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Court TV Radio - Sirius 110
December 22, 2006
6:35 am EST (U.S.)
New York, NY
Court TV Morning with Vinnie Politan

On December 22, 2006, COURT TV's satellite radio program, Court TV Morning with Vinnie Politan, on Sirius 110, once again interviewed Mark Henkel, the Founder of the TruthBearer.org organization, on the air. Mr. Henkel had been on the show three times throughout the previous year. He always had a professional yet entertaining time and the show considered him a "friend of the show." The show was having all such "friends of the show" back as part of their Christmas special. And Vinnie Politan wanted to discuss how polygamous families manage things through the Christimas holiday.

As in the previous interviews, Vinnie Politan once again asked some very good questions. And Mr. Henkel was able to provide some very good soundbite answers. And they both had an enjoyable time, full of huge laughter. What now follows is the entire transcript of the interview.

Interview transcript

[MUSIC: Willie Nelson, singing:] To all the girls I've loved before and travel in and out my door I'm glad they came along I dedicate this song To all the girls I've loved before. [VINNIE POLITAN:] Welcome back to Court TV Morning on Sirius 110. I'm VINNIE Politan. Merry Christmas to you. Happy New year coming up. Uh, thank you for joining us, and, as our Christmas special, we're talking about different Christmas stories. And one of the different stories we wanted to talk about is uh, Christmas in the "world of polygamy." And uh, joining us is a regular, a friend of the show, Mark Henkel, from uh, he's the National Polygamy Advocate, from TruthBearer.org, is the web-site. Good morning, Mark, and Merry Christmas. [MARK HENKEL:] Good morning. Merry Christmas to you ,too. [VINNIE POLITAN:] Yeah, we have a lot of questions, and as being a polygamy - polygamy advocate, the way you are, and a Christian, uh, I thought it'd be interesting to find out what, uh, for polygamists out there, what Christmas could be like. Because here, you know, everyone has, has their own little traditions and, and things that happen. And I want to start with, uh, the Christmas card - a polygamist Christmas card. Uh, because polygamy is, it's a tight, it's still a touchy subject in this country. But when my family, we send out the Christmas card, we always send out one of those picture cards. And it seems all the cards we get from people are those picture cards. And you usually put either your kids in, or the family shot. Are polygamists doing that? [MARK HENKEL:] There are some that will do something like that, sure - to a select group of, uh, uh, people that are, and family members that are okay with the situation. [VINNIE POLITAN:] So, they'll go, like, they'll go to the mall, like we all go to the mall, [chuckling] and take - [MARK HENKEL:] Well, no, no, no, no. [Chuckle.] It wouldn't be something like that. It would be more like a standard family shot. Uh, maybe everybody posed together, with some friend taking it, or something of that nature. [VINNIE POLITAN:] How large can these be? [MARK HENKEL:] Well - [VINNIE POLITAN:] Do they have to, I mean, do you have to use the wide-angle lens... [MARK HENKEL:] [Huge laugh at host's humor.] [VINNIE POLITAN:] ...to get everything in there? [MARK HENKEL, still laughing:] Oh, no. It's, it's not usually, you know, this extreme herd of individuals, you know, where you've got, you know, a hundred people showing up in a picture. Uh, there may be, uh, six or eight children, possibly, two, three - two, three, four adults. [VINNIE POLITAN:] Oh, ok. So, I mean, it's not, it's not totally out of the ordinary [MARK HENKEL:] No. It's not out of that ordinary, size-wise. [VINNIE POLITAN:] So, uh, I guess they have - uh, but you do have to be careful, right? Because you're sending out Christmas cards, 'cause it could be considered, perhaps by some, an, an admission to a lifestyle that, you know, in some parts, uh, uh, you know, is shunned upon and is uh, illegal. [MARK HENKEL:] Well, just as long as the, uh, the wording isn't, uh, done that way. Some, also, will use a, uh, the annual newsletter type of format. [VINNIE POLITAN:] Ok, kind of telling the story of who's doing what. [MARK HENKEL:] What they've done for the last year, and here's a picture of what we did this, and what we did there - [VINNIE POLITAN:] I got married again this year. [MARK HENKEL, huge laughter at host's humor.] No- [laughter] it's not - [more laughter] [VINNIE POLITAN, after sharing in huge laughter too:] We're speaking with Mark Henkel, he is, uh, the National Polygamy Advocate, and Founder of TruthBearer.org. And he's - you're not a Mormon, not a Mormon Fundamentalist, you have nothing to do with Warren Jeffs. [MARK HENKEL:] Correct. [VINNIE POLITAN:] I just want to make that clear to everybody. You're, you're actually a Christian uh, Polygamist - [MARK HENKEL:] Evangelical Christian, that's correct. [VINNIE POLITAN:] Ok. That's, that's good. Tell me, I got some more questions about uh, uh, a polygamist type Christmas. Now, one of the difficult things for me is, is finding that just-the-right present for my wife. But now you've gotta do it, you know, two, three, four times. Um, how does that work? I mean, do you have to give the same presents to each wife, or do you individualize it? Do the wives compare? How does that work? [MARK HENKEL:] Well, there are - [VINNIE POLITAN:] That could be kinda touchy, you know? [MARK HENKEL, big laughter:] Certainly - [VINNIE POLITAN:] We're still human beings. [MARK HENKEL:] Absolutely. [VINNIE POLITAN:] We're all Christians, but we're still human beings. [MARK HENKEL, big laughter:] Well, absolutely. Different families do different things. Uh, it's a, they uh, there is certainly a lot to be said of the benefit of, uh, prepaid store cards. [VINNIE POLITAN, laughing at that humor:] Hey! You know, I didn't think about that. That's the way to do it! [MARK HENKEL:] Especially if there's a preferred store. [VINNIE POLITAN:] Exactly! That's just fantastic. [MARK HENKEL:] Yeah. [VINNIE POLITAN:] Now the other thing is, does the husband, though, kinda get cheated? Because this is what I can see happening in a polygamous household, is that all the wives just get together and get one present for the husband, instead of getting individual ones from each wife. [MARK HENKEL:] Uh - [VINNIE POLITAN:] How does that usually work? [MARK HENKEL:] Well, that's, that's - different families will do different things. You know, uh - [VINNIE POLITAN:] I can see that as being one of the downsides, for the husband. [MARK HENKEL:] Well, if he gets, you know, he gets the "big" gift - [VINNIE POLITAN:] That's a downside [MARK HENKEL:] Well, he gets the "big" gift, if you will, that's multiple, uh, you know, shares of a - uh, you know, two, three adults going in on one gift, will tend to be a bigger thing. [VINNIE POLITAN:] Ok. [MARK HENKEL:] You know, but - but that's, that's - families do what they do on their own individual basis. There's no monolithic thing. [VINNIE POLITAN:] Now, the other, the other thing that comes up, and this comes up in every family, you know, when you get married and, you know, and especially, you know, the first Christmas, the second Christmas, and it can kinda continues, is that there are in-laws, right? [MARK HENKEL:] Yes. [VINNIE POLITAN:] There are in-laws involved, and, and, and because Christmas is great, because you have Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, that's the way most families sort of split things up. Well, you know, I go to my mother-in-law on Christmas Eve, and then Christmas Day, you know, my mom comes over, we go to my mom's house. And you do it like that. But if you, if you've got, you know, two or three or four wives, and two or three or four sets of in-laws, how is it, at that time of year, where it's difficult enough for everyone to get together, how, how would a polygmamous family deal with the in-law issue at Christmas? [MARK HENKEL:] Well, certainly, if everything was all, uh, "easy" to do, then those would be, uh, standard. But very often there will not be every, uh, in-law is "on board" with the family relationship. [VINNIE POLITAN:] Oh, ok! So, if they're not "on board," they're not going to be part of the holiday anyway. [MARK HENKEL:] Ah, of some form. Yeah, they may have, you know, their own problems with it and, and uncomfortable, or whichever. And you don't want to put pressure on that. But that, you know, just like everyday normal family, there's family politics - [VINNIE POLITAN:] Yes! [MARK HENKEL:] - and family dysfunctions and dynamics. [VINNIE POLITAN:] That can get complicated though, there. [MARK HENKEL:] It is. [VINNIE POLITAN:] I think it's much more, because, you know, if you got just the two sets, you know, then there's a logical way to split things up this time of year. But if you've got, you know, three sets of in-laws, and everyone wants to see the grandkids, and you know, it's, it's, it gets to be a lot of running around. [MARK HENKEL:] Or everybody goes to the house, so that the family becomes the central source for Christmas. [VINNIE POLITAN:] Ok! That's a good, that's a good solution! You just host. [MARK HENKEL:] Exactly. Host the party and the in-laws come. [VINNIE POLITAN:] Ok. I understand that. All right. Now, are there any other traditions that, you know, with, with you're Christian - not you're Christian, but the Christian Polygamy that you talk about - uh, that relates specifically to Christmas? Is there anything different? [MARK HENKEL:] No, not really. We're just everyday Christians, really. Uh, and you know - from some that, uh, don't even recognize Christmas from a, uh, it [i.e., the assigned date of December 25 and the catholic created "mass"] wasn't in the Bible kind of a thing, to others that, uh, you know, just, just like every, every other day Christian [who do celebrate it]. [VINNIE POLITAN:] Ok. [MARK HENKEL:] You know, So, it's uh, it's a varied thing. [VINNIE POLITAN:] Hey! Is, is, is the, uh, the "Big Love" on DVD, is that a, uh, popular gift this year, stocking stuffer? [MARK HENKEL, huge laughter:] Well, that may be. Uh, you know, from our perspective, it's still, it's still a Mormon Polygamy, uh, angle. [VINNIE POLITAN:] Yeah, but it's close. [MARK HENKEL:] Oo, yeah - but it's still Mormon. [VINNIE POLITAN:] It's kinds like being from New Jersey and someone will give you a DVD of the Sopranos. You know, we're not all [Sopranos] - [MARK HENKEL, huge laughter at host's "Sopranos" humor is so loud and lengthy that the remainder of VINNIE Politan's very humrous sentence is not able to be heard:] Ok, I got ya. [Still laughing.] [VINNIE POLITAN:] Mark Henkel, so, uh, you're looking forward to the holidays? [MARK HENKEL:] Oh sure. Oh yeah. [VINNIE POLITAN:] That's good. [MARK HENKEL:] It's fun. [VINNIE POLITAN:] All right. [MARK HENKEL:] You know, any, any family time is always good time. [VINNIE POLITAN:] And uh, and all the kids will be all ready and uh - That's great! Mark Henkel, you know, I just wanted to kinda spend a little, a few moments with you, for, for two reasons. One, I wanted to wish you a Merry Christmas because you're a friend of the show. [MARK HENKEL:] Well, thank you, and right back to ya! [VINNIE POLITAN:] And number two, just wanted enlighten the listeners a little bit and find out about some diffeent types of Christmases, and what issues you guys might be dealing with. [MARK HENKEL:] Thank you. [VINNIE POLITAN:] All right. Mark Henkel. National Polygamy Advocate and Founner of the polygamy organization, TruthBearer.org. Merry Christmas. Thanks for joining us. [MARK HENKEL:] Thank you and Merry Christmas to you too, and all your listeners. [VINNIE POLITAN:] All right. TruthBearer.org is the web-site. It's an intersting one. If you want to find out more about this, uh, Christian Polygamy. But there you have it, Jonesy. They got the same issues every other family has, some family politics. [Sidekick, JONESY:] Yeah - multiplied!

As always, the host was very positive about the interview. The TruthBearer.org organization once again re-iterates its gratitude to the show for both the opportunity and for their treating Mr. Henkel so friendly.

Advance orders for the audiocassette recording of this interview will eventually be made available only for TruthBearer.org MEMBERS.

Also See: CourtTV News

TruthBearer.org Media [Directory] Court TV Morning with Vinnie Politan March 28, 2006 - Response to "Big Love" September 05, 2006 - Response to Warren Jeffs Capture November 22, 2006 - Jeffs Hearing Proves Case not about Polygamy December 22, 2006 - How Polygamists Manage Christmas August 08, 2007 - Michel Bryant, Trial Correspondent (filling in) November 13, 2007 - Michel Bryant, Trial Correspondent (filling in)   [Members, Hear it online]