"Big Love"?: HBO Skips True Polygamy in Islamic U.S.

March 20, 2006
By Debbie Schlussel

HBO's new show, "Big Love," is getting a lot of hype. Airing in the prized post-Soprano's slot on Sundays at 10 p.m. Eastern, the show is about a lapsed Mormon in suburban Salt Lake City who has three wives and families.
But while the Mormon Church banned the practice of polygamy in 1890, another religion continues to encourage it to this day. Hint: It begins with an I, ends with an M, and has an S-L-A in the middle.
If you think men with four wives only happens in Utah, think again. If you think that, with Muslims, it only happens in some desert emirate over in the Middle East, also think again.
The fact is there are Muslim men with multiple wives living everywhere in America. But unlike the Mormons--most of whom don't practice polygamy anymore--Muslims with multiple wives aren't subject to ridicule, like HBO shows or Jay Leno jokes. And they aren't prosecuted, like Mormon Tom Green was...

(continue article by clicking title)