Mormon Temple, Bethesda
Tuesday, 19th April 2005 by James Turnbull
Jon Bell submitted this Mormon Temple in Bethesda. He said: "This thing always scared me growing up as my parents drove around the beltway". Well it might be scary from the ground level but to me it looks like a giant Birthday Cake 😉
It looks like the castle from Warcraft II
I drive by this building all the time, and from the Beltway, it seriously looks like Emerald City on the horizon.
If you drive on the Capital Beltway (that’s I-495) west towards the Morman Temple and are there at the right time, you will pass under a CSX railroad bridge directly facing the Temple where some impish gnome has spraypainted “Surrender Dorothy” on the side of the bridge above the west-bound Beltway. CSX has to repaint the bridge several times a year to cover the mysteriously-reappearing message.
The thing about the temple is its placement. It kinda rises out of the trees as you go west on i-495. I couldn’t find a good picture of that point of view, but here’s one that kinda gives the idea.
http://www.mikiemetric.cc/USAPics/Maryland/MDMormon.jpg
Not as good a shot, but here is the Oakland, California Morman Temple.
Here’s the one in San Diego
Wow, that brings back some memories of when I was about 4 or 5 when my family lived in Silver Springs, MD. Seeing it from the highway every so often. Always thought that was a majestic sight. Almost surreal…..fuzzy memories.
They toned down the night lighting since I was a kid. Too many accidents on the Beltway: “Holy Hell, what is that thing?” Screeches Metal Twisting Groans 10,000 people rubbernecking
who remembers the old graffiti on one of the overpasses that said SURRENDER DOROTHY?
It’s actually in Kensington, not Bethesda, and it looks pretty wicked cool in during sunset.
Everybody, all together now…
OOOO WWWWEEEEEE OOOO
OOOO OOOOOOOOOO OOOO
…it brings back fond memories of my days as a former Monkey Guardsman.
I was so glad to find this sight & finally figure out what thing is that we always see when heading toward Virginia! It is really quite an impressive sight, and we couldn’t figure out what it was until we recently saw a piece on CNN about a Mormon temple in Utah which looked like it.
(Mormon Temple – 495) Im 35 years old and don’t laugh..if I tell you…it is the most creepiest thing I’ve ever seen. I feel terror ever time I go by it. It looks out of place, like it doesn’t belong there, like it’s from a story, some fantasy land, and came alive in our world. It looks like it’s suspended, like it’s floating in the clouds.
My sister talks about this all of the time. She recently moved to D.C. She encouraged me to check the website. She says it really spooks her out. She tries to avoid it. I want to see it for myself.
Every year there is a huge Christmas celebration there with choirs and singers from all over the world, celebrities, public officials, etc. You should go if you’re in the area. It looks beautiful up close. Don’t be afraid. Especially if you are 35 years old. I actually feel a peaceful feeling when I visit the grounds.
That building is really, really frightening. I’m surprised nobody protested when it was being built. Frankly its beyond evil. I am from britain and if i saw anything like that over here i would be physically sick and probably be traumatised for life. I can’t imagine what it must of been like for the guy who said “This thing always scared me growing up as my parents drove around the beltwayâ€. Imagine being a 5 year old kid in the back seat of your parents car seeing that emerge from the trees. Ugggh!
Come on people, grow up. It’s a majestic, beautiful, awe-inspiring building. I lived in Silver Spring between the ages of 15 and 18 and often drove up to Bethesda or Rockville via 495/270 and I always looked out for it. It was like opening a present, watching it rise over the horizon. Sure, the first time I saw it I almost peed my pants but that’s because it’s the only thing visible over the trees so it’s sort of how the moon looks freakishly large when it’s low in the horizon. Besides the cool blue/white light that is shed upon its sides, the golden towers (six of them, one in each corner?) are out of this world and the trumpet angel (atop the eastern tower) is very humbling. It adds a lot of spirituality, futurism and elegance to an otherwise “quaint” part of Maryland (Kensington/Bethesda area). It’s a must see, I hope someone can find a better picture, preferrably at night time.
Here you go … not at nght but good enough detail …
http://www.inventrace.com/images/photos_2/washington_dc_temple.html http://www.inventrace.com/images/photos_2/mormon_temple_2.html http://www.inventrace.com/images/photos_2/mormon_temple_3.html
This barely does it justice but you’ll get the idea …
http://www.lds.org/media/images/enr/WashingtonD.C.Temple/washington%20D.C.3.jpg
What is wrong with people? How can any one say that its scary or evil. Its anything but its the extreme opposite. Take the time to go on the grounds and to the visitors center. Educate yourself to the experiance of visiting the temple especially around this time of the yr. its amazing at night. Im going there this weekend I will try and post a night pic. and get a really good.
Wow the first time I saw this -structure- the very first thought I had was how evil and frightening it looks. Perhaps if the enormous metal impaling instruments on the top were changed to something friendlier looking, the public would respond in a more positive way. Oh, and perhaps the auto accidents would no longer occur.
Frightened of Church steeples are you?
The first time I toured the Crystal Cathedral in southern California, I was totally freaked out. And I’ve toured many cathedrals and churches both in the U.S. and abroad that freaked me out, too. But what freaks me out the most are all of the Evangelical “megachurches” that rival sports arenas in their size and construction. They employ full-time rock bands to rile up their adherents! I guess you’ve got to provide some sort of entertainment when the Spirit of God isn’t there to move them through reverence and spiritually.
OMG!!! This is sooooooooooooo beautiful!!! how could anyone say that where the lord lives is evil and freaky??!! thats very disrespectful!!! i have never seen this temple in person but i know that every mormon temple that is built is amazing!!!! and if u think that it is freaky why are u looking it up?? if u have rude comments about the lords house keep it to yourself!!!!
ok maybe i was a little too harsh! i just get affended whenm people talk about things that part of my religion that way! But this is open to any comments and i guess it coulod freak people out. i just dont get if it freaks u out why would u be looking it up on the internet?? oh well. im sorry!!
Whoever first had the idea to “tag” the CSX bridge with “Surrender Dorothy” has made me giggle for over 35 years–and my little dog, too!!! Long live Oz. Thank goodness for funny people.
The day the Angel was set was quite an occassion making the front page of The Washington Post. Among the many Dignitaries and observers on hand to witness the event were people in Hospital Beds. Yes I said Hospital Beds. It was windy that day and there were Oohhs and Aahs coming from the observers as they witnessed the Iron Workers from Local 5 demonstrate their skills. It was indeed an Honor to be choosen for the task.
Bridgeman
This thing is kitsch rendered in stone, in the Disney school of architecture.
The plainest of European cathedrals exhibits more inspiration and exaltation than this mudhut ever will …
don’t be fooled by its beauty. I’ve been in there before and it truly is creepy.
google for ‘mormon temple ceremony’
I’ve been to the Mormon Temple also. I was required to strip naked and was given a “shield ” (nothing more than a white sheet). Then I went in a small room and was “washed” with water and annointed with oil. After that I received my special underwear.
I was then required to wear a white robe, a baker’s hat, a green apron and some slippers and go through the “endowment” ceremony. Here I learned the signs, tokens (special secret handshakes), and the penalties.
It’s a creepy, cult-like ceremony.
They try and to make the outside look pretty because what goes on inside is so strange and bizzare you have to make a special oath not to discuss it with anyone outside. In fact it started to freak out so many people they change alot of it in 1990. This change got rid of the death oaths:
http://www.lds-mormon.com/compare.shtml
Don’t be afraid of Mormonism. Like in the Wizard of Oz the whole thing is run by an old man behind a curtain.
If you zoom in you can see the golden statue of Doc Severinsen. NIce to see he finally got some props for all that work on the Tonight show.
Roll call of Mormon posters/apologists on this thread so far:
B^2, DCC, Lynnette, Cassy, and possibly Bridgeman.
I live nearby and I have noticed the lights are turned down so much so that I rarely notice it when driving by.
I went there one time to a concert and never came back. It was boring on the inside and there were lots of women with strange smiles. I felt like I was in the heavins gate compound or something. It does look pretty cool on the outside imo though.
Did you know they baptize dead people in there? Seriously. They have a particular fondness for Jewish Holocaust victims. Their mission is to make everyone Mormon, in this life or the next. If their arrogant little pimple faced elders can’t win you over in this life, they’ll just wait around like ghouls in a Michael Jackson video and scarf you up when you die.
The Mormon Motto is:
It doesn’t really matter, For after all is said, We’ll get you when you’re living, Or we’ll get you when you’re dead.
Used to be mormon, now google is my god.
I love that you can read the temple ceremony online, and I hope everyone does. Mormonism is hard to take seriously after that.
I still want to answer the phone “What is wanted”. Haven’t yet, tho 🙂