What do you think of the Texas cult's clunky "temple"?

[mwb970]

It looks to me like a miniature styrofoam model, or possibly something a 5-year-old would build at the beach. It appears to have no grace, style, or beauty whatsoever. No color either. And it doesn't fit into the surrounding countryside at all.

I guess it matches the people who put it up - blunt, coarse, and simple-minded. Maybe it's a metaphor!

[Angela Shelley]

1. Look at the vehicles!

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

6. Those are all Law Enforcement

and media machines in that lot

[Squatch]

2. Nice front yard.

[Lint Head]

3. It's proof that people can construct buildings for God that have nothing

to do with God but everything to do with having sex with children. :dem:

[virtualobserver]

8. The walls must have been designed to keep the children in...it looks like a prison compound

[rurallib]

4. Very white.

[MADem]

5. Well, they DID build it themselves....and it shows! nt

[LeftinOH]

7. ..at least its nicer looking than the Branch Davidian compound..but this looks

both ostentatious and cheap-looking, whereas the B.D. compound was just cheap-looking.

[Liberal In Texas]

9. From the school of Fortress Architecture. Turrets, a look-out cupola.

Narrow windows. 12 foot fence with what looks like it could be razor wire on the top.

Were they planning on a siege? Or is it just a fortress mentality?

Kind of weird.

[Liberal In Texas]

20. Lots more pictures...HERE:

http://web.sccn2.net/flds/01-25-06.htm

That fence is at least 18' and it even looks more fortress-like closer up.
(Tried to post one, but they're too big.)

[HereSince1628]

10. I think it has elements similar to the LDS temple at St. George Utah

The cupola was also an architectural element of one of the very early mormon temples at Kirkland Ohio.

In short, I think it would be recognized as incorporating architectural elements of earlier Mormon temples. Not surprising for a group that is a fundamentalist off-shoot.

[Freddie Stubbs]

11. Architectural aesthetics are the least of those peoples' problems

[Bobbieo]

12. They are a people who shun outsiders and have been doing it for years. What bothers me is the

degree of incest that must take place within the walls of the cult with the forced marriages of the young women of the community and the number of children born with serious birth defects as a result of these sham marriages.

Incest is a crime in every state in the union which seems to be ignored by law enforcement and child welfare agencies in the states - Arizona, Utah and Texas - where these marriages take place.

[eShirl]

13. looks like a barn

for the most part

[elfin]

14. And built with tax dollars

This group got defense supply contracts (sorry, no link) - heard it on ABC I believe. This, after all the publicity surroundng the trial of their leader.

Also, they probably worked the welfare system to great advantage with all those "unwed" mothers with dependents.

[elizfeelinggreat]

18. no probably about it

from CNN Transcripts, ANDERSON COOPER 360 DEGREES, May 11, 2006:

"MARK SHURTLEFF, UTAH ATTORNEY GENERAL: They hate the government. They will bleed it. They will take everything they can from it through welfare, through tax evasion and fraud."

<snip>

(On camera): Here's how it works, the men have multiple wives, but only one marriage is recognized as legal by the state of Utah. So the rest of the wives claim to be single moms, struggling to raise a houseful of dependents. That makes them eligible for government aid. So they collect welfare -- lots of it. And it's all legal.

SHURTLEFF: More than 65 percent of the people are on welfare, they're on food stamps, compared to about 6 percent in the general populations.

KAYE (voice-over): Keeping Warren Jeffs and his followers honest is a challenge.

SHURTLEFF: He's like a crime boss. I mean, he runs an organization, an empire, where he has absolute control.

KAYE: Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff hasn't filed charges, but he's investigating Jeffs for cooking the books, avoiding taxes, even setting up offshore accounts.

[FSogol]

15. Look at how high the wall is around the temple.

It looks to be over 20 feet tall. :crazy:

[RB TexLa]

16. It is very out of place with it's surroundings, but it's not that bad looking. Could use some color

[underpants]

17. I think it would be a great place for W to move to....like NOW

:hi:

[xchrom]

19. if they weren't so busy fucking little girls maybe they could have

spent more energy building something tasteful.

as it is -- they are guilty of proselytizing child molesting and bad taste.