The Largest and Highest Hindu Temple in the World is Under Construction


Magnificent churches in the U.S. are empty and will be torn down or repurposed. In every large and growing city in the U.S. I assume there are new churches under construction. A friend of mine in Fargo, ND, where we lived for 40 years told me he resigned from a planning committee of the Catholic diocese there because the planned church building was so extravagant. It is since been built. Here is a story about the largest Hindu temple ever built which will be finished soon. A new and large Hindu temple was built recently about 25 minutes from where I now live in Iowa. What is this thing about church buildings?

The book I'm reading written by an anthropologist explains this. It is not necessary to build a monument to atheism because atheists do not need constant reminders they are correct in their view there are no gods. Religions, however, need to constantly remind the faithful the god(s) they worship are real. This is because on one has ever seen them. The faithful need to attend church often, pray often and hear from their shaman and read constantly to keep them from slipping and yielding to doubt. Doubt is always present because gods are not seen like the shoes on puts on every day. Looking at these buildings as an outsider it is amazing the faithful voluntarily fork over billions of dollars each year to build and maintain these buildings which are needed only for marketing.

After the magnificent Catholic Church was built in Fargo another Catholic friend, who is proud of the building, invited me to visit and see the church. I declined, no interest whatsoever. There is a visitors welcome sign in front of the new Hindu temple near me. I have not, nor do I intend, to see the inside of that church either. It's hard not to think of what good and helpful things could have been provided with all that money.

Around the time Jesus was supposed to have lived, a huge temple was built in Greece to honor the Greek God Zeus. The towering support columns of that temple remain. The remains of several temples devoted to reminding Greek worshippers their gods were real remain tourist sites today. Those gods have slipped in popularity but their temples remain. 

As an outsider, all these buildings built with hard-earned money of followers represent the discouraging conclusion humans are a very gullible animal.  

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