Lately, I have been thinking more often about the Word of Wisdom and common errors we Latter-day Saints make in our understanding of it. Too often I’ve heard people call it the “Lord’s Law of Health,” express distress that people can drink coffee but not soda, and suggest it is about not becoming addicted to stuff like caffeine or tobacco. While all of these have some kernel of truth to them, they are all fundamental misunderstandings of what the Word of Wisdom is and what its function in Latter-day Saint lives and society is supposed to be. And because we misunderstand the Word of Wisdom it often leads us to incorrect conclusions about how we should live it, mistakes which can even degrade our faith. Here I address these issues and seek to explain why thinking of the Word of Wisdom as a Law of Health is to misunderstand what it is, the blessings promised by it, and its role in Latter-day Saint lives and community. Once properly understood common misunderstandings of it, such as it forbids caffeine, and seeming contradictions, such as not drinking coffee because it is unhealthy but being fine with drinking energy drinks, are cleared up. Hopefully this helps Latter-day Saints better understand the Word of Wisdom, live it as God has commanded, and enjoy the blessing from doing so in their lives.
Tag: polygamy
When We Should Break The Law
From our earliest days, when the Prophet Joseph and Patriarch Hyrum suffered in Liberty Jail and died in Carthage Jail, to the Saints spending nearly 30 years resisting Federal anti-polygamy laws, practicing civil disobedience and being willing to go to prison in order to serve God, on down to the modern day we have examples of the lives of great Saints who have repeatedly broken the laws of the land in order to do what is right and to serve God. Latter-day Saint history is full of rebels and rogues, people who would rather be exiled from the nation, who would rather be killed, than disobey the Lord. So how is it that so many of us have become so milquetoast about standing up the government tyranny? Why is it that so many of us think that the Saints should “strictly obey the laws of the government in which they live,” even when such laws aren’t just wrong or immoral, but even when said laws actively compel us either to disobey God or punish us for obeying Him? While there are numerous reasons, one of the largest is because Latter-day Saints have misinterpreted the Twelfth Article of Faith, D&C 58:21, and D&C 134:5 as giving commandments to the Saints to obey the law and to comply even with evil laws. A close examination of these scriptures though, as I attempt here, show that such interpretations are, by the large, gross nonsense.
Was Joseph Smith A Pedophile?
Anti-Mormons like to hurl the accusation that Joseph Smith was a pedophile at members as a way to attack their faith. The facts of history say otherwise though.