I know a member friend who drinks o’douls non alcoholic beer, and says it’s not against his word of wisdom. I looked at his bottle and it shows that it still has a low percentage of alcohol in it. Is it breaking the word of wisdom to drink this? Can he be kicked out of BYU for drinking it also? How do I let him know without causing a fight?
2 Responses to “I know a member friend who drinks o’douls non alcoholic beer…”
Pamela Dean
2009-11-15 14:39:53
The Word of Wisdom is a funny thing. Truly. I don't know of any other commandment that we have been given that leaves so much up to each individual to determine for him or herself. If one reads the Word of Wisdom literally, it clearly states the following:
Avoid:
Wine
Strong drink
Tobacco
Hot drinks
Consume:
Herbs
Flesh sparingly in winter or famine
Grain
Fruit of the vine in ground or above ground
Sounds easy, doesn't it? But when we look at each part of it, there is so much that we have to interpret for ourselves.
Avoiding wine and tobacco are probably the least contentious, and I would guess that most latter-day saints have no issue with agreeing that we have been told to avoid these two things. "Strong drink" has been interpreted by some as being *any* alcoholic beverage, while others say it only applies to distilled spirits. Under this interpretation, non-alcoholic beer would be allowed.
We have been told by prophets that "hot drinks" means specifically tea and coffee. This is a hotly debated topic, as some believe it means any tea and any coffee, some believe it is because of the caffeine found in those drinks and therefore do not drink any caffeinated beverages, and some believe it means one should not drink any *hot* drinks. Personally, I don't drink any caffeinated beverages, as Pres. Hinckley said in a television interview once that he did not drink any caffeinated soda. That was good enough for me. :) But, in 2004 there were temples where cola products are sold in the vending machines in the cafeteria - I don't know if they still do or not. Note that it doesn't say anything in the Word of Wisdom about avoiding illegal drugs... But again, most LDS would tell you that we are supposed to avoid them as well.
Most LDS tend to focus on the "nots" in the Word of Wisdom. The "do's" are sometimes referred to as the 'forgotten verses'. Sure, most LDS recognize that we should eat healthy food, but if we were to follow the Word of Wisdom strictly we might change our eating habits even more.
Herbs are not only good for you, but they are easy to grow and can help combat disease when used judiciously. They also flavour our food, and can lessen our reliance on salt and pepper as seasonings. When the Word of Wisdom was introduced, salt was not a common staple, and pepper was rare. Herbs, on the other hand, could be gathered from the wild, and many could be easily grown in home gardens.
It's the final three that I personally find most interesting. I developed a severe health issue a few years ago and it seemed like no matter what I did or how many doctors I saw, it just kept getting worse. My patriarchal blessing cautioned me to follow the Word of Wisdom strictly, and I *thought* I had been doing so... Until I reread these 'forgotten verses' which state 'flesh sparingly except in winter or famine, grain and fruit of the vine in ground or above ground'. In part because eating flesh literally made me ill, and in part because of what I had read, I became a vegetarian. And anyone who is LDS who reads this will know what I mean when I say that being a vegetarian in this Church is very difficult. Every meal, every potluck, every event seems to be focused around food... And most of it revolves around the meat! Some LDS eat meat because they like meat and the scriptures say that animals are here for our use; others interpret the bit about winter as a statement against food spoilage and since we now have refrigeration it doesn't matter; and surprisingly there are others like me who do not eat meat because it's not winter and we're not in famine, besides for health reasons. There is even an LDS vegetarian group at BYU!
Bottom line? Like I said first, the Word of Wisdom is left wide open to personal interpretation in many regards. And the funny thing is that anyone who followed any of the above interpretations can honestly and truthfully reply during a temple recommend interview that they do indeed follow the Word of Wisdom.
As for BYU, I don't know what their regulations are. The scriptures say to avoid the appearance of evil. I would suspect that the intent of your friend would have something to do with whether or not it is considered wrong. For example, I knew a brother who drank cola products, and he was one of the few members - if not the only one - in the small branch I was in who did drink cola. So, he would keep a half empty 2 litre bottle of *caffeine free* cola on the kitchen counter so that members would *think* he was drinking caffeine free cola, but in reality he was refilling his glass from the regular cola in the fridge. It doesn't sound like your friend is intending to deceive anyone - he's not dumping out the "alcohol free" beer (which probably has 0.5% alcohol?) and refilling with regular beer! - so maybe it is up to him to decide for himself. On the other hand... If you feel you do need to say something to him, you could let him know that there are a number of *0%* alcohol free beers out there. :)
Webmaster
2009-11-16 05:17:33
Hi Anonymous. Pamela did an excellent job describing the different interpretations of the Word of Wisdom. Some things like alcohol and drugs are obviously violations of the Word of Wisdom. Other things, like non-alcoholic beer, are less certain and up to the individual's interpretation.
For what it's worth, I personally would never drink non-alcoholic beer for the very reasons Pamela cited. Whenever possible, I think it is best to avoid the appearance of evil. We should try to be examples for others.
Avoid:
- Wine
- Strong drink
- Tobacco
- Hot drinks
Consume:- Herbs
- Flesh sparingly in winter or famine
- Grain
- Fruit of the vine in ground or above ground
Sounds easy, doesn't it? But when we look at each part of it, there is so much that we have to interpret for ourselves.Avoiding wine and tobacco are probably the least contentious, and I would guess that most latter-day saints have no issue with agreeing that we have been told to avoid these two things. "Strong drink" has been interpreted by some as being *any* alcoholic beverage, while others say it only applies to distilled spirits. Under this interpretation, non-alcoholic beer would be allowed.
We have been told by prophets that "hot drinks" means specifically tea and coffee. This is a hotly debated topic, as some believe it means any tea and any coffee, some believe it is because of the caffeine found in those drinks and therefore do not drink any caffeinated beverages, and some believe it means one should not drink any *hot* drinks. Personally, I don't drink any caffeinated beverages, as Pres. Hinckley said in a television interview once that he did not drink any caffeinated soda. That was good enough for me. :) But, in 2004 there were temples where cola products are sold in the vending machines in the cafeteria - I don't know if they still do or not. Note that it doesn't say anything in the Word of Wisdom about avoiding illegal drugs... But again, most LDS would tell you that we are supposed to avoid them as well.
Most LDS tend to focus on the "nots" in the Word of Wisdom. The "do's" are sometimes referred to as the 'forgotten verses'. Sure, most LDS recognize that we should eat healthy food, but if we were to follow the Word of Wisdom strictly we might change our eating habits even more.
Herbs are not only good for you, but they are easy to grow and can help combat disease when used judiciously. They also flavour our food, and can lessen our reliance on salt and pepper as seasonings. When the Word of Wisdom was introduced, salt was not a common staple, and pepper was rare. Herbs, on the other hand, could be gathered from the wild, and many could be easily grown in home gardens.
It's the final three that I personally find most interesting. I developed a severe health issue a few years ago and it seemed like no matter what I did or how many doctors I saw, it just kept getting worse. My patriarchal blessing cautioned me to follow the Word of Wisdom strictly, and I *thought* I had been doing so... Until I reread these 'forgotten verses' which state 'flesh sparingly except in winter or famine, grain and fruit of the vine in ground or above ground'. In part because eating flesh literally made me ill, and in part because of what I had read, I became a vegetarian. And anyone who is LDS who reads this will know what I mean when I say that being a vegetarian in this Church is very difficult. Every meal, every potluck, every event seems to be focused around food... And most of it revolves around the meat! Some LDS eat meat because they like meat and the scriptures say that animals are here for our use; others interpret the bit about winter as a statement against food spoilage and since we now have refrigeration it doesn't matter; and surprisingly there are others like me who do not eat meat because it's not winter and we're not in famine, besides for health reasons. There is even an LDS vegetarian group at BYU!
Bottom line? Like I said first, the Word of Wisdom is left wide open to personal interpretation in many regards. And the funny thing is that anyone who followed any of the above interpretations can honestly and truthfully reply during a temple recommend interview that they do indeed follow the Word of Wisdom.
As for BYU, I don't know what their regulations are. The scriptures say to avoid the appearance of evil. I would suspect that the intent of your friend would have something to do with whether or not it is considered wrong. For example, I knew a brother who drank cola products, and he was one of the few members - if not the only one - in the small branch I was in who did drink cola. So, he would keep a half empty 2 litre bottle of *caffeine free* cola on the kitchen counter so that members would *think* he was drinking caffeine free cola, but in reality he was refilling his glass from the regular cola in the fridge. It doesn't sound like your friend is intending to deceive anyone - he's not dumping out the "alcohol free" beer (which probably has 0.5% alcohol?) and refilling with regular beer! - so maybe it is up to him to decide for himself. On the other hand... If you feel you do need to say something to him, you could let him know that there are a number of *0%* alcohol free beers out there. :)
For what it's worth, I personally would never drink non-alcoholic beer for the very reasons Pamela cited. Whenever possible, I think it is best to avoid the appearance of evil. We should try to be examples for others.