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Beliefs > Question & Answer > Temples
| Question |
This letter is about 35 years too late. I have never written so much as a note to any famous person. I am a 43 year old wife and mother, and my
family is Jewish. I have been interested in Mormonism for as long as I can
remember. I wish that I had a dollar for every time I have corrected
something silly that a person has said about the religion. I have studied,
read, been on bulletin boards (although I must say that the women on most of
these are not what the church would be proud of, they have a very superior
attitude once they find out that I am not LDS), The only reason I go onto
these is to learn about the nuances of the religion. I find it fascinating.
I have websites about temples which I love. I have read "The Holy Temple"
about 30 times already, and I have several more books that I bought on the
religion. I read your book while on vacation 2 years ago and I loved it. I
also have 2 books about your family, and the parts that I found the most
interesting were about what you all did during the holidays, the Firesides,
the temple visits, etc. I have admired your family for a very long time, my
husband and I have seen you all several times, the best being at the Valley
Forge Music Fair. ( I don't know if you remember that, but it is now a
supermarket). We went into Philadelphia to see Marie in The Sound of Music,
in which she was FABULOUS. We saw Brian and 2 of their daughters that day
(New Years Day) also.
As far as a comment about the religion, I just wanted to know what you
thought about this - I know that the ceremonies and everything else that
goes on inside the temple is sacred. Although I do think that the word
sacred is thrown around too much. However, there is so much
misunderstanding about the religion, what do you think about this: If
non-worthy people ( whether LDS or not) want to come in and sit thru a
ceremony, but of course don't take part in it, why would that be so bad?
You don't have to understand what you are seeing- how many people come into
a synagogue where I am reading Hebrew and don't even understand what is
being said, but they can still respectfully sit there and observe? Both of
our religions are constantly being persecuted and misunderstood-the
synagogue tries to let people see exactly what happens during a service, Bar
Mitzvah, etc. I know that sealings are the most sacred ceremonies, and I
can't for the life of me understand, above all other ceremonies, why anyone
can't come in and just observe the sealing. My best friend watches from the
operating theatre of the hospital as her husband performed heart surgery.
She doesn't need to understand it to watch it. This is just a question as
to why the prophet believes that it is better to keep people on the outside
instead of welcoming them into the physical building. I love the temples
and I know how beautiful and expensive they are and certainly I am not even
suggesting about people being allowed to "check out" the Celestial Room.
Nothing like that. Just to be allowed to go and witness an endowment
ceremony or sealing.
Anyway, I hope that your family and parents are healthy and safe, and I want
to thank you for the years of entertainment you have provided us with. I
think that you and your family are the greatest Missionaries that the church
has ever had.
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| Response |
Much thanks for your interesting question and especially for your generous
comments. I am very sorry about the "holier than thou" attitude portrayed
by some of the members of the church. That surely is not consistent with our beliefs.
Are you aware that every temple is open to the public for several days,
prior to their dedication? The one in Manhattan has just been dedicated.
I wish you could have gone to that one. I believe the next one in your area
will be in Hartford, Conn. If you are interested, I can let you know when
it's open house will be.
It is somewhat natural for our Jewish cousins (We claim to be largely
descendants of Joseph as you are from Judah and thus both Israelites.) to be
interested in temples because of the Ancient temple of Solomon in Jerusalem.
As you know, there is a great deal written about the way that temple was constructed and its areas of sacred restriction. Before that the Ark of the
Covenant was so sacred that only the Levites were allowed to tend to it.
If you have seen the news reports (maybe just local) about the terrible disrespect that is displayed by those who for some reason feel to come to
the streets outside our sacred temple and semi-annual conferences and put on
demonstrations condemning our church and religious practices, you could easily understand why the Lord has chosen to not make public the very sacred ceremonies and ordinances performed in his Holy Temples. Our sacred
clothing we call, temple garments, which we wear as underclothing, have been flaunted and desecrated in some of these public demonstrations.
Caryn, as you have looked at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints faith, you have surely come to realize that we genuinely believe in modern day prophets who receive revelation, as did the prophets of old. With this believe, we are certain that it is not up to us or even to the prophets,
as to the policy of temple practices or attendance, but could only be
changed by the Lord himself. That is our belief, and we feel strongly that our commitment is to follow the dictates of the Lord.
Do you have a Book of Mormon, a record of a family who left Jerusalem, 600
BC and came to this American Continent? The record they kept for about 1000
years has been of particular interest to many of our Jewish cousins. Let me
know if you would like one and I will send it to you. If you have one, you
might check out the Multimedia presentation on The Book of Mormon in "My
Beliefs" section. If you have a chance to see it, I would be interested in your impression.
Sincerely,
Donny Osmond
See related multimedia presentations
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