Temple Dream 2
In my dream there must have been some kind of partial collapse because Greater Deseret was an independent state. We trumpeted how well we treated other religions here–news articles about Stake Presidents helping to build some sect’s church house, things like that–both because it made us feel good ourselves but also for good relations with other American countries, some of which had strong religious interests of their own.
This worked well until in a town on what is now Colorado’s western slope (Paonia, I think) the Methodists acquired prime main street property right in front of our temple and wanted to build to block its view. They also proposed a couple of inflammatory features, signage and statuary designed to give us the finger. We denied the permit and they made a lot of hay of it. In fact, it was a bit of an international hullaboo. The upshot was that they got to build their chapel (without the inflammatory signage and statuary).
What we did do was rebuild our temple. To make a point, I suppose, the part directly behind chapel we left empty. But for the rest we made the temple huge, completely dominating their chapel. Looming over it really. It was more horrifying than anything.
Filed under: We transcend your bourgeois categories | No Tag
Zen
September 6, 2023
The more I ruminate on things, the more I wonder about collapse. We will see it. We are seeing it now. But I wonder how much will be a sudden house of cards collapsing, and how much will be a slow Roman decay.
The future belongs to those who build.
But I suppose there are good reasons to build temples, and there are bad ones. Reasons that help others to heaven and reasons that give them the middle finger.
G.
September 6, 2023
I think a post apocalyptic scenario is unlikely, though things like the Carrington Event or asteroid deflection or even high altitude EMP hardening are probably worth more trouble than the authorities give to it.
Decay is much more likely. Look at how long the Ottomans were the sick man of Europe.
Zen
September 6, 2023
Yes, but we are not Europe. There is something in the soil of the Americas. I really do think there will be at least one sudden hard fast collapse.
But current events are a testament to ongoing slow decay.
Eric
September 6, 2023
From my sources in Grand Junction it’s no surprise to me that a scenario like the one dreamed up here would happen in Colorado.
I think we’re set more for a sudden collapse than a gradual decline, assuming Hugh Nibley was correct in his assessment of the situation:
“Obviously few people are making an effort to win the blessings which the Book of Mormon promises to the promised land; the catch is that the alternative is not an easy decline or gentle corruption but a whacking curse that knocks all the pegs out at once as soon as everything is good and ready.”
JRL in AZ
September 7, 2023
Have you read The Folk of the Fringe by Orson Scott Card? It is based on a collapse that leaves the State of Deseret as one of the only functioning states in North America. It’s a little dated now that we have a much more worldwide church than we did when it was written in the 80s, but a lot of it is plausible and beautifully instructive.
G.
September 8, 2023
Yes, I did. I’ve been meaning to re read it but the beginning is just too raw and the rest of the book is pretty sad, not enough to put myself through the beginning for.