Anger and resentment abound within towns where grassroot groups are fighting proposed LDS temples.
From Nevada to Wyoming to Texas, small towns have become neighborhood battlegrounds as feuds break out about the buildings’ height and light.
Temple proponents in Las Vegas and elsewhere, however, argue that the buildings’ scope and designs are inextricably linked to their religious function and that opposition is rooted in NIMBY-ism . for members living in Las Vegas. The widely circulated clip encouraged those planning to show up in support of the temple to be “peacemakers.”“I’ve talked to people whose relationships with LDS friends are breaking down,” said Solvie, adding that professional ties have strained as well under the weight of the heated debate surrounding the Lone Mountain Temple.
The DeLoes and Solvie said they also have spoken to business owners wary of weighing in, afraid that doing so could hurt their bottom line.After Las Vegas photographer Victoria Bremner spoke out against the scale and size of the proposed temple, she received a one-star review on her business’s Google page, along with the comment: “Victoria discriminates against other people because of their religious beliefs.” Bremner said she had never received an inquiry from or worked with the person.
Happily, he said, most of the hateful rhetoric has “cooled off.” Still, it’s a reminder that in disputes over the nature and future of a community, neither side is rarely spared less-than-neighborly treatment.Adding to the difficulty for some Latter-day Saints in these communities is their own mixed feelings about the projects and the process by which the church pushes them forward.
Besides the building itself, Green also isn’t thrilled with the way the church has managed the process. The high school teacher and his wife, Jennifer, worked hard to buy a plot away from city lights. If the temple goes forward, the couple will share a fence with the structure. Joel and Jennifer Schuh stand in their backyard that shares a fence with a lot where a proposed Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints temple may be built in Fairview, Texas, on May 5, 2024.
Lisa Mayo-DeRiso, a community activist who has been fighting large developments in rural Las Vegas for 30 years, pushed back against the idea that the church is doing anything outside the norm when it comes to these sorts of planning and zoning fights, which she said often involve well-placed campaign donations and help from downtown law firms.
Only inside their dedicated halls can the faithful perform the most sacred rituals necessary to return to live with God, including uniting couples in marriage for eternity. The Laie Hawaii Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, photographed Friday, April 1, 2022. The edifice is one of the faith's temples without a spire.
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