The Wobbly Word of Wisdom

The Word of Wisdom, the Mormon health code which dictates what a member can and can’t eat and drink, is an interesting thing.

The Word of Wisdom was created by Joseph Smith in the 1800s during a time when many various Victorian health trends were popular, but that’s a topic for another post. In this post, the focus will be on the modern implementation of this Mormon doctrine.

Essentially, it’s because of the Word of Wisdom that Mormons avoid drinking coffee and tea. They treat the avoidance of both substances equally and partaking in either is enough of an infraction that doing so will prevent a member from being able to go to the Mormon temple.

However, coffee and tea aren’t the only things mentioned in the Word of Wisdom. The doctrine also states that members should “eat meat sparingly”. This command about meat isn’t in a subsection or in a lesser part of the Word. It exists on the same footing as the prohibition of coffee and tea. And yet most Mormons completely ignore this command.

Eating meat doesn’t keep a member from going to the temple. It’s not asked about by the bishop. In fact, it’s not considered an infraction at all, despite the command sitting right alongside the others. Sometimes it’s even joked about among the membership.

It’s interesting the way the church structures its commandments and doctrines, those which are strictly enforced, and those which are generally ignored.