Episode 15: Words on the Words of Wisdom

**Lindsay Hansen Park** (0:03)
Riding home from school on the bus, Jose gave his friend Pedro a piece of candy. Jose kept giving Pedro all the brown ones, and eventually Pedro asked him. Jose told him they were coffee flavored, and Pedro asked, why does that matter? Jose explained he was Mormon, and Mormons didn't drink.
Pedro was still confused and said, but this is just candy, it's not real coffee. Jose said he knew, but he still didn't want to eat it. Then Jose told Pedro more about Mormons and invited him to church.

**Bryan Buchanan** (0:58)
Stories like this one from The Friend have become one of the most potent identity markers of contemporary LDS Mormons. The Word of Wisdom has become perhaps the most obvious way that many Mormons, particularly LDS Mormons, both choose to define themselves as well as how outsiders can pick up on the unique character of Mormons. This year at Sunstone on our panel, we talked about Mormon identity, what it means.
One of the things I mentioned was how Word of Wisdom has become this key part of self-image. During our panel, I shared a story about Billy Casper, who was a convert and also a very successful pro golfer. In a story about him in time, the fact that he didn't smoke or drink was obviously brought up. It's, you know, de rigueur here. So where did this piece of Mormon identity come from?
And how did it develop to become this identity marker? Today's discussion will be what we're going to call a forest view episode. Some topics don't really work very well if you split it up into a whole bunch of different parts. So we'll talk about the whole entire history today at once.

**Lindsay Hansen Park** (1:54)
Hi, this is Lindsay Hansen Park.

**Bryan Buchanan** (1:56)
And this is Bryan Buchanan.

**Lindsay Hansen Park** (1:58)
Bringing you the story of Mormonism from the shadow of the Everlasting Hills, straight out of Zion. This isn't your grandpa's Mormon history.

**Bryan Buchanan** (2:25)
This is the tale of Mormon saints and sinners from our roots until present day.

**Lindsay Hansen Park** (2:30)
Gird your loins, lock your hearts, and pay your tithing, because we're bringing you the story of Mormonism in all its paradisiacal glory.

**Bryan Buchanan** (2:39)
It's the Sunstone History Podcast.

**Lindsay Hansen Park** (3:14)
Thanks for watching! But what even is the Words of Wisdom? Some say it's a health guideline, some say it's a commandment, a revelation. Who knows? In any case, it's muddy, it's sometimes inconsistent, and it's supposed to be a sort of, I don't know, health code for Mormons to live by, but even saying health code is controversial in some Mormon circles. It's really the things you can eat and can't eat and can do and can't do with your body. But it's not as simple as it sounds. The beginning of the 19th century was such a vibrant time in American religion. Various new groups were sprouting up and the boundaries of theology were really being explored. So as part of this expansion, ideas at the intersection of religion and health were very much a part of the discussion.
In tandem with various secular organizations, the temperance movement was spreading throughout the nation. Alcohol would be the primary target of the movement, as it would be for basically the next century.
But other items too, such as tobacco, coffee, and tea, were occasionally sort of lumped in together. Various local chapters of the temperance movement were organized, including one, dun dun dun, in Kirtland in 1830

**Bryan Buchanan** (4:19)
It doesn't appear that the early Mormons in Kirtland were very active in the society, but they probably had relatives they were, and they were certainly aware of the national temperance movement, both because of things they were hearing in their local papers, you know, things that were happening in the area, but also bigger things. The movement started to heat up in February 1833 On the first of the month, the local society there in Kirtland succeeded in shutting down the distillery there, but also the nearby one in Mentor. Then, this was really fun, has been the American Temperance Society, so the national group, the previous fall, had designated February 26th of 1833 as a day when quote, meetings of temperance societies and friends of temperance beholden simultaneously in all the cities, towns, and villages throughout the United States.
So, if the nation would come together and fight demon rum and Mike's hard lemonade, but not Porter's fire, cinnamon whiskey, we need that to wash people in the Kirtland Temple, then quote, cholera, that scourge of the nations, which has spread sackcloth around the globe and threatened to cover our land with mourning, would be nearly, if not altogether unknown. The deep fountains of human sorrow would be dried up, and ever-growing light, purity, and joy, under the means of divine appointment, with all who obey the divine will would universally prevail. Now, who doesn't want to get on board with this?