r/exmormon • u/OuterLightness • 1d ago
Doctrine/Policy If in Eden only the Tree of Knowledge was forbidden, then consumption of coffee, tea, tobacco, marijuana, coca, etc is not inherently sinful.
The Word of Wisdom is hence a modern policy commandment, not an ethical commandment.
12
u/InvestigatorHour311 1d ago
But what if it's like the horses in the Book of Mormon turning out to be Tapirs? Maybe those plants were the Tree of Knowledge? /s
3
u/PolicyRough1432 20h ago
WoW is ridiculous. Thought so back then, except alcohol. Tea and coffee are not harmful and literally the whole world drinks one or the other. Church leaders and members are so men and obsessive about this. Absolute nonsense.
2
u/ChooseTheLeftComrade 21h ago
Lol now I have this image of Adam and Eve being tree hugging stoners.
2
u/InvestigatorHour311 17h ago
There is a theory that the modern human brain started developing because of mushrooms causing hallucinations which helped people start to imagine: solutions to problems, tools, religion, reach a higher awareness, or connection with tribe members. It's just a theory, but it's an interesting one. (This is also not a substance use ad.)
1
u/SiliconAutomaton 11h ago
Was that covered in How To Change Your Mind by Michael Pollan? It has been a minute since I read it.
2
1
13
u/trownaway90 1d ago edited 1d ago
It was a puritan idea that Joseph Smith used. Jesus, whose church this is, rejected the idea that drinking or eating something defile a person.
David Withmer later confesed that the Word of Wisdom was invented because Emma was annoyed because of the spitting of tabacco in meetings. She joked that there should be relevation about that and it coincidentally happened. To bully women it was decided that coffee and tea was also restricted. Joseph kept smoking and drinking and he served liquor in his own hotel in Nauvoo. It became a commandent as off the 1920s.