Bruce almighty was wrong.

Those unstable people he referenced actually were more enlightened than him.

"Bruce R. McConkie observed:
Some unstable people become cranks...There is no prohibition in Section 89 as to the eating of white sugar, cocoa, chocolate...or anything else except items classified under tea, coffee, tobacco and liquor. If some particular food disagrees with an individual, then that person should act accordingly without reference to the prohibitions in this particular law of health.[2]"
https://www.fairmormon.org/answers/Word_of_Wisdom/Cola_drinks_and_caffeine

The WOW doesn't mention "items classified" at all. It prohibits hot cocoa and hot soup. My in-laws drink hot Jell-O when they are sick.

"9 And again, hot drinks are not for the body or belly."
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/89?lang=eng

And I think Bruce was a "crank." His book Mormon Doctrine was exhibit A of his crankiness.

""Crank" is a pejorative term used for a person who holds an unshakable belief that most of his or her contemporaries consider to be false."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crank_(person)

The 411 on caffeine.
https://www.theguardian.com/news/2013/nov/27/caffeine-compared-coke-coffee-aspirin-chocolate-tea

Specific comparison of products containing caffeine.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1TCXnm8HSs-w8zqqf7dVZokoyLdeqMxmf4fTXsv8TOtQ/edit#gid=4

If it isn't their heat and the "meat" is in the caffeine then their Section 89 and "Word of Wisdom" is false. Further clarifications by subsequent "prophets" has produced nothing more than the caffeine found in 19th Century beverages. Mormon Jesus cries when coffee is drunk but no one not even the Mormon prophet knows why? His followers could take a couple of aspirin and get the same caffeine as coffee. They could eat chocolates that gave them as much of a buzz and a "mocha latte."

I guess The Word of Wisdom is just another of their sick "trials of faith" which in the 19th Century including asking someone for their 14 year old daughter. Talk about "cranks."

The origin story of how the WoW came to be is likely true. And it reveals the cynical view that many in Joseph Smith's inner circle likely had about the genuineness of Joseph's "revelations". Unlike today's constipated prophets, who can't get much revelation about anything. Joseph Smith could get a "revelation" on just about anything, anytime, anywhere...no matter how trivial. It usually didn't matter if the "revelations" proved to be totally wrong as to any matters that could subsequently be fact-checked.

The WoW origin story as told by Brigham Young and David Whitmer:

Brigham Young: "Thus Emma, faced almost daily with 'having to clean so filthy a floor' as was left by the men chewing tobacco, spoke to Joseph about the matter."

David Whitmer's account supports Brigham Young's description and elaborates: “Some of the men were excessive chewers of the filthy weed, and their disgusting slobbering and spitting caused Mrs. Smith … to make the ironical remark that ‘It would be a good thing if a revelation could be had declaring the use of tobacco a sin, and commanding it's suppression.' The matter was taken up AND JOKED ABOUT, one of the brethren suggested that the revelation should also provide for a total abstinence from tea and coffee drinking, INTENDING THIS AS A COUNTER 'DIG' AT THE SISTERS. Sure enough the subject was afterward taken up in dead earnest, and the ‘Word of Wisdom' was the result." (David Whitmer). (Des Moines Daily News, 16 Oct 1886:20 c. in: Newell & Avery 1994:47, also c: An Historical Analysis of the Word of Wisdom, Paul H. Peterson - Masters Thesis, [no location provided]; Also: c. in Tanner 1987:406. See also Tanner 1987: Ch. 26 for excellent coverage). (Emphasis added).

http://www.mormonthink.com/wow.htm

~*~*~*~

Early Mormons, especially insiders, for the most part took the "word of wisdom" with a grain of salt, many most likely knowing about its dubious origin. For economic reasons, Brigham Young off and on used it to manipulate habits of the "saints" in order to reduce the amount of capital flowing out of Mormonland for imports of coffee, tobacco, tea and so on. (But Briggy usually was fine with home-grown substitutes and home-brewed booze and wine of their own make.)

The completely irrational application of the Word of Wisdom as currently practiced can largely be traced to the nutjob Heber J. Grant, a prohibitionist fanatic and sufferer of chronic mental illness. I wouldn't be surprised if some decades from now the current official interpretation of the Word of Wisdom will be reduced to the status of nothing more than a disposable "policy" or "practice" in the same way that current statements put out by the church disavow things like the banning of people of African descent from the temple and priesthood & the veiling and wife-submission oaths in the temple were nothing more than "policies" and "practices" about which is little is known, other than the fact that they were not things required by God.

Wally Prince Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
I wouldn't be surprised if some
> decades from now the current official
> interpretation of the Word of Wisdom will be
> reduced to the status of nothing more than a
> disposable "policy" or "practice" in the same way
> that current statements put out by the church
> disavow things like the banning of people of
> African descent from the temple...

Or the WoW could become a recommended health guide ("Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost?" and all that) falling short of enforcement and TR requirements. This would accomplish a few things:

* It would allow more people to be authentically LDS, and maintain their TR, so necessary for that tithing cash flow.
* Specifically, that would allow those with weak testimonies and jack Mormons be active.
*It could even help bring in wavering investigators
* It would make LDS appear more Evangelical, thus enhancing the mainstreaming of the cult.
* An ironic side effect could be the development of spiritual elitism, as some people who hold on to the old WoW rigorously might consider themselves spiritually superior to those who don't.

Use of medical care was once an absolute in Christian Science. Not any more!

The Magic 15 and COB have shown themselves adept at evolving church doctrine and practice, why not here? Just think of how the temple ritual and the garment have (cough, cough!) evolved.

It could happen. Utah polygamists I know feel super superior to "mainstream" Mormons in their practice of only one thing - plural wivery.

Allowing for drinking coffee and tea would immediately make a hardliner distinction of the self righteous.

"I just couldn't feel the spirit if I were to engage in those unhealthy practices."

LOL @ utard morgs ~


just kidding ~



thats sad OPie ~