Thesis 8: Mixed Bag of Commandments
A distinctive feature of the Mormon church is its long list of commandments. Like the 10 Commandments of old, worthy Mormon members are required to adhere to a laundry list of do’s and dont’s in order to maintain their temple recommend and their standing in the church.
That’s all fine and good, but the church’s focus on commandments creates a Pharisee-esque culture focused on dozens of nitty gritty details. These commandments may seem like no-brainers to lifelong members of the church, but when you step back and look at them collectively they feel pretty hodge-podged and random.
Due to the nature of “ongoing revelation” in the church, at any time a new commandment may be altered or added to the list. Talks in general conference, declarations made by the leaders, pamphlets released to the youth of the church, or even financial or governmental restraints have all led to changes in the list of commandments to follow. The result is a church of members that spend countless hours crossing the t’s and dotting the i’s of the commandments, just like the Biblical scribes obsessed with the do’s and don’t of the Mosaic law.
Here’s a little bit of what I’m talking about:
The Word of Wisdom
This one has been morphing into its present state since the mid 1800’s and forbids Mormons from things like alcohol, coffee, and tea. Despite the health benefits of wine in moderation and teas, this one persists. And honestly, what does sipping coffee have to do at all with getting into heaven? On my mission I felt so silly telling someone they couldn’t join our church unless the stopped drinking morning coffee or stopped drinking the culturally-important tea (I was in Taiwan). Add to this the debate over caffeine and the confusion it has brought, the “eat meat sparingly” line that nobody follows, and an apostle in the 1930’s prohibiting refined flour, and things get pretty confusing.
Polygamy
This is a whole essay that I’m not going to write. Joseph Smith and other leaders taking on all kinds of wives and claiming God told them to do it seems super fishy. And then the whole thing goes away when the US Government really put its foot down on the church leadership and sent them into hiding.
Blacks and the Priesthood
Men of African descent couldn’t hold the priesthood until the 1970’s when the social pressure became too much and the commandment was changed.
Modesty
Along with deciding what kind of underwear you can wear, the church has released various guidelines over the years about how short your shorts and sleeves can be, how many earrings you can have, and how low your shirt should come. And again, what does the length of my shorts have to do with getting into heaven? And going along with this, the BYU honor code is even stricter, condemning the wearing of beards or certain hairstyles. Why?
Fasting
The rules of this have always been a little ambiguous, but once a month church members skip a couple meals. I understand the biblical ties, but how does skipping food tie back into things?
Tithing
Truly enforced when the church was in debt in the early 1900s and 1960s, this requires members to pay 10% of their income. It also creates “callings” of clerks who spend hours each Sunday counting the money. Again, how does me paying 10% of my income relate to all of the above?
Sabbath Day Observance
The length of meetings has fluctuated with the times, and now requires members to spend an arduous 3 hours at church each Sunday.
Family Home Evening, Home Teaching, Visiting Teaching, Missionary Service, Temple Attendance, Temple Marriage, Scripture Reading, No Dating til age 16, Taking the Sacrament, and so on and so on.
There is just a lot to keep track of. Every good Mormon can tell you the reason for each one, but even so, it’s just a lot. And keeping track of what you’re doing wrong or right can often distract from you being a good person. Additionally, when you see another Mormon “toeing the line” of a certain commandment, you can’t help but judge them. And that leads to a toxic culture of separating between the commandment-following “righteous” and the commandment-breaking “wicked.”
I guess that in the end I don’t see how coffee connects to sleeve length connects to paying 10% connects to going without food connects to polygamy and then not polygamy connects to race connects to dating age. I can see a reason behind each of them, but each reason seems like a product of the times or the prophet who laid down the commandment. And I can’t see how crossing the t’s and dotting the i’s of the list of rules will get me into heaven.
