From Deseret News archives:
Boston LDS temple tumult called beneficial to church
History buffs meet near Joseph Smith's birthplace
But Grant Bennett believes that ultimately, the high-profile controversy has served the church well, simply because it forced LDS officials in both Massachusetts and Salt Lake City to explain the specifics of their faith in what ultimately became a widespread public education campaign.
He detailed those efforts for a standing-room-only crowd during the opening day of the 40th annual meeting of the Mormon History Association.
Bennett, who was serving as a bishop for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Belmont, Mass., in 1995 when President Gordon B. Hinckley announced a temple would be built there, said he believes there have been long-term benefits to the church.
A decade after the controversy began, the state has an LDS governor in Mitt Romney; two top administrators at Harvard are LDS; and former Brigham Young University basketball star Danny Ainge is leading the Boston Celtics.
"We take government, education and sports very seriously," he said, winking at the implication that his fellow residents are now more conversant about and comfortable with the LDS Church and its members.
Foremost, he said, is that Latter-day Saints, who usually are in the minority outside Utah, are often "slow to reveal who we are and what we really believe." Failing to do so fosters ignorance about the faith, which "becomes a fertile breeding ground for rumors, and in a small number of cases, outright lies."
Belmont is home to many of the nation's leading intellectuals "more Nobel laureates than anywhere else in the nation" who make up the faculty at Harvard, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and dozens of other universities in the Boston area. In fact, an urban planning professor at Harvard became a chief opponent of the project after buying a home in the area, even though he understood there were plans to build it "in his back yard," Bennett said.
Rumors and fears over almost every logistical aspect of the temple spread like wildfire throughout the community, he said. Residents feared property values would plummet, traffic would become unbearable and the temple spire would lord over their landscape.
Comments
- Kirilenko will not play tonight 2:37 a.m.
- Dry spell dooms UVU 2:32 a.m.
- Griffins cruise by St. Thomas 2:32 a.m.
- WSU wins conference road opener 2:30 a.m.
- Oden hurt, done for season? 12:56 a.m.
- USU home-court streak ends 12:55 a.m.
- USU names field after Merlin Olsen 12:52 a.m.
- Utes stop Idaho State 12:51 a.m.
- Y., U. to learn bowl destinations 12:49 a.m.
- Utes' team staying well-tuned 12:48 a.m.
- Ed Smart 'appalled' at testimony
- Y. profs: Beck not all-knowing
- George lost in rivalry hatefest
- Jazz outrun Pacers
- Y., U. to learn bowl destinations
- Will Harpring be missed?
- Christmas movies with a message
- Snowy roads cause accidents, delays
- Elk herd troubles Idaho town
- 5A high school football All-State
- Why is Y. ignoring spew of hatred?
309 - Letters: Liberal because LDS
248 - Y. profs: Beck not all-knowing
196 - Hate not limited to 1 in-state rivalry
189 - Aggies shoot past Cougars
179 - N.Y. Senate rejects gay marriage
128 - George lost in rivalry hatefest
105 - Unbeaten BYU takes trip to Logan
105 - Harpring's NBA career is over
94 - Ed Smart 'appalled' at testimony
91
Trolley Square's annual Holiday Open House will feature visits with...
That does it — I'm having an affair! Thanks to Tiger Woods, David...
First, a big thank you to all who posted questions here for me to ask...
Utah State will probably make around $500,000 or so by playing Oklahoma. Big...
should have a playoff system like NCAA Basketball. Bowl games could still be...
When Jeff Corwin speaks, we would be wise to listen. He has a front row seat...
True, the range does belong to everyone but when dumb cycles in to the...
That scoreboard is screaming in my ear: 71-61! I would to play the kitties...
Why don't we use Happy Holidays in February when there are several holidays?...
You think the MWC can ever rate a bowl tie that means something? Thompson...
You guys at BYU need to stay on your own comment board. We wiped the floor...
Not playing AK, that's a great step, can't we make it permanant and place his...
The obvious answer is Jerry Sloan. I hate watching Boozer and Okur trying/or...



You can be the first to comment on this story.