Could this WofW story be for real?

I’m not saying right or wrong, but lots of missionaries in my mission drank “near beer” that had a lower alcohol content, and they didn’t feel they were breaking the WoW. I personally didn’t agree that was good for missionaries to do, but yes, lots of people interpret things differently.

I think there is a HUGE difference between drinking Near beer and Aduls verses drinking 2.5% beer. Near Beer and Aduls is .5% alcohol. Domestic beer in Utah like Coors or Budwiser is only 3.2%. So from this post, Some Finland Bishops are drinking ALMOST the equivalent of our domestic beer and apparently SLC is okay with it. AND I’m happy for them. Like I said, I may need to move to Finland. I just cannot fathom that, even today, that SLC would allow this practice – even in Finland, and I’m most certainly positive they WOULDN’T allow it here in Oregon.

I would just drink American beer brands, most of them have no alcohol content anyway. (Joke)

Seriously, are you sure that what was being spoken of here isn’t shandy?

By the way, I used whisky the other day to try and calm down a toothache. It was a rotten brand, and the pills I’d taken didn’t seem to work. I definitely didn’t drink it for pleasure, and I had about a thimbloe full each time to deal with the pain. Was this right or wrong?

Is it possible for five Mormons to have different ideas about what the Word of Wisdom means, and yet they all believe they are keeping the Word of Wisdom?

Did they really ask that question? Seriously? Mormons have had widely different views and personal practices since …. 1838 when the WofW was announced. I swear this is true. My maternal grandmother’s side of the family hails back to pioneer Utah and all that. My mother could not convince my great grandmother that Mormons do not drink socially — That it is against the WofW. Of course becoming intoxicated was not a good idea, but seriously. My great grandmother from Utah did not understand that all Mormons abstained completely from alcohol. She wouldn’t believe it cause it wasn’t the way she was raised … in freaking hardcore polygamist Utah.

I’ve heard it said many times, the Swedish converts would sail half way around the world in a dangerous leaky boat, then walk 2000 miles from New York City across the plains to Utah, nearly dying to follow the restored Gospel, but watch out if you try to take away their beer and tobacco… 😯 Those are my ancestors 😆

Oh and BTW, I served my mission in Germany where beer is a staple of the diet. They even have “kiddie beer” (a literal translation) there with extra vitamins in it that is considered a health drink (like near beer, it has almost no alcohol). I drank non-alcoholic beer on my mission, and I don’t recall being worried about getting in trouble with the members or other missionaries.

a thimble of whiskey vs. medicine that has as much alcohol content

I might start getting toothaches every Friday between 5 and 7pm, along with my work buddies. 😈

I would just drink American beer brands, most of them have no alcohol content anyway. (Joke)

The WoW is pretty clear on tobacco and alcohol, but then again, it’s not on tea or coffee (do they have to be hot?)

I’m not so sure the WoW is really all that clear about alcohol as far as trying to claim that any moderate amount of alcohol is automatically bad. Sure it specifically mentions wine and strong drink but I doubt that very many non-Mormons would interpret beer to be a “strong drink” regardless of whether it contains 3.2-8% alcohol. People think this is what the Word of Wisdom means simply because that’s what they have been told, not because that’s what it actually says. In fact the WoW specifically says “All grain is good … barley for all useful animals, and for mild drinks.” If beer is not, in fact, the most common and popular “mild drink” made from barley then I don’t know what is.

And if wine is really so terrible then why did Joseph Smith and other early Church leaders drink it on the night he was killed? John Taylor had the following to say about it, “It has been reported by some that this was taken as a sacrament. It was no such thing; our spirits were generally dull and heavy, and it was sent for to revive us… I believe we all drank of the wine.” Basically, the WoW started out as a simple suggestion “not by commandment or constraint” and much later this was all changed to be a test of faith to really separate the active and obedient TBMs from all the Jack Mormons and non-Mormons who represent “the world.”

I work at a college that was founded by and is affiliated with a Christian denomination. It’s not a “religious college”, but the affiliation is there. As part of my job, I have attended a couple of Sunday services at the local church of this denomination (not as a required act, but voluntarily to support days that celebrate the connection to the college). I asked someone before the service started if their beverage was wine. They use grape juice, specifically to not be serving wine to those who might have alcohol problems.

The offical explanation is that the early saints were concerned about being poisoned by those from whom they would have to purchase sacramental wine, so they switched beverages. I really don’t care what we use, as long as it’s not nasty tasting – like coffee or Pepsi or Pepto-Dismal. **shudders at the mere thought** Water is the safest beverage imaginable as far as everyone being able to partake, so I’m fine with it.