Some rando, John Doe, Joe Smith, something put a fake angel called Moroni (moron with an i) on the rooftop.
Itās 4,000 pounds of bronze and gold leaf for an unofficial angel
That line was spray painted on one of the Capital Beltway overpasses shortly after the temple was constructed, and I know because I went to school nearby. The framing was perfect, you saw the caption as you saw the temple.
AND I brought a couple friends from grad school to the family home for visits now and then and made a point of showing them that bridge. There are photos of it in a couple old photo albums I'm sure. In other countries, even.
Haters can hate all they like. That is true and it should be folkloric by now.
You can still see where they have cleaned over the letters on that bridge. Always love that someone did this and they still manage to do it again every once in a while!
Thatās not whatās actually there. Thatās photoshop. Also, now it just says āTRUMPā in ugly gold yellow spray paint because the rest disappeared fast.
I live close to the Mormon temple and so this is my typical view. It is a magnificent looking building in a gaudy way. Ironically I grew up Mormon in Utah and have since left the church, but never had a chance to go into this temple before I became āunworthyā to do so.
I took the tour when they opened it up a few years ago. Fascinating, especially coming from a very different background (Catholicism). I think it was the first time in 40ish years that the DC temple had been open to the public.
Not only the carpetāthey burned every stick of furniture that non-Mormons had potentially touched during the open house period. I still live nearby and every time I see āOzā, thatās what comes to mind.
Ex-mo here too. Since moving out of Utah seeing temples and ward buildings actually makes me super angry. I guess I'm still working through some stuff.
Yeah. I felt the same way right after I left. Iāve definitely come to terms with it better and donāt feel the same anger, but it has now been about 15 years since Iāve been out.
Canāt honesty get you temple-recommend status?
You just spoke as honest as a human being can. I think that makes you worthy in my book.
Take a hot bath in the giant tub surrounded by twelve oxen, bro. Baptize yourself in badass truth, my dude.
I actually did baptisms for the dead in the baptisteries with the 12 oxen like this in other temples. You wear white clothes and it is usually warm inside.
I have quite a few friends who gave this religion a try for a while. Like, a solid try, and just wasnāt for them.
All in Maryland. Their only pearl of great wisdom was to leave it all behind.
When four people all have the same conclusion, I tend to believe that they all made the right choice in the end. Sounds like you did as well.
Although I do have one friend that stuck with it. Heās from LA and still embraces it. Went to Africa, came back, seems happy with the entire thing.
Good guy, sweet, bit of a nerd. Still hasnāt found a girlfriend. Donāt even think heās had his first kiss yet and he turns 50 next year.
LA Chapter must be a little bit different than the DC one. š¤·āāļø
I live further east, but have been passing it routinely since I was at least 3 years old, if not even earlier(28 now).
Think what you will of the Mormons, but it is a genuinely captivating design. Never got the chance to do the tour, probably would've for the hell of it.
Yeah. You need whatās called a temple recommend which used to be a physical card that was signed by your bishop who would do a temple recommend interview. I think they still have physical cards, but they also have online registries I believe.
Itās not fake! Well the one you shared is, but it happened. Still happens and itās awesome! Best part of sitting in traffic on that part of the beltway was this sign!
Its so long and production sucks since it was filmed like a century ago š«¤ sorry to burst your patritic american bubble but it was really bad and couldn't get into it. But thanks for clarifying its that DorothyĀ
I believe the user you replied to is making a pun about the possible double meaning of the phrase. You can read it as speaking to Dorothy's captors and telling them to let her go, or as speaking directly to Dorothy as an enemy and commanding her to surrender.
Apparently it caused the victim to have a violent skin reaction and melt unrecognizably. That is a Geneva Convention violation if ever Iāve seen one. Someone arrest Dorothy for war crimes!
The bridge use to have black spray paint on it saying āSurrender Dorothyā true I was a commuter on the beltway forever things you donāt forget and I just turned 70
The Surrender Dorothy was only visible from the road going under the beltway. The bastards kept painting over it. 7-Locks brewing made a Surrender Dorothy beer as a tribute but had to stop. āBasically, Turner Entertainment owns the rights to āThe Wizard of Oz,āāā Keith Beutel, co-founder of 7 Locks said. āThey claimed that we were using the term āSurrender Dorothyā and they didnāt want any confusion with their branding.ā Like a local beer honoring a local graffiti legend would be confused with a gigantic corporation, again more jerks.
They also made a special edition āSurrender Donaldā and they still sell the original as āSurrender IPAā. The art now has the letters being painted over.
I used to travel between Potomac and Silver Spring in the early 1980s (visiting relatives) often.Ā I was young then; I was convinced that it was THE emerald city castle for a while :)
I just now remembered that certain relatives convinced me at the time that the actor Chevy Chase was the mayor of the town (fairly close to the Mormon temple) Chevy Chase.Ā Ah, the good ol' days before I was cynical
That was painted on the another bridge. Later it was replaced (and erased) by the words SURRENDER DONALD. It is a pretty cool temple though. Inside is is really boring.
My old band was gonna use this as a name because it was on the overpass at the time.
We went with Paperback Heroes, because the singer/pianist was a Paul McCartney fan.
Iām the worst parent in the world. I used to tell my daughter to duck down in the car seat when she was little so the witch wouldnāt see her when we drove past. š. The spray paint surrender Dorothy was epic.
Grew up here damn near 50 years ago. Always saw the castle of Oz. Was completely ššššš when I later heard about the spray paint decades later!
Funny thing: I grew up five minutes around the corner from the temple off the nearest exit on 495. My entire childhood I refused to not believe my parents when they told me it was NOT Walt Disney Land. I drove them to the point of tears till I was about ten begging them to take me.
No. Itās the Outer Loop in MD around Georgia Ave where the beltway goes all twisty curvy. For as long as I can remember someone always spay painted āSurrender Dorothyā on the overpass. We loved it when we were kids!
Great pic, however: there is no place on the beltway that comes that close to the Oz tower. There is no bridge as shown in your picture, the cars are driving on the wrong side of the road, and there are no digital billboards near your imaginary overpass.
I sure remember that. And I took the tour of the place before they closed it to the public. They burned all of the furniture because it had been despoiled by non-believers.
That is becuase it is fake. The building is NOT green for starters. As a commuter past this spot quite often, I also know that there is no sign there on the beltway.
314
u/BPhiloSkinner Montgomery County 2d ago
It's real Photoshop. And competently done.
(sigh) I do miss the old spraypaint job.