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I think if someone entered our church, and started giving his own lecture about how silly our doctrines were, and how pagan and un-Christian the symbols were, and how we failed to include some symbol he DID want, and DID have some he did NOT want, would be shown the door much more quickly than even this man was.

Temples are, of course, for a few major life events, such as marriages, and other solemn ceremonies, and it is very seldom that any large number of persons is present at any one time.

For those who do not know, this temple in the story, the one at Nauvoo, Ill.--which is on the Mississippi River halfway between, but across the river from, Burlington and Keokuk, Iowa-- is in a sense a historical monument, for Mormons were once headquartered there and lived mostly there (c1837-47).

It was from there that the prophet Joseph Smith (1805-44) was grabbed in June of 1844 and taken to nearby Carthage, IL, where an anti-Mormon mob attacked and shot him and his brother Hyrum to death.

Other Temples exist in places centrally located, to serve Mormons in that general and extended area (including a lovely one overlooking Las Vegas (!)...but this one is put there mostly (I dare say) to commemorate Joseph's last home and his death, though perhaps the rest of the Midwest has few enough Temples that it will also see actual use...

PS To posters above, I would say that the very same people who deny that Mormons are Christians, also deny that Roman Catholics are Christians. What sillies, the Bible says that any church that says Jesus Christ is come in the flesh, and will affirm that, is of God ...and therefore IMO Christian!!!

I would say that the very same people who deny that Mormons are Christians, also deny that Roman Catholics are Christians.

The Vatican denies that Mormon baptism is valid, and I'm pretty sure they still think that Roman Catholics are Christians.

PS To posters above, I would say that the very same people who deny that Mormons are Christians, also deny that Roman Catholics are Christians. What sillies, the Bible says that any church that says Jesus Christ is come in the flesh, and will affirm that, is of God ...and therefore IMO Christian!!!

Nope. True Christians, Catholic, Eastern, and Protestant, all share certain common beliefs. These beliefs are succinctly expressed in statements called creeds. Universally accepted among true Christians, the Apostles' Creed is a litmus test for true Christianity:

I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth.
And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; he descended into hell; the third day he rose again from the dead; he ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Ghost; the holy catholic* Church; the communion of saints; the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting. AMEN.

That's it. That is what one has to believe (and teach) to be a Christian.

There are many fine, loving, moral people among the members of the LDS; nevertheless, because the LDS church does not teach the doctrines of the Creed, the LDS lies outside the orthodox Christian faith.

That being said: It is not up to us to judge the eternal fate of another person. I'm positive that many people who are not baptized members of the true Roman Catholic Church are, nevertheless, members of the Church in some mystical way and are going to be in Heaven. How they get there is between them and God. Like St. Francis of Asissi, all I can do is keep weeding my own garden.

If my statements in this post offended anyone, I apologize for the offense.

B-chan