Mainly out of curiosity I pose this question, as it seems to me that temple worship is predominantly a female thing. It seems to me that many more women than men are super amped, motivated, in love with, visiting the temple, going to the temple, taking pictures of temples, etc. etc.

I really struggled with the temple, since A., I always felt unworthy, thanks to the church, and B. once inside it felt a lot like a pagan ritual.

I would think that a lot of men in the church secretly loathe going to the temple, but they are quiet about it as to not rock the boat and have a religious fight with their wives.

Chime in and state if you are male or female and your view of temple worship.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/03/2016 06:56PM by alaskawild.

Thankfully I only went once to do baptisms as a young teen, so I've never been through an endowment myself. But I know that my TBM mother goes all the time. The older she gets, the more often she goes. My TBM dad, not so much. I've been wondering about this.

Here's a thing you've made me realize, for what it's worth: In my time in the church, I never heard a male say "Every time I go to the temple I learn something new!"

In my case, my husband loves the temple. He goes every week, sometimes more.

I didn't like the temple, even as TBM, but I couldn't put my finger on why. I just felt discouraged there and after leaving.

Then I started paying close attention (duh!), and I saw more and more that made me feel that God doesn't like females.

So, even as a TBM, I stopped going except for weddings.

I don't know why so many women love it.

Male

I never felt comfortable in the temple. I went through in the mid-80's, prior to a softening of the pantomime of the death oaths. I went through prior to my mission and was completely blind-sided by the temple endowment cerimony. It felt completely foreign from the church I identified with to that point in my life.

It took me years to finally decide there is nothing wrong with me, and nothing wrong with others who felt the same way. Part of the reason it took years to overcome the negative impact, was because of the oath of secrecy. I finally came to realize, if the pinnacle of Mormon worship terrifies, instead of edifies, there is something wrong. Something wrong indeed. Something so wrong I did not feel I could ask my temple-goingparents about their feelings, for fear of having my tongue torn out. The more I researched the temple, the more I realized the cerimony was meant to keep the secret of early church polygamy--something which I have always beleived was wrong, especially in a modern age.

The star player in the endowment cerimony is Satan. Jesus Christ is relegated to the roll of a messenger boy. No, I did not learn anything new, because I could never get over an intuitive feeling the temple has a glossy and beautiful exterior, but the interior is rotten to the core. I state that as a life-long member; a bishopric member, high counselor and beyond. Print the endowment cerimony, particularly pre-1992 and read it. That is not sprirituality, nor, in my opinion does it help one acquire it.

The endowment was meant for one purpose, to keep a depraved secret. My opinion has not changed in likely thousands of hours of study and research. The endowment cerimony makes no sense unless you understand Joseph Smith's need to keep it secret as best he could. The practice of polygamy is what killed him at Carthage. It cursed the church in early Utah, and there were people who were ritualisticly killed just as the temple cerimony suggests. Real people had their throats cut, tongues torn our and were disimbowled. Many will be inclined not believe that statement, but I know it is true through countless hours of research and, as it turns out, someone in my own family participated in perpetrating this atrocity on another human being in 1857. Not until the advent of the internet, could a person read the stories of so many who felt the same way. The temple cerimony has long been one of the most common reasons a fairly new convert never returns to church once having received their endowment. My uncle, born in 1928, having received his endowment in the temple upon his marriage, did not return for twenty-five years. There was nothing wrong with he or his wife--the temple scared him to death.

Prior to the changes in the endowment which occurred in 1992, there have been many other changes as well. The endowment once swore a person to "avenge" the "..blood of the prophets" and is once of the largest factors in the early Utah Mormon mental condition which allowed the atrocity of the Mountain Meadows Massacre to occur. The 1992 alteration was preceeded by a 3,000 person survey of recommend-holding members. The survey asked many questions meant to gather information how rank-and-file members felt about the temple experience. The reason for the survey was the precipitous decline in temple attendence which was occurring as a new generation of Mormon's were coming of age. The younger recommend holders simply were not attending in significant numbers after their weddings and missions.

The reason why new temple attendees are admonished to "attend often" and told "you will learn something new every time", is because most people don't intuitively feel their first experience was at all spiritually uplifting. A person is then made to feel as the problem is theirs, and that most people believe the experience to be wonderful. The LDS church's current position seems to be build temples as if there is no tomorrow. There is a certain amount of peer pressure which when a temple is in your immediate vicintity, as to make more plain those who attend and those who don't.

For those who do feel frightened by the experience, trust me when I say you are not alone. There is a herd mentality associated with temple attendance. Active LDS people are essentially have the perception all the other attendees must feel diferently, which then causes the individual to wonder what is wrong with my their own perception. Think about it; there really is no mechanism for many to overcome this when the cerimony is shrouded in such secrecy. It was intended to scare people, and it does. So many were blind-sided, and had no understand of what to expect. Temple preparation classed in regular church curriclum did noting to truly prepare someone for death-oaths and pantomiming the taking of life. I really don't see the Christianity in it; not after years of activity. My advice to others is to trust your feelings and your own judgement when and if you go through the endowment. State your opinions to your bishops and stake presidents. If you are troubled with the temple as it is, and would like to remain LDS if you are, being honest is the only way something so entrenched can be changed. Somehow, I just don't believe Jesus Christ, the person who offered us the "living water", would want us to act out a manner of taking our own life and promising to forfeit our lives if we divulge a secret. This, to me, is truly frightening.

Please, those of you who don't believe what I say, embark upon the true origins of polygamy and how that led to a culture in Nauvoo which ended up destroying it. Don't fall pray to the sanitized lesson manuals and less than half-truths offered by those who are ignorant of why the early saints were driven from place-to-place. It was not because a common person was a Mormon. It was because of the espoused and promoted immoral and illicit behaviour of leadership. Arm yourselves with correct information; this will require courage. However, this is the only way to understand why certain aspects of Mormon culture are what they are.

Print and read the current endowment. Print and read the pre-1992 endowment. Print and read the endowment prior to about 1938. Judge for yourself; trust your instincts. Why do the brethren tell you it is the greatest thing since Buddha and slice bread? Read, and then write and ask them. To you young people: Don't be afraid to change what needs to be changed. I firmly believe you will.

Wow, great post, thanks for taking the time to lay it out in such great detail and with evidence.