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Ok…I know where CWALD will land on this. 
Reading in Wikipedia on word of wisdom I came across this verse of DandC 89:
17 Nevertheless, wheat for man, and corn for the ox, and oats for the horse, and rye for the fowls and for swine, and for all beasts of the field, and
barley forall useful animals, and for mild drinks, as also other grain.Does this mean grain based beer is ok? I seriously have never noticed this before.
Also…more and more we are finding tons of grain is not great for us folks…and isn’t it turning out corn is not good for beef (tastes good but not good for cows)? Included info from Wikipedia below.
Also, did a quick search on the site…didn’t see any references to a modern critique of the WoW…has anyone done a run through of it to see if it is still Words of “Wisdom”? Meaning…does science backup the WoW or deny it?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cattle_feedinghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cattle_feeding” class=”bbcode_url”> “There are two distinctions between the clinical and nonclinical use of antibiotics in cows. Clinical use of antibiotics refers to the treatment of cows due to sickness. However, corn-fed cattle draw attention to the nonclinical use of antibiotics. Antibiotics are used to promote growth and treat sick cattle, yet the cattle would not get sick if they were not fed a corn-based diet that subjects them to diseases caused by the malfunctioning of their rumen.”
Note it says mild. I am not promoting the drink, but beer is mild when comparing it to hard alcohol. The WoW is not nearly as clear and straight forward as I once thought. I also think there is far too much emphasis on the don’t list, as opposed to the do list. Considering how many verses are dedicated to each.
Most who ave taken a hard look at the wording would conclude JS was allowing beer, but either way, the church didn’t really adopt it until 1921, and if you bring beer to the ward party, that’s going to go over like a fart in church as the saying goes. In a related story, I got into some trouble in high school, and my parents sat me down so we could all read D&C 89 together as a reminder. When we finished, my parents looked at each other in confusion and said “Hunh. That doesn’t say what we thought it said.”
From a purely analytical standpoint: I would say that “mild” beer is perfectly in line with the original message of the Word of Wisdom, but that many (if not most) of the current beer options are not. Generally speaking, beer is not nearly as mild as it used to be. Also, the original said explicitly, “not by way of command” – but that was changed decades later, due, imo, to the radical increase in alcohol advertising and the rise of “non-mild” options being marketed as just fine and dandy.
At the heart, I think that this is a great example of the human need for clarification – the tendency to want to be commanded and/or command in all things. “Mild barley drinks”, “hot drinks” and “strong drinks” morphed into “beer, coffee, tea and all forms of alcohol” – going from categories requiring personal consideration and decision to a list of specific products on a Do Not Consume list.
I actually am OK with that for those who want it and those who need it (the majority of people), especially those who are prone to addiction and the efforts of “conspiring men in the latter days”, and I follow it to avoid eating meat in the company of those who abstain from meat – but it’s hard for those who neither want nor need it.
hawkgrrrl wrote:In a related story, I got into some trouble in high school, and my parents sat me down so we could all read D&C 89 together as a reminder. When we finished, my parents looked at each other in confusion and said “Hunh. That doesn’t say what we thought it said.”
Funny mental picture. Thanks!
😉 Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2
hawkgrrrl wrote:In a related story, I got into some trouble in high school, and my parents sat me down so we could all read D&C 89 together as a reminder. When we finished, my parents looked at each other in confusion and said “Hunh. That doesn’t say what we thought it said.”
That is freaking hilarious. I can just picture this set-up in the next Mormon cinema offering. Very high potential for comedy.
😆 My two cents on the original post: taking the common understanding of the words used in verse 17, “mild barley drinks” would almost certainly have meant beer. In JS’s pre-refrigeration days, the best way to keep a liquid from spoiling was to distill it (leading to “hard” drink) or ferment it (leading to “mild” drink). Apples, pears, grapes, peaches and all grains were processed in this way. Back then, drinking water was actually an iffy proposition (no water purification systems back then). In fact, while building the transcontinental railroad the Chinese laborers had a much lower attrition rate from water-borne illness because they almost exclusively drank tea, in which the water had been boiled. So, grain-based drinks with a low alcohol content (less than 5% by volume, usually) would preserve longer, kill off harmful bacteria and be an all-around more “healthy” drink back then than even water, which would likely be of questionable purity.
So please join Cwald and me in a toast — to beer!
:clap: :thumbup: :angel: It does seem like current church policy has more to do with the politics of prohibition than the revelations of Joseph Smith. Civilization was built on beer, it provided a dense calorie source while acting as a purification system for water. It may be true that the alcohol content was lower except for maybe Utah beer who’s is watered down. I do not think Joseph had any intention of banning beer. That is a modern concept. Other than tobacco the whole WofW is generally wrong. Wheat is not such a great grain for man with all the gluten. And what about fish. No mention of how this is a great source of protein. With just a little research you will learn that this law was just pulled from the general notions of the day such as hot drinks. It was believed hot drinks were not good for you. We are lucky ingesting snake venom was not the fad of the day or we may have that as part of the commandment.
Joseph may have stumbled on a right thing or two, people where not all dumb back then, but There is no revelation here. Just another example of religion trying to trump science by divine decree. To hang on to this revelation in its entirety shows the lack of any modern day revelation.
Quote:To hang on to this revelation in its entirety shows the lack of any modern day revelation.
Do you realize how ironic that statement is given the fact that we don’t come close to hanging on to the original revelation in its entirety?
Just saying.
Old-Timer wrote:
Do you realize how ironic that statement is given the fact that we don’t come close to hanging on to the original revelation in its entirety?
Grinning right now. Yes, quite agree. It’s also [insert your favorite descriptor here] that we are expected to live a standard that Jesus, Joseph, and Brigham didn’t adhere to.
When I found this in the WOW I was shocked-but there are other drinks from grains like barley water. Old-Timer wrote:Quote:To hang on to this revelation in its entirety shows the lack of any modern day revelation.
Do you realize how ironic that statement is given the fact that we don’t come close to hanging on to the original revelation in its entirety?
Just saying.
Yes very ironic. I guess the whole church is full of ironyYup. Life is ironic to the core.
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