So when I was growing up Mormon, my mother never let us have caffeinated sodas, but that's just because she's evil. It wasn't technically an LDS rule. Have the rules changed? I keep hearing that caffeine is now TOTALLY off limits, even with stuff like Mountain Dew and Dr. Pepper. Is this what is considered a "new commandment?"

It also is used as a "worthiness test" by uber-TBMs.

If the WoW prohibits coffee and tea, then by gum, some TBMs are going to go further and cut out other caffeinated drinks.

I knew one ultra-righteous young Rm who made quite the show out of cutting chocolate out of his diet because of the trace amounts of caffeine it contains.

He'd have done better by just trying to make himself a better human being.

Chocolate has enough caffeine in it to cause heart palpitations in people with caffeine sensitivity.
At least THAT RM was being consistent.

Instead, he was doing it to be a self-righteous Boston Masshole, so, consistent or not, I have no admiration or respect for him.

think coffee is evil, but hot cocoa is just fine.
MORONS

On another forum someone asked if drinking green tea was against the Word of Wisdom. I'm a nevermo but I read that Word of Wisdom and confidently replied:

"Not unless it's hot."

Well, several people came back on to say it WAS against the Word of Wisdom which led to me demanding to know just WHERE Joseph Smith declared green tea and someone quoting Monson (I think) claiming that caffinated drinks were what Joseph Smith meant.

Of course, I replied that you can't go by what Monson said. After all, we have GA's who've said that blacks were "less valiant" in the pre-existance, Joseph who said where Zelph's bones were found was the Book of Mormon lands (not South America), Brigham Young said that Adam was God, and ALL of them were just "speaking as men" now.

Finally someone said it was foolish to avoid foods that were healthy for you. I agreed with the caveat that you consume them in moderation. So, there's the muddled possibilities of Mormons guessing their doctrine again. lol

on my mission in japan (1980-ish), drinking green tea was most definitely in violation with the WoW. of course, as it is so much a part of japanese culture, several investigators balked at that.

As of just 6 years ago when I was in Japan, green tea was a no go. Some bishops had a list of what teas were ok and what teas weren't, but green tea was always considered evil.

One no-mo lady that attended the English class we taught as missionaries flipped out when I said we don't drink green tea because it's unhealthy, but drank non-caffeinated soft drinks. Lol. I knew she was right but my TBMness was getting in the way of saying agreed with her. Green tea is considered the most healthy drink ever invented, and kind of sacred in a way, by many no-mo Japanese I spoke with.

Of course Japanese Mormons have all sorts of crazy rules and also considered caffeine to be against the WoW, so the green tea rule might not apply to Mormons in other parts of the world.

I was first introduced to herbal teas on my mission in Poland. It was offensive to members and investigators not to accept it. I had a hard time at first as an uber-TBM, but lightened up once I discovered my now favorite flavor: king's bouquet. We didn't have ANY tea restrictions in the mission at the time except for black tea, and we regularly drank green tea. I'm told now that the newer presidents are trying to Americanize the mish, and it's a "treat" that they can still drink ONLY herbal teas. As far as caffeine goes, there's no official stance, but you're still shunned if drink "Dr. Sin" (Dr. Pepper) or coca cola. I was at a ward party a few weeks back, and the bishop had brought in some 2 liter soda bottles for kiddie bowling. The second counselor whispered to me "good thing he didn't bring in any coke bottles!" I exhaled a laugh in disbelief and ran to my wife: "you'll never guess what _____ just said!" :)

anything else is by personal choice. No "official" word from church leaders about anything else with caffeine in it.

I thought the prohibition was actual TEA, not herbal infusions of other plants.

The temperature of their caffeine.

It is common knowledge that I am a Pepsi-holic.

is what we always called Big Gulp sized (32 oz or more) Pepsi, Dr. Pepper, Coke or Mountain Dew. Yet everyone I knew drank them and if you didn't, you were considered a fanatic. Funny thing is that for months after I quit abiding by the WoW, I still didn't like warm caffeine. I liked iced tea and frappuccinos and stuff but not hot coffee or hot tea. Thankfully, I've overcome that particular bit of silliness and now like both hot and cold drinks equally but I kept that "temperature of my caffeine" rule instinctively even after quiting the letter of the law.

I don't know why -- I like iced coffee okay, but not iced tea. ;)

Trust me, chocolate has enough stuff in it to be addictive, because I'm a true Chocoholic. Not the kind where the word Chocoholic is cute, but the kind where I can become ill if I eat too much of it, or if I go cold turkey to cut it out.

I get depressed, I have extreme anxiety and depression if I cut it out suddenly. I get a withdrawal headache and the shakes. Whatever is in it, it sure can be addictive.

I've been trying to shake this danged addiction for decades, and it's been the battle of my life. It's not fun. I don't just want the stuff. I need it.

I remember it being said that President Kimball was addicted to Snickers bars.

By the way, Mountain Dew doesn't have caffeine in it in Canada. Don't know why, but it doesn't.

But I won't drink Coke, Pepsi, coffee, green tea, or any kind of tea because I already have enough troubles just dealing with chocolate.

My 20 year old college senior daughter hits Starbucks ($5-bucks) daily for her frappacino. I asked her about that one day, when she was still a bit TBM. Her response was classic: It's not a HOT drink, and it's not alcohol. How could it be against the WoW?"

Love it! Glad she has learned to start thinking.

Some of them really enjoy the stuff. My mother doesn't drink them everyday and she certainly won't drink them in front of my freakishly TBM brother. I have a TBM sister (and her TBM daughter) who also enjoy it. They sat in a restaurant and drank it on the day her 19 year old son got baptized.

I have another sister who was specifically told by her bishop not to drink iced tea. She started drinking it when she was pregnant because she would get such terrible morning sickness (even in the last trimester). Towards the end of her pregnancy, her Navy husband got transferred, so they moved to Virginia and her new bishop said NO MORE ICED TEA. Period. It's evil and he didn't give a damn that it helped her feel better to take care of the little girl she already had. So now my sister's a fanatic about it. I honestly don't think she believes it's evil, but since she was told not to drink it, she's not going to drink it.

In my experience, there are a lot of TBMs who don't understand why the WoW says "hot drinks" and yet it's okay to drink hot chocolate. I've discussed it with some of them. Obedience is the name of the game, so they pray, pay, and obey.

"For those members — and any others — who might be wondering, the LDS Church takes no stand on drinking Coca-Cola."

Since when? Since Monson began drinking Pepsi?

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/home/50690125-76/church-handbook-says-members.html.csp

My TBM ex-husband was one of those who drank "Mormon Coffee" or caffeinated soda by the liter daily, yet when I was an "investigator" who drank iced tea in front of him thinking that since it was iced, it was allowed, he had a major fit. I had no way of knowing that, as I thought it was just hot tea, coffee, and alcohol that was banned in the word of wisdom.

People are ignorant if they think the WoW policy on coffee has anything to do with caffeine. Never did and doesn't now. The whole thing is just so nonsensical that people have to come up with some logical justification on their own. Banning coffee for its caffeine doesn't make sense unless colas are also banned, but the church has never had any policy or statement on this. It's just the laymen who enforce it.