Further Light and Knowledge

Last month we visited Temple Square for the first time in nearly 10 years.

What I noticed: The new mall and how CLOSE it is to the temple. I think the grand opening was impending while we were there so there was some last minute construction going on. Also, I finally saw the now-closed street that I have heard so much about. It sure seems like that would be awfully inconvenient for residents that are used to being able to drive through there. We went on a tour of the conference center and our tour guide was the cutest hunch-backed little old man in full suit/tie. (It was way too hot for him to have to wear that) We went up on the roof and saw the plants and other landscaping they had done up there so they could be "good neighbors" to the nearby high rise apartment dwellers. Interesting stuff.

What my teen son noticed: In the visitors center, they have high tech displays which include touch screens that you can zoom in and out and otherwise manipulate the graphics to see 360 degree views. There were four of these displays and they had most of the interior rooms of the temple that you could take a closer look at. He also noticed all the other big displays, especially the giant model of the temple that had a cross-section cut-out so you could supposedly see all the rooms inside. His take-away: The church clearly spends a TON of money on PR that they could be using to feed the poor.

What my tween daughter noticed: The pictures of the wedding/sealing room on the touch screen. This was apparently the first time she noticed how small the rooms are and the furnishings inside. She was horrified when she asked what the thing in the middle was (the altar), and I told her that is where the bride and groom kneel when they get married. "You mean that isn't a seat for guests?" Nope. "That is just WEIRD. Where does the bride walk down the aisle?" Oh boy, was she totally taken off guard. Later I told her what the bride and groom have to wear OVER their wedding clothing and how they have to do a special handshake during the ceremony. She about busted a gut... she could NOT stop laughing. She now knows what the church does not want any child, teen, and especially a prospective bride to know. It made me think of this podcast I recently listened to: Temple Marriage: From the Outside Looking In

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What other people think about me is none of my business.

Sounds like a successful visit!

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A Post-Mormon Life: http://postmormongirl.blogspot.com

SIMS, you are my hero.

Agreed.

Facts are the best inoculation. Religions don't make good people. Good people make good people.

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Let us read and let us dance: two amusements that will never do any harm to the world.
- Voltaire

I quickly laugh at everything, for fear of having to cry.
- Pierre de Beaumarchais

You've always gotta start with the best ingredients.

Soylent Green is people!

eta: sorry for the tread jack
ps Good news SIMS, happy that your visit had some happy outcomes

Isn't it amazing how silly things look in retrospect? I am so glad I no longer have to try to persuade our kids to believe nonsense. The first time through the temple with my parents, I remember seriously freaking out, because I felt like I was in the middle of a cult. Then I was ashamed of myself for feeling that. Turns out... I was right....

Your kids are allowed to make their own observations and draw their own conclusions. What a gift.

I could not agree more.

I am actually kind of amazed at how well the church is able to indoctrinate it's members into accepting the cultish temple practices. I also found it very disturbing my first time through but quickly internalized it as me not being worthy to understand it. (But I still hated it and only went for family weddings after that.)

I forgot to mention one other very noteworthy observation from our visit there.

When I pointed out the mall to my TBM husband, and told him the church had purchased it, he had no idea. We don't live in Utah, but we do live in the "corridor", but somehow the church has kept this whole transaction from its most devout members. Here's the thing: he was oddly not disturbed by this at all. Not about the purchase, and not about not knowing about it. His take is that it is a Utah deal, so why would he need to know? Because they used YOUR (ahem OUR) money to fund it!

It is very puzzling to me that the church has the ability to bamboozle the members so easily.

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What other people think about me is none of my business.

Thanks for sharing your observations, and those of your kids too Sims, sounds like a very interesting visit/lesson session

Do you think proximity to Temple Square means they are justifying the mall as a proseletyzing tool? As in, let's rope in the people who come to shop and then deliver the whole Mormon spiel?

I don't if anyone has seen this before, but Stephen Fry had some very sharp observations about his visit to Temple Square.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GzfCtGFgRSk

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A Post-Mormon Life: http://postmormongirl.blogspot.com

Haha, yeah loved his comments re mothers wishing to reunite with their children who have left home and husbands who have died..

They are selling it as "revitalizing downtown".

Which is an admirable thing to do.

If you aren't using tithing funds to do it.

I mean, geez, look who is cutting the ribbon at the grand opening!
"Let's Go Shopping!" says the first presidency (18 second mark)

Read an in depth blog entry about the whole fiasco HERE

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What other people think about me is none of my business.

That was a really great read - thanks for pointing it out!

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A Post-Mormon Life: http://postmormongirl.blogspot.com

PureMormomism, IMO, is a great read. He points out a lot of stuff that is very valid. How he's still a member is beyond me.

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"To those seaching for truth - not the truth of dogma and darkness but the truth brought by reason, search, examination, and inquiry, discipline is required. For faith, as well intentioned as it may be, must be built on facts, not fiction - faith in fiction is a damnable false hope." - Thomas Edison

I loved reading the article too, also read a largish number of the comments, but afraid I didn't manage read every one of them..thanks for posting/sharing.