Monday, July 16, 2018

Missionary Demonstrates that the Word of Wisdom Means Nothing and Needs a Revamp

We have known for a long time that the interpretation of the Word of Wisdom has a sketchy past and the Church has chosen enforce only parts of the Word of Wisdom essentially making a Word of Wisdom 2.0 which members understand is: No alcohol, no tobacco, no coffee, no tea, no illegal drugs, and no other harmful substances. See the screenshot from lds.org below.



Unfortunately, D&C 89:12-13 is now essentially ignored:
12 Yea, flesh also of beasts and of the fowls of the air, I, the Lord, have ordained for the use of man with thanksgiving; nevertheless they are to be used sparingly; 
13 And it is pleasing unto me that they should not be used, only in times of winter, or of cold, or famine.

This wasn't always the case as leaders like Lorenzo Snow, George Q. Cannon, Joseph F. Smith, and John Widtsoe (link1, link 2) promoted either vegetarian or near-vegetarian diets.

Recently I was reading missionary's blog which reminded me of this. In his blog post he talks about teaching a new investigator about the Word of Wisdom and in the same blog post he posted a picture of a massive hamburger and french fries! If the Word of Wisdom is about health (which arguably it isn't but it is more about boundary maintenance and is a group identity marker) then his post is an example of how the Word of Wisdom needs a revamp in the mind and hearts of its members (and missionaries).