howdy-do and might as well

[kjc0123]

What is the meaning of "howdy-do" and "might as well" in the following sentences?

"The church is round. The Templars ignored the traditional Christian cruciform layout and built a perfectly circular church in honor of the sun. A not so subtle howdy-do to the boys in Rome. They might as well have resurrected Stonehenge in downtown London."

[Lillabet]

howdy do is an Americanised form of "how do you do" As a greeting it would be casual and informal. In this case it is being used to show a lack of respect. The speaker is referring to the head of the Catholic Church as "the boys in Rome" and greeting them in a way which is informal rather than respectful.

"might as well have" is used to mean - the same effect would have been had if you did X instead. An more straightforward example where it might be used could be: "You might as well have not come in to work today for all the use you've been" - this being said to someone who although physically present was not actually working.

In your example the speaker is saying that the building of a round church rather than a cruciform one is such a move away from the traditions of the church and such a link to pagan beliefs that rebuilding stonehenge - perhaps the most famous pagan monument  - and using it as a church would have been just as challenging to the officials in Rome.

[jade_pie]

like a salutation of how do you do! just basicly a different way of saying this but in this sentence its sarcastic xxx

[flaming]

I use the phrase "might as well have....."to emphasise my point in an ironic, wry humour sort of way. The addition of the largely unnecessary phrase and comparison often gives some grumpy but witty additions when chatting to friends although I have noticed that a lot of columnists use it when making their first point even more funny/clever.