లేటర్-డే సెయింట్స్ కాఫీ, టీ ఎందుకు తాగరు? అసలు నిజం ఇదే!

Word of Wisdom

2 min read

Have you ever played "telephone"? It's that game where several people sit in a circle and someone whispers a phrase to the person next to them. That person repeats the message to the next person, and so on until the circle is complete. In the end, the message is usually completely changed. This game shows how easy it is to distort information... or how dangerous that friend who changes the phrase just to annoy you can be.

Something similar happened with the idea that Mormons (Latter Day Saints) cannot drink hot beverages.

Coffee and tea are not explicitly mentioned in Doctrine and Covenants section 89. Image: Canva

It is true that members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints learn from a young age not to consume “hot drinks.” But this teaching has nothing to do with the temperature of the liquid. Unlike Kenneth in the series 30 Rock , the Saints do not believe that “hot is the temperature of the devil.”

Actually, the phrase "hot drinks" specifically refers to coffee and tea, due to their caffeine content. If a drink doesn't contain caffeine and isn't coffee or tea, they can have it without any problem. For example, there are no restrictions on hot chocolate. However, creative young people can't "cheat" with a Starbucks cold brew: even though it's cold, it's still coffee.

Caffeine is discouraged, but there are nuances.

As is often the case with religious topics, there are gray areas. The Word of Wisdom, a section of the Doctrine and Covenants , advises against caffeine, drugs, and alcohol. Joseph Smith received it as a revelation in 1833. Although it was not initially presented as a commandment, the Church eventually began to teach it as such, and many members consider it a standard of obedience.

That's why most saints don't drink coffee or tea. However, some situations show a degree of flexibility regarding other beverages. In 2017, for example, Brigham Young University (owned by the Church) began selling caffeinated sodas. Even well-known figures like Mitt Romney have been known to drink caffeinated Diet Coke in public.

These beliefs also help explain why Utah has the lowest alcohol consumption of any state in the United States, and why its alcohol laws are frequently changed.

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