthetically, what ever happened to respecting your elders….

Now, while Bill made this move on a small scale, Henry shifted a world power over from the clutches of a nation unto itself (though Vatican City didn’t exist back then, in practicality it was more than a religion), and led them down his own path. That he proceeded to rape and pillage the Catholic Church as well says little more than that Henry enjoyed being Henry.

Bill, on the other hand, may have put his own life at greater risk by declaring his association with, and then independence from, the Compound and Roman Grant. While the former risked his freedom (that whole illegal thing) and his life (Roman is crazy with a capital “zy”), the latter may just put him in more danger; it’s too soon to tell what exactly his intentions were in the season finale.

Speaking of which, I kind of missed the significance of his reaffirming their little Henrickson home-church, although it could be a Mormon belief that I’m unfamiliar with; possibly, just as a Baptism starts your life pure, so too it may be possible to “baptize” yourself anew and start all over again. I don’t know. What I do know is that Bill finally came to the realization that life had spun out of control for him and his family, and he hopes that he’ll be able to realign them with their ultimate goal: a better place in the next life, and a more meaningful relationship with God in this one.

Henry’s break came more from a hissy-fit. He wanted what he wanted, and when he found the Catholic Church unwilling to give him the answers that he demanded, he walked. And yet, there’s more of a precedence for king as spiritual leader than father and husband as one. One of the oldest battles that Catholicism fought was between monarch and pope, both struggling for ultimate control over a country’s citizens. Both jostling for the number one slot on the totem pole, and, the position of spiritual leader to an uneducated people.

That a king longed to lead his subjects both on the battlefield and in the sanctuary speaks wonders about the relationship that God and man experienced back then. And yet, I find it questionable that Henry be qualified to stand in as the people’s gatekeeper to God. Granted, he never appointed himself ultimate spiritual ruler, but as Catholic tradition was all he knew, there was a certain amount of the role that was by default his when he overthrew Rome.

Whereas, I feel that Bill has a more legitimate claim to his role. The little that I’ve been exposed to Mormonism gives me the impression that Mormons believe that man can have a direct and intimate relationship with God, much like Judaism but rather unlike Catholicism. In this way, it’s as reasonable to think that any learned person could lead others in their journey, the same way that a Rabbi or a Minister does for their congregants.

Now, I don’t know that Bill is really as pious as he likes to believe, or that he’s qualified to welcome an outsider like Nicki’s daughter into his flock, but his caring for the spiritual wellbeing of all those who were damaged the same way that he was growing up is really a remarkable thing to behold. And, it’s the home-church nature of the thing that allows Bill to address the needs of each individual, a feat that Henry could never accomplish, even if he did call himself Pope.

Alright; by now I’m sure I’ve insulted countless people who both do and don’t actively practice their respective religions, so I will leave this topic in your hands. Do you see it, or am I reaching with this one? Who should we fillet alongside Henry next week?

Clacked by Aryeh S.
on May 05, 2009 @ 09:00 EST5EDT