Gonna be a whole lot of jello salad.

Perhaps they should put the new Temple in a suitable location… Suitable to the community at large, not just the spot on the map they picked from Salt Lake. This thing kinda looks like the cheese plant with a spire… The cheese plant provides more jobs.

My grandpapa always said to avoid banks, churches, and governments which have spent a fortune building temples to themselves. His wisdom has paid large dividends.

I do not think this conversation should be about Religion and/or your view on the LDS Religion.

It should be about the zoning. Is the use relevant and appropriate to then immediate neighbors?

The rules were bent to allow a 56 foot tall building where 35 feet is the limit. That might be find but the spire extends up to 120 feet. That is over 3 times the height for the rural zoning. I might be a NIMBY under the circumstance.

As Clancy observed, there’s plenty of irrelevant Mormon-bashing. (Which it typical of any story about the Mormons. Check it out.)

Is the building compatible with the site, now and in the future? (Keep in mind, there’s a huge strip mall anchored by a Fred Meyer, maybe 1/4 mile away.) That should be the only issue here.

In response to other issues raised:

Was the site “picked by Salt Lake”? Typically the local leaders (Guess What? Mormons live in Meridian!) recommend several available sites, they are visited by Church building department people, and then “Salt Lake” makes the final selection.

You can rest assured that if the building goes forward, it will be of top-tier quality materials, fantastic landscaping, etc.

Why don’t they just build a bigger one where the current one is (S. Cole Road)? For the same reason that they built one in Twin Falls, Rexburg, Manila, Buenos Aires, Freiberg, and 100+ other places… to make it more accessible for those who want to access it.

Why doesn’t the Church help the poor? The same people who will frequent the temple, also volunteer at the Church’s cannery (on E. 46th in Garden City), donate generously to a “fast offering” fund used exclusively to feed and house the poor, and are often involved in other local charitable ventures. (My “ward” often helps out at the Idaho Foodbank, Boise Rescue Mission, etc.) Such comments are ill-informed and ignorant. (My opinion.) Perhaps those commenters should consider their own efforts to help the poor and spread good will. Are they Christ-like?

I’m a devoted “Mormon,” but am not an official spokesman for the Church.

I’m not a Mormon, nor will I ever be… but I must say that Mormonism is a key factor in the low crime and high quality of life in this valley. The grip seems to be slipping in the SLC area however.

As for zoning, at least they are not messing up the freeway approaches to accommodate this one.

Bikeboy- well said!

I thought the new Zion Bank downtown with it’s Mormon spire architecture now in the skyline IS the new temple.

There’s gonna be another one?

Think about it? What would Jesus do? Feed and house the poor, or build another useless and pedantic building to baptize dead people?

Inquiring minds obviously want to know! It’s wonderful that we have so many religious-minded folks in our community!!

Here’s my take. (And I’m not a spokesman for Jesus, or for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.)

During his earthly ministry, Christ frequently taught that the “great” commandments are to 1) Love the Lord they God with all thy heart, might, mind and strength, and 2) Love thy neighbor as thyself.

Feeding and housing the poor – or better yet, assisting them to get out of their state of poverty – obviously addresses #2. I believe my (LDS) Church, and its adherents, take extraordinary measures to fulfill that commandment. (See previous post for some examples.) The Church also maintains a “Perpetual Education Fund,” that people are encouraged to participate in. The funds are disbursed to poor people, to enable them to improve their education, which should result in an increase in their earning power and family quality of life. (And it has done just that, for thousands of people worldwide, since it was implemented.) They are expected to reimburse the moneys extended, when and if they are able. Of course, the individual is expected to “love thy neighbor” as well – an ongoing challenge for all of us!

Building temples is a way for us to show our devotion to the Lord (Commandment #1) and love our neighbor (Commandment #2) as well. We believe the ordinances performed within the walls of temples are a REQUIREMENT to enter the kingdom of God. They are performed on behalf of departed ancestors – and total strangers – in the hopes that they will “accept” them and thus enter the Kingdom. Of course, they have the free agency (as do living people) of accepting or rejecting those ordinances. But they are performed 100% out of love and concern for God and our “neighbors.”

Of course, people who see our temples as “useless and pedantic buildings,” rather than sacred houses of worship, may not recognize our attempts to be disciples of Christ. That’s fine… I’ll gladly let Him be the judge.

Christ’s apostle Paul tried to explain the disparity of viewpoints to the Corinthians: “… the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.”
(1 Corinthians 2:14)

I hope that helps. Have a wonderful day!

I moved here 15 years ago from a state that moved away from me, in the philosophical sense. I grew up around some mormons, knew a few in high school, worked for a mormon family as a teenager, and knew a few in scouts. I never thought twice about their religion, I don’t remember anyone ever saying a derogative thing about them. Then I moved to Boise and almost immediately neighbors and co-workers, are warning me about mormons, “Never do business with them”, “They control everything around here”, “You don’t want to live in that neighborhood, there are a lot of mormons there!”. I am still dumbfounded by the extreme anti-mormon attitude that many people in this valley harbor. You start a conversation about mormons in this town, and the anti-mormon rabble rousers come a runnin! Give it a rest people! We get it, you hate mormons…move on!

I’m always amazed at the comments, attitudes, and actions of so many “Christians”, this site included. Who am I to judge another? I think its comical to see how a zoning ordinance became a hate filled tirade for some. This just shows the lack of class on this site.

I see no problem with building a huge monstrosity to celebrate their religion. If one travels outside of this region it is very common to come upon much larger Catholic “temples” which certainly outsized and outclassed any other building for hundreds of miles when they were built. Currently the tallest building in Washington DC is a church.

About 25% of Idaho’s population claims to be Mormon.

The hodge-podge of other less organized/smaller/independent Christian-based churches which are nearly all identical) plus the 18% of Idahoans which claim Catholicism by far outnumber. Further, the highest percentage of Mormonism in the world is in eastern Idaho thus Ada Co. is not at the 25% mark.

On the world stage Mormonism is tiny, but they are growing rapidly in our current era of “tolerance”(or perhaps weakness) by the Catholic dominated Christian world. LDS will not have such good fortune doing business in Muslim dominated regions however because Muslims have no central control/organization, thus no one to make a peace treaty with.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Major_religious_groups

“Majority religion” was not intended to compare Mormon with “all other non-Mormon.” Mormonism is the majority religion in Idaho, and in fact Idaho is second only to Utah in percentage identifying as Mormon. Comments intended to spark thought: was preferential treatment given to a religious group, in conflict to stated ordinances and building limits? Did religion trump (or change) law? Would outcome have been different if not an LDS project? Would the same supporters argue in favor of a Mosque, using the same arguments that were presented in support of the temple? Would the commissioners have gone the same way?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_Idaho#Religion

bb: How about having LDS build it for them. Just to be fair… Kinda like a church welfare system.