There's no shortage of posts regarding the Word of Wisdom's prohibition of coffee, tea, soda (once upon a time), alcohol, and tobacco. I'm wondering what people's thoughts, understandings, and experiences are for the W.o.W. on OTHER matters, such as personal behavior, hygiene, fitness, and diet.

I also realize that what people have been told, what they are asked in the TR interview, and what they actually practice vary greatly. When you were an observant Mormon, how diligent were you with all those other requirements and prohibitions?

Outside of the injunctions listed above, what are the most important stipulations in the W.o.W? Problems? Benefits?

When I was a TBM, I stayed far away from alcohol tobacco coffee and tea. Never ate meat sparingly, never really cared about the rest. They didn't care, so I didn't care.

My entire focus was the uptight attitude that I was doing what God commanded us to do through Joseph Smith. I never gave a thought to whether it was actually good for me or made sense. I just used the fact that I would never touch the "evil four" as a way to bolster my Mormon facade. I also made it a point to look down on anyone who did.

I always thought coffee smelled really really good though. Like *wow* good.

Turned out coffee was really really good and apparently really really good for you.

And wine? Oh, don't get me started. Now Mormons can look down on me to bolster their opinion of themselves. It is a service that I am happy to provide.

Never smoked. I drank Pepsi back in high school for a short time, but gave it up to be holy. I started drinking Diet Coke when I was working the late shift at the hospital when my kids were toddlers. My ex thought that was one of the things that lowered his ability to resist temptation. I still drink Diet Coke. It still irritates the hell out of him. Go figure.

I drink now and then. I'd drink more, but I'm cheap, and I also have 3 siblings who drink to excess, but they function. Even my sister considers herself a functioning alcoholic.

My dad drank coffee and I learned later in life he drank alcohol and chewed tobacco. My grandparents drank coffee. Their house always smelled like coffee. I worried that we weren't going to be a forever family from a very, very young age.

I was very thin, so I didn't worry so much about what I ate. I could eat as much as I wanted. Not so now. Now I'm overweight.

My sister gets upset at her kids as they drink alcohol and some smoke, but she is very overweight. I've told my niece and nephews that when I'm in good health, I can preach to them, but not in the shape I'm in.

I'm in horrible health considering. My sister who drinks is in MUCH BETTER HEALTH than I am. She is on no meds. She is very thin and runs.

"on OTHER matters, such as personal behavior, hygiene, fitness, and diet."

??? That's reading a lot into the W.oW. that isn't there. This is not surprising, since the bulk of what is actually written in the word of wisdom is ignored, and what Mormons are held to is mostly inferred. Never do we ever talk about eating very little meat except in times of famine or eating produce in season. The "hot drinks" thing meaning coffee and tea is way too vague. There was a theory going around at that time that hot (temperature) drinks were bad for you, just the junk science of the time. That and leeches.

Issue IMHO. I knew of many 'good' mo's who would have a quiet wine with friends at the Country Club. My deacons advisor smoked when no one looking. He knew we could smell it and would say "Do as I say not as I do". An Army General smoked who would speak to us. A Boy Scout leader smoked and another stopped for coffee to stay awake while driving us to the Tetons. I would catch the wonderful aroma of brewing coffee at some homes of 'good' Mormons while going door to door on fast Sunday.

Mo's much more arrogant and entitled now and their behavior is ugly.

My parents, esp mother, were CRAZY when it came to the WOW. They would NOT eat meat in the summer time, and it didn't matter what evidence they had to the contrary, e.g. served meat at the MTC, served meat to visiting GA's, etc. It was letter to the law when it came to the WOW. No hot cocoa, no caffeinated beverages, and even no PORK (because of Brigham Young's comments about pork in the JOD).

I would sneak a hamburger whenever I could in the summer time. I was very sinful.

Hot chocolate is okay, isn't it? The missionaries who came to my house were happy to have me give them hot chocolate. I knew they couldn't accept coffee or tea or a Coke, but I had been given a Christmas gift of "chocolate spoons," which are wooden spoons coated with chocolate--some with sprinkles, some with white chocolate stripes, some with peppermint chips, some dark chocolate and milk chocolate stripes---you put them in hot water and stir until you have hot chocolate. Since I get free hot chocolate, coffee, and tea where I work, I had not used any of the spoons. I showed them to the missionaries, and their faces lit up and they said, yes, they were allowed to have hot chocolate, so I gave them to them. They appeared very happy and thanked me very much. Were they wrong and are they sinful and do I now have to do something like pray for them or something? I hope not, because as an atheist, I don't think prayer does any good.

boilerluv Wrote:
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> Hot chocolate is okay, isn't it?

When I attended a Halloween "trunk or treat" at my TBM neighbor's ward a couple of years ago, hot chocolate was served. Lots of people, adults and kids, were enjoying it.

I'm hearing what I expected: the W.o.W., for most Mormons, is focused on the issue of smoking and certain proscribed beverages. And among those, there's been a lot of variance in both doctrinal understanding and personal practice.

"A nonny mouse" is the only one to touch on those other matters, such as meat in times of starvation and fruit in season. It seems those matters are just not taught or discussed, let alone practice.

Any posters have experiences (personal or from acquaintance) where Mormons looked at the backwaters of the W.o.W. and try to understand and practice them? If so, I'd also appreciate location and approximate year, as "folk Mormonism" varies so widely.

I had been attending a yoga class that met twice a week, in the evenings. The teacher and class members were all nice ladies, and the different ways to relax and use measured breathing techniques were very helpful.

I mentioned it in RS once, when one of the sisters was complaining about overwhelming stress. I told her how soothing and relaxing the yoga practices were. Several sisters looked at me with alarm.

After the meeting, one of them took me aside and explained that BECAUSE yoga is so relaxing, you may lower your guard and Satan may sneak into your soul. That's why it was forbidden by the church. And of course, being me, I had to ask WHERE it said so. She assured me that it was somewhere in the WoW, but I couldn't ever find it.

I kept attending the yoga classes, BTW. I just didn't talk about them any more.

Now the Mo women use yoga as an excuse to stay out of the Jesus Jammies all day.

I will never forget the look of horror my mom gave me the first time I ordered iced tea in front of her. Being the sweet person I am, I responded, "What? It's not like it's hot."

I had my first beer at age 16 and my first cup of coffee a year later. I still enjoy both...a lot! I also introduced a few bishop and SP's son's to the joys of malted beverages too. I never gave a flying fuck about the WoW.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 07/22/2017 07:57PM by Lethbridge Reprobate.

I grew up in the 50s in Southern Idaho. The Word of Wisdom was very important, taught regularly to the youth. I was taught no alcohol, tobacco, tea or coffee. My Mom liked an occasional coke and my Grandmother drank coffee every morning. Both were TBM.

As a young adult I started to hear about caffeinated sodas and many different opinions. I had a bishop once ask in a temple recommend interview if I drank coke. I told him yes. He said he would give me a recommend this time, but maybe not the next year. Different bishop next year did not ask about sodas.

Never heard the other parts of the Word of Wisdom preached, I only read the D & C section when I became a missionary. I never worried about it.

Since becoming inactive 25 years ago I now enjoy teas but don't like coffee. Rarely a glass of wine. Never smoked, never will.

Forgot to mention that many friends when I was a young adult drank hot chocolate, Postum, and Pero (CARO in Germany). Also herbal tea was popular and those friends all thought these drinks passed muster with the W of W.

I have to have my Oregon Chai every morning.

hgc2 Wrote:
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>
> As a young adult I started to hear about
> caffeinated sodas and many different opinions. I
> had a bishop once ask in a temple recommend
> interview if I drank coke. I told him yes. He
> said he would give me a recommend this time, but
> maybe not the next year. Different bishop next
> year did not ask about sodas.

Your experience seems to be especially representative of the beverage issue: Interpretation varies all over the map (literally), not to mention different decades and various bishops. As I mentioned in the header, the beverage matter has been discussed VERY extensively.
>
> Never heard the other parts of the Word of Wisdom
> preached, I only read the D & C section when I
> became a missionary. I never worried about it.

Your other remark is closer to what I was asking about, and seems to be representative of the larger LDS experience: The issue of "fruits in season," meats, etc. doesn't show up on most Mormons' radar. For the most devout and diligent of Mormons who want to put the complete W.o.W. into practice, it seems to be a matter of personal interpration.

Thanks!

I personally consumed alcohol, drank soda, and did everything from marijuana to prescription drugs to black tar. I personally didn't care I was breaking the W.o.W as I felt it was a load a bull. I heard too many different answers from Bishops, some would tell me in private conversations that the only issue with marijuana was it being against the law of the land, while others said that regardless of the law of the land that it was against the W.o.W. That and where I grew up you couldn't hold a temple recommend if you partook of Kava, however, it was fine in any of the other 49 states.

There was just too much flip-flopping, if it was really "divine" then what was wrong in one area would be wrong everywhere, but that was evidently not the case. It was too vague so that the leaders could take it to mean whatever they wanted. So one bishop wouldn't give me a temple recommend because I had a medical marijuana card while others would. Really showed me how "divine" they really were.

Both my husband and myself, at different times, wanting so bad to have iced tea during a very hot spell. (But didn't---isn't that ridiculous!?)

It is a joke. There are benefits to monitoring your health and diet, but the so-called "Word of Wisdom" has very little to offer in terms of health benefits. Somebody got the tobacco thing right, and a bit on track with the meat thing, but everything else is a fail. "Hot drinks"--in this case tea and coffee--are not bad for you. Indeed, as it turns out, both coffee and tea are beneficial. Alcohol, in moderation, is good for you. All grains are good for you, not just wheat. But if they are really concerned with health and keeping the "unworthy" out of the temple, they would have to look at over-eating, which is a big American problem. I mean, I'm not for keeping the overweight out of the temple, or even looking at them askance. I'm overweight myself, as many of us are. I'm only saying that, if it were an instrument to keep one healthy, the "Word of Wisdom" would somehow mention diet and exercise. If they really cared about life, they would insist that Mormons, like Adventists, be vegetarian, or something, maybe even vegan. And no truly Christian lot would use any of that to separate the so-called "worthy" from the "unworthy." I see it as worthless vis-a-vis health benefits, and just of a tool for shaming and control.

The W.o.W is totally just a control thing. They have given up trying to explain it or pass it off as a health code. It won't change because there won't be a so-called prophet who wants to be the one to say, "ok, times have changed and we are going to teach you correct principles (about health) and let you govern yourselves." Because then they'd be saying that the former SCPs were wrong and now that they are SCP they don't want you to think they could be wrong about anything (let alone pretty much everything).

So they have just dumbed it down to "The WOW means completely avoid alcohol, tobacco, coffee and tea. In any form, hot or cold, caffeinated or decaffeinated because it is a test to see if you can be obedient whether or not things make sense."

That said, I am glad I was afraid of going to hell if I smoked (when I was a teen/young adult) because everyone smoked back in the day and I know I would have. I felt weird and out of place at times because I didn't. I'm sure I would have really struggled with that addiction. But OTOH, I didn't scare my kids badly enough, so two of them purposely started smoking to "show me" (that's the best way to revolt against Mormon parents). Unfortunately they only hurt themselves. It took cancer to make my son be able to quit and I have a daughter who has tried everything, even struggled with pregnancies and still can't.

The emphasis against cigarettes and alcohol is so strong, that if you ask many TBM teens which is worse, unprotected sex at an early age, or smoking, they invariably answer: smoking. Sex is too difficult to preach about, so they sweep it under the rug. If new commandments are needed about health, then healthy sexual practices should be included.

Love the comment about yoga, very funny/ridiculous. :)

IMHO Joe Smith came up with the WoW, (as all his other 'revelations') because he was having trouble getting his followers to go along with everything he wanted. In this case it was about MONEY, he was being a cheap ass, so he wanted to curtail all the 'extras' that he felt were too costly back in the day. Such as tea, coffee, alcohol AND meat and out of season fruits. Too expensive (meaning less money for HIM) so he had a 'revelation'..

What's been done with that 'revelation' since has been all over the map as far as how it's been interpreted and used.

It's mainly been interpreted as being important to abstain from all things addictive (nowhere in the WoW are drugs actually mentioned but it is part of the requirements of being Mormon to not do drugs (though somehow pharmaceutical addiction is okay).).. but people generally can't seem to follow the spirt of any kind of 'law' when they are so indoctrinated that they can't think and reason for themselves so you get people endlessly squabbling over the letter of it (and ignoring whole sections since it would be financially destructive to the beef rancher Mormons and other agriculture based Mormon owned businesses ) and of course when it comes down to it, Mormons are addicted to all kinds of things.

A lot of people on this board seem to endlessly praise the benefits of tea and coffee. While there are some benefits (not told to us while we were in the cult) like the anti-oxidant aspect, the caffeine content really is harmful. Caffeine over taxes the adrenals (as does sugar). Take it from someone who knows and has had to struggle with chronic illness due to adrenal fatigue for years. Of course other things tax adrenals, like stress. But for me I can't at all tolerate caffeine (or sugar) and have an auto-immune illness (which is basically due to messed up adrenals) so for me to have caffeine is extremely dangerous to my health personally.

Should everyone abstain? Not if they don't want to. Will it hurt everyone the way it has me? Not likely. But I think we should look at all the facts, not just say it's really good for you or really bad. But understand that caffeine can really be bad for your overall health and so that should be considered when deciding if you want to drink coffee and tea (and know that some have less caffeine content than others and that when you get 'de-caf' you have a chemical altered substance that is unhealthy for you in other ways because of that alteration). As for anti-oxidants there are many herbs out there (without caffeine) that are far higher in anti-oxidant content.

But my real point here is that whether or not some of the things that Joe Smith told his followers 'god' said to abstain from, happened to be bad or good for your health I think is besides the point because the real reason the WoW came about was because of a purely greed driven financial interest (and likely another aspect of control, taking away the few things the 'saints' had left that they derived any pleasure from, when they were poor and had little else).. and not actually for any real concern or interest in anyone's health.

I was taught all the aspects of the W.O.W but my extended family never practiced the meat sparingly. We had a roast or chicken at every meal on Sunday after church.
I had a friend in Jr. High whose family invited me over for dinner one night. It was spaghetti. They dished it up and there was no meat anywhere. I looked at my friend and said where are the meatballs or meat sauce. Her mother looked at me and said we do not eat meat as per the W.O.W. which says only in times of famine. To weird for me never ate dinner at her house again.

I also had a bishop ask if I drank Coke in a worthiness interview. I informed him I did and he informed me it was against the W.O.W. I asked how it was against it. He told me because of the caffeine. I then asked how come hot chocolate was served at youth activities especially in the winter, does this not also contain caffeine? Deer in the headlights look and the question was dropped.