From what I have learned here, I would think that a Mormon Temple would make a poor terror target. Unlike a regular religious building, there is no large central area where all the people congregate. It is split up into numerous rooms which would lead to a complicated assault with numerous opportunities to escape.
That's also what I think, plus having the TR desk in front does give them some added protection because they wouldn't hesitate to call security or even the local police if they thought it was necessary. After all, non-Mormon parents are banned from seeing their convert child get "sealed" in the temple.
I think this might be a response to my illegal entry into the huge mosque at Casablanca....you should have seen those people's faces in the dressing room when I strolled in...in shorts. Unfortunately, I left a pamphlet there by accident, as well as a camera with all my pictures of the interior of the mosque. I was really bummed when I ran out and realized I'd left them there.
But the whole experience makes for a great memory.
[Some of you might think this post is a phony...but it actually occurred...]
A family relative who retired from the FBI went to work for the LDS church's security organization. He basically said it's like a mini FBI. This was before 9/11. He was amazed at how good it was and they even gathered intelligence on potential enemies of the church.
So Sunday morning (yesterday), I'm on my way down the I5 past the monstrously ugly temple heading for the airport.
All of a sudden, I see a CHP up ahead weaving across the freeway, stopping traffic. We all come to a dead stop -- about 1/4 mile north of the temple.
For a brief second, this thread went through my mind...naw, I thought, they didn't really hit it, did they?
Turns out it was just an SDG&E crew, running a big new power line across the freeway. They had to shut down traffic for 15 minutes to get the line across & then hoist it up. Then I continued on my way.
While any of us here would dread any terrorist attack, hardly anyone in San Diego would mind if *something* happened to that building. It's quite unpopular here with anyone but mormons.