Mormon temples aren't open to non-Mormons - except for yesterday when the Oakland temple was opened for tours by the public. I went with some family and friends (some of them former Mormons) just out of curiosity because it's an impressive looking building from the outside.
Well inside it's just and endless labyrinth of corridors, smallish rooms, more corridors, cramped staircases, more corridors, and strikingly dull decor. It's like a cheap and tacky middle eastern hotel inside. I was expecting to see a big cathedral-like worship space, but all I got was some bland looking auditoriums roughly the size of a college lecture theatre. There was a cool looking baptismal font, something the size of a hot tub, supported by big statues of bulls, but that was about the most impressive thing about it. Everything else was just dull or outright weird.
These include:
- Tons of changing cubicles with multiple clothing storage lockers in each one
- Storage for white robes that people are supposed to wear during certain ceremonies like baptism (they go for the full immersion version, hence the hot tub)
- Small and dull rooms where they perform "marriages" (they don't call them weddings for some reason) and there's a small altar at the middle of the room where the couple kneels opposite each other
- Code violations left right and centre. There's no emergency exit signs despite it being confusing where is the way out, I saw no signs of any sprinkler systems, no emergency lights, and stairs are non standard dimensions
- All the decor such as carpet is custom-made in a specific pattern, but it still looks like something out of a hotel
- There's one auditorium with a curtain behind the stage. They didn't tell us what that's for, but my former Mormon friend told me it's where you reach through to the people hiding behind the curtain and they give you the Freemason-style secret handshake which you're supposed to use when you get to heaven
What I found most striking is that it's high on a hill with a stunning view over Oakland, the bay, and San Francisco looking out through the Golden Gate - and there's not one single window in the whole damn building. They have these rooms where you're supposed to go and supposedly meditate or something, contemplating the grandeur of God's creation, but you can't look out a window at one of the best views ever.
An interesting day out, but weird.
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