The breakout success of the US reality TV show "The Secret Life of Mormon Wives," the third season of which begins Thursday, shines a light on America's fascination with the Christian religious movement.

The main Mormon Church, known as The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, has seven million US members -- two percent of the country's population.

Fundamentalist Mormon groups, which practice polygamy, account for fewer than 100,000 people.

Mormons are still "prominent and unique in American imagination," said Brenda Weber, a professor at Indiana University and author of a book on Mormonism in media and culture.

The movement began in 1830 in New York state, coinciding with the rise of the printing press which served as a springboard for the belief system, Weber said.

Mormonism

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