Il Padrino Ute’s recent question in the Religion forum about iced tea, coupled with my ongoing musings about presentist revisionism spawned this question I’ve been nursing for awhile. The Word of Wisdom, to me at least, pretty clearly allows for consumption of beer and other “mild drinks.” According to my understanding, the WoW prohibits wine and “strong drinks” (D&C 89.3, 5), but “mild drinks” made from grains (D&C 89.17) are okay.
After doing a little digging, and finding that the “commandmentization” of the WoW is debatable, it has come to my attention that, either due to ignorance of alcoholic beverages or an oversight spawned by the current policies, few people - whether scholars or religious figures - have made the distinction between strong and weak drinks in a WoW context.
So, the nit-picking about iced tea and caffeine aside, can LDS drink beer with a clean conscience? (BTW, the temple recommend question asks the member only, "Do you keep the Word of Wisdom?")
I think they can.
I invite you to peruse the fine articles written by Thomas G. Alexander and Robert J. McCue for the primary sources, background information, and some insightful commentary on how the Word of Wisdom “became” a commandment and how it fits into the broader context of American social movements.
Thomas G. Alexander, “The Word of Wisdom: From Principle to Requirement” in
Dialogue, vol. 14.3 (Autumn 1981), pp. 78-88.
Robert J. McCue, “Did the Word of Wisdom Become a Commandment in 1851?” in
Dialogue, vol. 14.3 (Autumn 1981), pp. 66-77.
You can read
Dialogue vol. 14 at:
http://content.lib.utah.edu/cdm4/doc...&CISOSHOW=6510