Posted on 04/15/2010 8:56:50 AM PDT by T Minus Four
Think of the Salt Lake Temple as a designer bottle holding a one-of-a-kind fragrance.
Think of the gardens and buildings of Temple Square as bubble wrap around that container.
Think of the City Creek Center to the south, the Church Plaza to the east, the Conference Center to the north, and the Family History Library and Church History Museum to the west as a firm, sturdy box around all of it.
When something merits that much protection, you have to figure rough bumps and bounces are coming down the road.
I get a feeling the LDS Church sees turbulence ahead -- nasty weather -- and it is making preparations.
It's not about being defensive and keeping things out.
It's about being protective and keeping precious things safe.
When the chilly winds blow, forest creatures gather all that's life-sustaining about them.
Horses in the fields cluster together to stand against the hail.
I feel the LDS Church battening down the hatches for bad weather.
The Tabernacle Choir, which was performing musical versions of Robert Frost poetry and other secular works, now releases CDs filled with songs of faith, assurance and the need to rely on the Divine.
I feel protection is the point behind the long row of sentries -- those Mormon temples -- that stand along the Wasatch -- the new Brigham City temple, new Payson temple, the new remade Ogden temple and all the others.
I feel protect precious things is the point of the new mission statements of LDS businesses, the point for books that are picked for publication and the lessons selected for manuals.
Part of the world would divide and conquer.
The church would gather and protect.
Something uneasy this way comes. Not a vilent clash as in Jerusalem -- where cultures fight openly. We won't be seeing stone throwers in the streets of Salt Lake City.
The battle here won't be about territory.
It will be about choices -- about the advent of a bolder, more self-indulgent popular culture.
The church can see the writing on the wall -- often literally.
And graffiti on the temple will never do.
It's time -- as the old hymn has it -- to "safely gather in, ere the winter storms begin."
The plan is not to force people away.
The plan is to keep what's on the inside safe from harm.
And if that means putting up ramparts and watchtowers, so be it.
Even heaven, if you believe the stories, is a gated community -- not to keep people away, but to safeguard the gentle hearts of those who dwell there.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- E-mail: jerjohn@desnews.com Jerry Earl Johnston chronicles his take on the Mormon experience in his column “New Harmony,” which appears on MormonTimes.com on Wednesdays and Sundays.
Standard “we don’t attack you church, why do you attack ours” whine.
Is that about right?
i suppose it depends upon how you group Evangelical Christians. I usually equate them with Born Again.
Black baptists went heavily for Obama.
I was thinking more like the non-denoms like Calvary Chapel and the like. They are very conservative.
the evangelical ‘mainlines’ (ELCA and that type) are moving more to the left but I don’t really group them in as Evangelical.
Either way, true BIBLE believing Christians are going to be in the cross-hairs.
...factuality of premises and validity and cogency?
Please!
I was looking for some sort of verified numbers...
Can you direct me to those stats?
That's OK...others will know the "fancy red writing" is live links to the "scriptures and speeches of the mormon church" that can be read for a better grasp of mormon beliefs...maybeyou should try clicking on them yourself.
Mormons have been attacking Christianity since Smith's alleged “First Vision”
All versions...
That abuse wouldn’t happen elsewhere. My biggest fear for a long time was that my husband (never Mo) would get a job in Utah. It can be hard for ex-mo’s there, especially vocal ones like me.
Hello
What the fetchin' heck is THAT supposed to mean?
What's scary is that I have friends and FAMILY who are NOT as scared as I am!
Gee, it's great that we have those golden plates from upstate New York to fix that little problem, isn't it...
This happens in ANY state you find a mormon enclave. I know of areas in both AZ and CO that were settled by mormon polygamists fleeing UT where this exact thing happens.
The population in both places, and the local governments, school boards, etc. are mormon-controlled.
It wasn’t part of an argument. It was because that’s what you all do. Sadly.
oops...
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