LDS Church is suing Cody, Wyoming

[Teancum1]

Wyoming isn't desolate. It has some of the most scenic areas in the mountain west. In addition to Yellowstone and Grand Teton NPs there is the Wyoming Range, the Wind River, Medicine Bow, and Laramie mountains, Devil's Tower, Fossil Butte, and a whole bunch of world class trout fishing, and big game hunting. It's prime cattle country, and is probably the most free state in the US.

Wyoming is one of the last free and wide open spaces left in the US. Voted close to 80% for Trump(I did not ) and kicked out RINO Liz Cheney as quick as possible.
Cody is a desirable location- amazing scenery within minutes of town, a short drive to Yellowstone.
As a lifelong member I am totally embarrassed by the church and their actions. The big money bully act is disappointing. Longtime members in Cody will have to put up with the fallout for years to come. I can’t believe that Jesus would tell them to sue.

[Good & Global]

Wyoming is one of the last free and wide open spaces left in the US. Voted close to 80% for Trump(I did not ) and kicked out RINO Liz Cheney as quick as possible.
Cody is a desirable location- amazing scenery within minutes of town, a short drive to Yellowstone.
As a lifelong member I am totally embarrassed by the church and their actions. The big money bully act is disappointing. Longtime members in Cody will have to put up with the fallout for years to come. I can’t believe that Jesus would tell them to sue.

Let us not disgrace the name of our Lord by associating his will with the childish behavior of these idiots. That goes for most of the corporate church. They clearly have been left on their own and to their own wisdom.

If they had an ounce of intelligence left, they would repent and make the revisions or relocate the temple to another town entirely. There can be no good that comes of this course of action.

[Serragon]

Site location of the Cody, Wyoming temple

This is why I 100% support the church for suing as it was hate motivated issue with the town. They don't want more church members coming into their town. Of course they won't say this. It's a pretty fast trip from Idaho and northern parts of Utah for people to go to this temple. Plus with a temple, it means members will move there too.

The church agreed to lower the height of the steeple from 101 feet to 85.
https://www.sltrib.com/religion/2023/08 ... l-wyoming/

Looking at the facts, it certainly appears that the church is in the right in this case.

The council approved the temple, then tried to nullify that approval via redefinition of the rules.

[Momma J]

Oh the stories I could tell of growing up in Cody Wyoming. My mother, stepfather, grandmother amongst others are buried there. I still have many family members in the area.

I grew up playing in the foothills of Heart Mt.

As a young child, I was once *accidently* left in Yellowstone Park.

Good times

The best place on the planet to raise a family with old-school values. Children in Wyoming do not receive helicopter parenting. They actually learn to solve problems.

Due to a great amount of isolation from big city issues, we had to figure out survival quickly. One of my earliest memories was my dad teaching us how to find civilization if we are ever lost in the back country. (this had nothing to do with me being left in Yellowstone) But I did know at an early age how to survive and find help.

Back to Cody, salt of the earth people. They are becoming a tad bit resentful of the Inundation of people moving into the area and voting in West Coast "ideas." Do not even get me started on the wolf issues.

I am actually very grateful that many do not see the value of the smaller towns in the area... Powell, Lovell, Basin, Worland (stinky town... awesome people) etc.

People in Cody fear that they are becoming the next Jackson, Wy. They are quickly losing their voices. The small town where we got into so much childish trouble, is changing. People are upset and the temple is something they can focus their anger on.

They are fighting tooth and nail to keep the town small (ish).

A fond memory is my baptism in the Cody Chapel. There was once talk that they were going to demo the building. It has the most amazing chapel. http://codymural.com/history/the-chapel-rotunda/

In other areas, in which I have lived, Mormons were often bullied. That was not done in Cody. Good people. They worked alongside each other through their differences.

But.... They are being pushed past their limits.

Members in the area are happy that they will no longer need to drive to Billings MT to do temple work. It is a harsh drive in inclement weather. But they are open to the temple being moved to a location that would better suit the town as a whole.

I honestly think Powell would be a better fit. A bit smaller. Still close to Cody. Further from the mountains. Less of a tourist area. Fantastic people in all the Bighorn Basin.

[Teancum1]

Site location of the Cody, Wyoming temple

This is why I 100% support the church for suing as it was hate motivated issue with the town. They don't want more church members coming into their town. Of course they won't say this. It's a pretty fast trip from Idaho and northern parts of Utah for people to go to this temple. Plus with a temple, it means members will move there too.

The church agreed to lower the height of the steeple from 101 feet to 85.
https://www.sltrib.com/religion/2023/08 ... l-wyoming/

Looking at the facts, it certainly appears that the church is in the right in this case.

The council approved the temple, then tried to nullify that approval via redefinition of the rules.

I agree that the church is probably in the right as far as the legal issues are concerned. However being right and being a “peacemaker” sometimes is mutually exclusive. And that appears to be the case here.
Will they sue every small town where they want to build? How many other towns have they sued?

The church is run by lawyers and executives who now have an endless amount of money. It isn’t a good combination.
Alma 10:27
And now behold, I say unto you, that the foundation of the destruction of this people is beginning to be laid by the unrighteousness of your lawyers and your judges.

I will be in the Cody temple district. I can agree with Momma J that the locals are good, hard working, salt of the earth people but they do not take kindly to bullies who masquerade as Christlike as they take you to court.

[Momma J]

They should just relocate the temple down the road to Lovell that’s where all the memberships is anyway and I bet no one there would object even if it was in the middle of town.

This is where I was born. The population is very low in all of Wyoming, but there are many members in the Bighorn Basin.

I was thinking Powell, only because it is a tad bit larger.

(trivia.... I have many generations of family residing in Penrose ... not above ground)

[gkearney]

They should just relocate the temple down the road to Lovell that’s where all the memberships is anyway and I bet no one there would object even if it was in the middle of town.

This is where I was born. The population is very low in all of Wyoming, but there are many members in the Bighorn Basin.

I was thinking Powell, only because it is a tad bit larger.

(trivia.... I have many generations of family residing in Penrose ... not above ground) ;)

Powell or Lovell doesn't really matter, why have a fight when there are locations nearby that will not fight you. Sure the Church likely will win but at what cost? Why get the townspeople of Cody all worked up when there are perfectly good option just down the road in towns with more membership anyway?

[Chip]

They should just relocate the temple down the road to Lovell that’s where all the memberships is anyway and I bet no one there would object even if it was in the middle of town.

This is where I was born. The population is very low in all of Wyoming, but there are many members in the Bighorn Basin.

I was thinking Powell, only because it is a tad bit larger.

(trivia.... I have many generations of family residing in Penrose ... not above ground)

Powell or Lovell doesn't really matter, why have a fight when there are locations nearby that will not fight you. Sure the Church likely will will but at what cost? Why get the townspeople of Cody all worked up when there are perfectly good option just down the road in towns with more membership anyway?

Word of this will travel among city councils all over the country. Seems like a PR death wish.

[Sunain]

Word of this will travel among city councils all over the country. Seems like a PR death wish.

This is a good thing. Too often in the past, the church was too timid and bullied right out of the USA. No longer. Time to start pushing back hard against evil. The one good thing that all this church wealth has brought is montary power. The world understands money more than anything these days. Satan wants to control the world with money, well at least now that money is being used to build a lot of nice temples.Temples are for the salvation of mankind and thwart Satan's goals. Opposition to a temple is siding with Satan.

[Momma J]

Word of this will travel among city councils all over the country. Seems like a PR death wish.

This is a good thing. Too often in the past, the church was too timid and bullied right out of the USA. No longer. Time to start pushing back hard against evil. The one good thing that all this church wealth has brought is montary power. The world understands money more than anything these days. Satan wants to control the world with money, well at least now that money is being used to build a lot of nice temples.Temples are for the salvation of mankind and thwart Satan's goals. Opposition to a temple is siding with Satan.

Why do you make the assumption that the people in Cody are evil? Live amongst the hardworking and re-evaluate.

Bullying others into submission is not the way to win hearts. I can only imagine this will drive a wedge between members and other citizens in the area. The members do not want a war. They depend on each other in the community. I do not want my family's business to dry up because they are Mormons. I do not want my nieces and nephews to be bullied or shunned in school.

Like others have mentioned, why not move it a few miles East?

[Arm Chair Quarterback]

Word of this will travel among city councils all over the country. Seems like a PR death wish.

This is a good thing. Too often in the past, the church was too timid and bullied right out of the USA. No longer. Time to start pushing back hard against evil. The one good thing that all this church wealth has brought is montary power. The world understands money more than anything these days. Satan wants to control the world with money, well at least now that money is being used to build a lot of nice temples.Temples are for the salvation of mankind and thwart Satan's goals. Opposition to a temple is siding with Satan.

Opposing temples is siding with Satan? What are we to call Masonic rituals with blood oaths? Siding with stone cutters?

[Silver Pie]

Wyoming isn't desolate. It has some of the most scenic areas in the mountain west. In addition to Yellowstone and Grand Teton NPs there is the Wyoming Range, the Wind River, Medicine Bow, and Laramie mountains, Devil's Tower, Fossil Butte, and a whole bunch of world class trout fishing, and big game hunting. It's prime cattle country, and is probably the most free state in the US.

Wyoming is one of the last free and wide open spaces left in the US. Voted close to 80% for Trump(I did not ) and kicked out RINO Liz Cheney as quick as possible.
Cody is a desirable location- amazing scenery within minutes of town, a short drive to Yellowstone.
As a lifelong member I am totally embarrassed by the church and their actions. The big money bully act is disappointing. Longtime members in Cody will have to put up with the fallout for years to come. I can’t believe that Jesus would tell them to sue.

Yeah, but they should have put Brent Bien in instead of keeping the old governor in the last election.

[JohnnyL]

I can't say I really feel bad for anyone. Wealthy Mormon family cedes land to the wealthy church for a temple, as something of a legacy project for their dearly departed patriarch. Wealthy neighbors of wealthy Mormons object. Rich people fighting with rich people. Yawn.

I did find it interesting that some of the wealthy neighbors objecting to this project live on Olive Glenn Dr. The street is named after the parents of this wealthy Mormon benefactor. Clearly he has some pull in the town.

The per capita income in Cody in 2018 was $34,127, which is upper middle income relative to Wyoming and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $136,508 for a family of four. However, Cody contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.
https://www.neighborhoodscout.com/wy/cody

I thought most of Wyoming wasn't wealthy, but looking at this list makes me rethink (to me, anyone who gets $3k/month or more is wealthy, maybe $4k if you have kids - that's $36,000-$48,000/year. Most of these numbers are a lot higher than that).

Richest Cities in Wyoming
https://namecensus.com/demographics/wyo ... st-cities/
Rank ...City.....................County...................Mean Income
1 Pinedale ..............Sublette County..........$122,576.00
2 Jackson ..............Teton County...............$115,634.00
3 Star Valley Ranch.....Lincoln County.......$110,257.00
4 Rolling Hills.........Converse County.........$108,167.00
5 Dayton ................Sheridan County..........$106,968.00
6 Bar Nunn ............Natrona County...........$102,510.00
7 Green River.........Sweetwater County.....$100,081.00
8 Lyman.................Uinta County...................$93,528.00
9 Gillette ...............Campbell County............$93,365.00
10 Rock Springs.....Sweetwater County.........$91,506.00
11 Bear River..........Uinta County....................$90,995.00
12 Alpine................Lincoln County.................$90,297.00
13 Cheyenne..........Laramie County................$90,096.00
14 Douglas ...........Converse County...............$88,825.00
15 Wright..............Campbell County...............$88,066.00
16 Saratoga .........Carbon County...................$84,629.00
17 Casper.............Natrona County..................$83,549.00
18 Pine Haven......Crook County.....................$82,630.00
19 Cowley.............Big Horn County.................$82,215.00
20 Newcastle ......Weston County...................$80,351.00
21 Guernsey.........Platte County......................$79,856.00
22 Rawlins ..........Carbon County....................$79,160.00
23 Evansville.......Natrona County...................$78,327.00
24 Lander............Fremont County...................$77,991.00
25 Byron .............Big Horn County..................$77,483.00
26 Glenrock........Converse County.................$77,275.00
27 Mountain View......Uinta County................$77,241.00
28 Ranchester............Sheridan County .........$77,224.00
29 Cody...................Park County.................$77,169.00
30 Afton.............Lincoln County....................$76,635.00
31 Sheridan.......Sheridan County..................$76,330.00
32 Kemmerer.....Lincoln County....................$75,761.00
33 Wheatland.....Platte County......................$74,988.00
34 Cokeville.......Lincoln County....................$74,690.00
35 Powell...........Park County.........................$72,699.00
36 Thermopolis .....Hot Springs County.......$71,539.00
37 Diamondville.....Lincoln County...............$71,374.00
38 Evanston.......Uinta County.......................$69,852.00
39 Lovell.............Big Horn County.................$69,766.00
40 Torrington.....Goshen County ..................$69,710.00
41 Sundance......Crook County......................$67,689.00
42 Upton ............Weston County...................$66,840.00
43 Moorcroft .....Crook County......................$66,838.00
44 Pine Bluffs.....Laramie County..................$66,638.00
45 Worland ........Washakie County................$66,098.00
46 Marbleton.....Sublette County...................$65,975.00
47 Laramie........Albany County......................$65,745.00
48 Hanna..........Carbon County......................$63,668.00
49 Dubois.........Fremont County....................$61,995.00
50 Greybull.......Big Horn County....................$61,279.00
51 Buffalo........Johnson County....................$61,222.00
52 Lusk............Niobrara County.....................$61,085.00
53 Mills............Natrona County......................$60,825.00
54 Riverton......Fremont County.....................$60,612.00
55 Saline..........Drew County..........................$58,513.00
56 Basin...........Big Horn County....................$55,749.00
57 Meeteetse.....Park County........................$52,394.00
58 Shoshoni.......Fremont County..................$49,573.00

You might take another look at $4k a month being wealthy. In my mind, $5k a month is barely above poverty.

True for some places. But, that's still 54 cities above $60,000, and Cody is $77,000.

[Good & Global]

I can agree with Momma J that the locals are good, hard working, salt of the earth people but they do not take kindly to bullies who masquerade as Christlike as they take you to court.

Agreed. This is my beef with this whole thing. What happened to inviting people to Come unto Christ?

Pretty hard to do that when you are under court order to do so.

And we wonder why the missionary efforts of the church have failed to make any difference in the world.
Kirton F McConkie

[Ymarsakar]

Word of this will travel among city councils all over the country. Seems like a PR death wish.

This is a good thing. Too often in the past, the church was too timid and bullied right out of the USA. No longer. Time to start pushing back hard against evil. The one good thing that all this church wealth has brought is montary power. The world understands money more than anything these days. Satan wants to control the world with money, well at least now that money is being used to build a lot of nice temples.Temples are for the salvation of mankind and thwart Satan's goals. Opposition to a temple is siding with Satan.

Why do you make the assumption that the people in Cody are evil? Live amongst the hardworking and re-evaluate.

Bullying others into submission is not the way to win hearts. I can only imagine this will drive a wedge between members and other citizens in the area. The members do not want a war. They depend on each other in the community. I do not want my family's business to dry up because they are Mormons. I do not want my nieces and nephews to be bullied or shunned in school.

Like others have mentioned, why not move it a few miles East?

Probably a leyline there that they want to monopplize. East wont work same

[Serragon]

Site location of the Cody, Wyoming temple

This is why I 100% support the church for suing as it was hate motivated issue with the town. They don't want more church members coming into their town. Of course they won't say this. It's a pretty fast trip from Idaho and northern parts of Utah for people to go to this temple. Plus with a temple, it means members will move there too.

The church agreed to lower the height of the steeple from 101 feet to 85.
https://www.sltrib.com/religion/2023/08 ... l-wyoming/

Looking at the facts, it certainly appears that the church is in the right in this case.

The council approved the temple, then tried to nullify that approval via redefinition of the rules.

I agree that the church is probably in the right as far as the legal issues are concerned. However being right and being a “peacemaker” sometimes is mutually exclusive. And that appears to be the case here.
Will they sue every small town where they want to build? How many other towns have they sued?

The church is run by lawyers and executives who now have an endless amount of money. It isn’t a good combination.
Alma 10:27
And now behold, I say unto you, that the foundation of the destruction of this people is beginning to be laid by the unrighteousness of your lawyers and your judges.

I will be in the Cody temple district. I can agree with Momma J that the locals are good, hard working, salt of the earth people but they do not take kindly to bullies who masquerade as Christlike as they take you to court.

I disagree that the church is doing any bullying.

They own property and want to build a temple. They approached the city council for an exception to the height limit. The council voted and approved the exception.

Afterwards, the leader of the council attempted to say that the vote was invalid because a majority of the council did not approve the exception when the rules say that only a majority of those present must approve. So the church took the next legal step in order to protect their rights.

The chairman is feeling some pressure from somewhere in order to have made up new rules and violate the law, but that pressure wasn't coming from the church. The council can always reconvene and vote on the exception again, but that isn't happening for some reason. Instead, the city government is attempting to violate the law and the property rights of the church.

There are a lot of things I do not support about our modern church, but I believe the church is acting appropriately here. I just wish the church would support our rights and liberties as aggressively as they stand up for their own.

[4Joshua8]

Looking at the facts, it certainly appears that the church is in the right in this case.

The council approved the temple, then tried to nullify that approval via redefinition of the rules.

I agree that the church is probably in the right as far as the legal issues are concerned. However being right and being a “peacemaker” sometimes is mutually exclusive. And that appears to be the case here.
Will they sue every small town where they want to build? How many other towns have they sued?

The church is run by lawyers and executives who now have an endless amount of money. It isn’t a good combination.
Alma 10:27
And now behold, I say unto you, that the foundation of the destruction of this people is beginning to be laid by the unrighteousness of your lawyers and your judges.

I will be in the Cody temple district. I can agree with Momma J that the locals are good, hard working, salt of the earth people but they do not take kindly to bullies who masquerade as Christlike as they take you to court.

I just wish the church would support our rights and liberties as aggressively as they stand up for their own.

Amen to that. I guess if you are gay, female, trans or black the church has shown an interest in your rights... But for the rest? It's only been lip service. It's been preaching to stand up for your rights and then abandoning you when you do.

[Silver Pie]

Did the city approve a 100-foot spire? Sincerely asking.

P.S. I disagree that suing a city is Christlike. Turn the other cheek, agree with thy (thine?) adversary quickly, and all that.

Looking at the facts, it certainly appears that the church is in the right in this case.

The council approved the temple, then tried to nullify that approval via redefinition of the rules.

I agree that the church is probably in the right as far as the legal issues are concerned. However being right and being a “peacemaker” sometimes is mutually exclusive. And that appears to be the case here.
Will they sue every small town where they want to build? How many other towns have they sued?

The church is run by lawyers and executives who now have an endless amount of money. It isn’t a good combination.
Alma 10:27
And now behold, I say unto you, that the foundation of the destruction of this people is beginning to be laid by the unrighteousness of your lawyers and your judges.

I will be in the Cody temple district. I can agree with Momma J that the locals are good, hard working, salt of the earth people but they do not take kindly to bullies who masquerade as Christlike as they take you to court.

I disagree that the church is doing any bullying.

They own property and want to build a temple. They approached the city council for an exception to the height limit. The council voted and approved the exception.

Afterwards, the leader of the council attempted to say that the vote was invalid because a majority of the council did not approve the exception when the rules say that only a majority of those present must approve. So the church took the next legal step in order to protect their rights.

The chairman is feeling some pressure from somewhere in order to have made up new rules and violate the law, but that pressure wasn't coming from the church. The council can always reconvene and vote on the exception again, but that isn't happening for some reason. Instead, the city government is attempting to violate the law and the property rights of the church.

There are a lot of things I do not support about our modern church, but I believe the church is acting appropriately here. I just wish the church would support our rights and liberties as aggressively as they stand up for their own.

[gkearney]

[Teancum1]

They won’t put it there. Lovell is a small predominantly Mormon town with little in the way of tourism or worldly desirability as far as property values are concerned.
It does have good people who live the gospel and desire a temple in their midst. But that is not what headquarters wants.
It wants a show piece with desirable property next to the temple. Something that will dazzle all the tourists who pass through town.

I know they have the legal high ground. It’s poor taste for the Cody government to hem and haw. They are in the legal wrong.

But this behavior the Kingdom of God on earth is ugly.

[silverado]

Is suing Cody Christlike? What if you wear a mask?

[JohnnyL]

They were promised one?

[Niemand]

Word of this will travel among city councils all over the country. Seems like a PR death wish.

This is a good thing. Too often in the past, the church was too timid and bullied right out of the USA. No longer. Time to start pushing back hard against evil. The one good thing that all this church wealth has brought is montary power. The world understands money more than anything these days. Satan wants to control the world with money, well at least now that money is being used to build a lot of nice temples.Temples are for the salvation of mankind and thwart Satan's goals. Opposition to a temple is siding with Satan.

If they'd handled this differently there would be little to no bother.

The church has picked the wrong fight. They could have stood up for better things. Plenty of opportunities lately.

Remember "persecution" like this doesn't always mean you're right. You can be persecuted for bullying people too.

[Serragon]

Is suing Cody Christlike? What if you wear a mask?

I think there is a vast difference between how we treat our neighbors and how we interact with government. Suing our neighbors would likely not be Christlike at all. Seeking legal redress against government when the government violates your rights very well might be.

If the council had voted not to allow the exception and the church then sued them I would be right on board with what you are suggesting. That would not be very Christlike. But here we have government lying in an attempt to play politics and deny the church's rights without following the proscribed method for handling this issue. I don't see pushing back against corrupt governments as unchristlike at all.

somehow this keeps getting portrayed as the church vs the citizens of Cody. it is not. There are always people who do not want the temples in their communities. And these people will use any excuse or reason to try and draw sympathy for their cause. I have personally witnessed this multiple times in communities I have lived. But the existence of people who do not want the temple is not evidence that the church should not have legal rights to use their property or to push back against the government when they start with shenanigans that violate those rights.

If the citizens of Cody do not want the temple there, they should make that known to their city council. If the city council does not want the temple there, they should vote to not allow the exception to the height limit which would likely cause the church to pick a new location. But what is currently happening from the government is unacceptable.

[Teancum1]

Word of this will travel among city councils all over the country. Seems like a PR death wish.

This is a good thing. Too often in the past, the church was too timid and bullied right out of the USA. No longer. Time to start pushing back hard against evil. The one good thing that all this church wealth has brought is montary power. The world understands money more than anything these days. Satan wants to control the world with money, well at least now that money is being used to build a lot of nice temples.Temples are for the salvation of mankind and thwart Satan's goals. Opposition to a temple is siding with Satan.

Similar arguments were made when the saints showed up in Missouri in the 1830’s. That did not work out well in the end for the church or the establishment of Zion. The church in those days were prideful, angry, and vindictive. (Not all of course- but many).
That attitude boiled over into violence toward the saints but also reprisals by the members towards the offending nonMormons.
In my opinion- that was the end of the restoration of Zion and settling for “churchianity” instead. And we have been there for a very long time, ebbing and flowing.
I guess to you the temple(a place of holiness and peace for many) is more important than the methods used to have it “accepted” by the Missourians- oops I mean citizens of Cody.
To them, the temple will represent wealthy churchianity forced onto them for their own good.