My job is to let the world know what is going on right here in Idaho. The Mormons may have started something here according to Chris Talkington. After the city of Twin Falls gave the church wavers for building height and spire height on the new temple to be built in Twin Falls, Chris decided to open thing up again. He has a special concern. He said, It could be a contest by religious denominations for who can reach the closest to God. Hummmnnn! This is something we must watch out for! The Mormons are building a temple that will be 50 feet high while Twin Falls only allows buildings to be 35 feet high in residential areas. The spire will be 159 feet high. Fritz Wunderlich, who knows such things, said that there is no spire limit, but that did not make Chris happy. He has that special concern. The city decided that most folks on that side of town would still be able to see Evil Knievels ramp to the east if they stood on their roofs. Well, the city didn't really decide this. I did. In 1974, Evil Knievel attempted to fly high above the Snake River and land on the other side--perhaps only suffering a broken hip and a couple of broken arms. Evil took off with his rocket-powered motorcycle and things looked good. Then his parachute opened a bit too soon and he landed down in the canyon. Bummer! (read what I just wrote at http://www.answers.com/topic/evel-knievel). You dont have to stand on a roof to see the ramp. You can see it from the Perine Bridge where folks jump off with parachutes all the time. We allow such things out here in Idaho. We invite you to spend your vacation here parachuting off the Perine Bridge. One guy jumped 50 times a few weeks back to prove that he could jump 50 times. He got very tired climbing out of that canyon. Five volunteers kept folding and folding those parachutes. Such diligence! Oh, youth, where hath thou flung thyself? I added that last line for color. Dont forget that it is copyrighted but you may copy it if you give me credit. Anyway, back to the concern that Chris has resurrected. People trying to build something high enough to get closer to God. We can learn more about the Tower of Babel at: http://www.unmuseum.org/babel.htm Biblical Account of the Tower of Babel Now the whole earth had one language and few words. And as men migrated from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. And they said to one another, "Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly." And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar. Then they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth." And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the sons of men had built. And the Lord said, "Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language; and this is only the beginning of what they will do; and nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. Come, let us go down, and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another's speech." So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of the earth, and they left off building the city. Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth; and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of the earth. - Genesis 11. I quote from our source: Archaeologists examining the remains of the city of Babylon have found what appears to be the foundation of the tower: a square of earthen embankments some three-hundred feet on each side. The tower's most splendid incarnation was probably under King Nebuchadnezzar II who lived from 605-562 BC. The King rebuilt the tower to stand 295 feet high. According to an inscription made by the king the tower was constructed of 'baked brick enameled in brilliant blue.' The terraces of the tower may have also been planted with flowers and trees. (http://www.unmuseum.org/babel.htm) Seeing that the Mormon spire will be only 159 feet high, God may not get too angry. But we should be thankful that Chris is looking out for us. We mustnt have God scatter us again creating another zillion languages, not one of us being able to understand the other. Hey! Maybe that wouldnt be all that bad! It could stop all of that babbling in Washington, D.C. While we are waiting for the new Tower of Babel maybe we could get the Congress to go to Babylon and climb the old tower. Maybe God would fix things again! copyrightJohn T. Jones, Ph.D. 2005 |
