The Baha'i House of Worship for the North American Continent

I live in Chicago, and I remember that my family and I went to visit the Baha'i Temple one day, probably 4 to 5 years ago at least. At that time, I didn't know anything about what the Baha'i Faith was. I think I remember asking my dad about it, since we were going to see it, but I don't remember his answer, or what he knew about it. My parents just wanted to go and show it to my sister and I because of the architecture and gardens surrounding it and because they thought it was beautiful. And it is. When we got there, I didn't care what the building was for, I just found it amazing. All the details and intricate patterns of the building, and the gardens. I don't remember much specific about it, but I do know that I walked around the outside of the building, just looking at everything, fascinated by the building.

I would like to go back, now that I know about the faith. We also didn't go inside when I was there, and the pictures of the inside look equally as beautiful. Something that I think I noticed while there, but understand more now are the details on the exterior, showing symbols from other religions. Something I wonder now is, what do other religions think about this? Have any objected to the use of their symbols?

Some of the Baha'i rules seem odd. They have these symbols from other religions on their temple itself. Yet, they only used donations from Baha'is to fund the construction of it. They sometimes include everyone, sometimes exclude people. I could see accepting funds from people outside the religion being beneficial to their cause. The temple built by everyone, not just those who have accepted the faith. But then again, their purpose is kind of to get others to accept their way, so I would assume they must exclude outsiders at times. I guess not accepting outsider donations is a way of separating themselves and showing that they do believe in certain things and interpretations.