So, up until now, the renderings showing a moroni-less mormon temple have been smallish temples and NOT in Utah.

Well, today this is changed and they have released the rendering for the Tooele Valley UT temple. No moroni.

https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/tooele-valley-utah-temple/

They also released for Moses Lake, WA. No moroni.

https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/moses-lake-washington-temple/

Now, for the Washington County temple, it DOES HAVE a moroni.

https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/washington-county-utah-temple/

They're removing the one on the Hong Kong temple and not putting it back.

I'm just kind of curious if any of the TBMs you may know have mentioned anything about it.

No idea.

Maybe there's a giant blue cross that will be added at a later date.

Just a guess—Moroni seemed too outside mainstream Christianity and many never-MOs may have see the statue as a idol. The new ChurchCo logo puts Jesus in the middle of the church (at least in its tacky logo).

Agreed. It's probably part of mainstreaming.

I believe it had become a phallic symbol, which you can appreciate. From a distance, it simply look like a big, you know - a boner.

Maybe the statue dropping his horn during that earthquake in SLC is a reason.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/07/2020 07:36PM by doyle18.

Moroni blowing his horn (or is he chugging a beer?) is the VA approved symbol for grave markers for Mormons in military cemeteries. I hope my brother’s headstone won’t become obsolete.

And it's really hideous. I saw a picture of my father's headstone. It doesn't even look like a man blowing a vuvuzela, it looks like a planet of the apes monkey with a big round nose blowing it. Hopefully there won't be room for it when we bury my mother there and have to have the headstone redone to have both their names on it.

It may be due to engineering, particularly electrical engineering. Where you may have the highest point in the surrounding landscape attracting lightening and thus being a danger. Just a thought.

Actually you want the highest point around attracting the lightning, and have that point properly grounded. That is the precise purpose of lightning rods.

The angel statues are grounded, and the temples without angels still have metal balls on the high point, and they are grounded.

I imagine even the fiberglass "steeples" on ward houses have grounding straps.

That's always amused me, because the palm trees, along with the vaguely Mayan architecture on a lot of meeting houses, is another nod to the "tropical" i.e. Central America BoM setting, as opposed to the Heartland Model.
I they still don't even where the BoM takes place that's a huge red flag.

So will they remove the Moroni thing from temple, are just not add it to new ones? And has anyone seen any statement from lds.inc stating this and why?

Lds inc. is in a long game. The end result will be abandoning the BOM and recalling it as nothing more than a couplet...
So much has changed since the McKay years...

This is exactly what I was going to say. It seems like the church has some kind of 100 year plan for excising the book of mormon completely from church services, doctrine, temples, all literature, and with luck, from the minds of all members. My guess is no moroni on the temple may be one of the small and (in their mind) subtle ways they are trying to do this.

And a long game it is. With its modus operandi to include waiting for the older members to die out as more and more “heresy” is introduced. I see it in my own experience. The death oaths will soon become nonexistent as their significance and sacredness departs with the oldest living Mormons. The same will happen with the W&A with the next younger generation. Today’s thirty somethings will see the abandonment of garments . I can easily see the abandonment of the BOM coming down the pike. I predict the organization is orchestrating itoown demise.

They can't have the BOM without Moroni, right?

At least their main page still has this:

"Keystone
“A keystone is the central stone in an arch. It holds all the other stones in place, and if removed, the arch crumbles.
“There are three ways in which the Book of Mormon is the keystone of our religion. It is the keystone in our witness of Christ. It is the keystone of our doctrine. It is the keystone of testimony” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1986, 4; or Ensign, Nov. 1986, 5).
President James E. Faust (1920–2007) of the First Presidency expanded the idea of the Book of Mormon as our doctrinal keystone:
“The Book of Mormon is a keystone because it establishes and ties together eternal principles and precepts, rounding out basic doctrines of salvation. It is the crowning gem in the diadem of our holy scriptures.
“It is a keystone for other reasons also. In the promise of Moroni … —namely, that God will manifest the truth of the Book of Mormon to every sincere inquirer having faith in Christ —we have a key link in a self-locking chain.
“A confirming testimony of the Book of Mormon convinces ‘that Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal God’ and also spiritually verifies the divine calling of Joseph Smith and that he did see the Father and the Son. With that firmly in place, it logically follows that one can also receive a verification that the Doctrine and Covenants and the Pearl of Great Price are true companion scriptures to the Bible and the Book of Mormon.
“All of this confirms the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ and the divine mission of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, led by a living prophet enjoying continuous revelation. From these basic verities, an understanding can flow of other saving principles of the fulness of the gospel” (“The Keystone of Our Religion,” Ensign, Jan. 2004, 3–4)."

The Church is bringing all the Gold home. Maybe

This is what will happen. The church finishes changing its name and logo and dogma. Isn't that now a new church?

Meantime, Someone else sees that the old church name and logo and dogma, now abandon, is up for grabs. They resurrect the old church had are able to claim that it is the original which there is tons of evidence to support. Welcome to the Church of Jesus Christ of Later Day saints. "The Mormons" The Book Of Mormon, etc.

That other church is a break away. You know the one that dropped Moroni and re-branded its self.

Also, they are building temples with wild abandon, which takes away part of the mystique of the temple experience.

Soon, temples will become accesible to all. Recommends will be eliminated. No more secret/sacred stuff.

If only. But you’re forgetting that the temple recommend is possibly the whole real reason for the mormon church existing. And by that I don’t mean getting people to the celestial kingdom. I mean: manipulating people out of their money.
They’ve kind of tied themselves into a double bind here. If they go completely mainstream they will be more popular and attract more members. But they can’t really do that because then they will lose the power they have over their members.

In short: there is no way a cult can continue to be a cult, whilst simultaneously looking like it isn’t one.

The 100 billion dollar war chest that they have accumulated, plus their massive portfolio of real estate holdings ensures the corporation will persevere financially.

The income derived from the temple activities will be offset by accumulation of fresh, new, younger members who will not be aware of the true history of the religion they are joining. Temple ordinances will not fit in the new profile of a modern, all-inclusive church.

That’s a good point. You’re saying they’ve now made enough money to do away with potentially trying to make more from their people? And so you foresee them becoming completely mainstream, no tithing, no other weird stuff?
If that’s their plan they would have to do it very, very slowly so as to not be noticeable.
I personally don’t think that will ever happen. I think what we are seeing is only the result of their concern over their image, and that’s all there is to it.
They’ve got too much power to let go of it, and too much pride invested in the mormon story. Yes they are always changing but I don’t think they would discard their egos to the point of becming being another mainstream Christian church.
This is all spin, and marketing and nothing more.

Mainstreaming really won't get them anywhere. Traditional protestant churches are also dying. The only churches growing these days are the non-denominational style, which are locally self-governed. That won't work for TSCC, which, if nothing else, is a herculean denomination. No need for profits [sic]. No need for temples. etc.

So if Moroni quits blowing his trumpet atop the Temples and there is a long-game to become more Christian-like and less peculiar, will the Salt Lake City folks eventually re-merge with the former RLDS/today's Community of Christ?

That would be circuitous.

They are only doing what has been done at different times - replacing an angel with God(s) like they did in The First Vision.

Moroni is being demoted because of his genealogy isn't as good anymore.