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Mormons, is eating meat sometimes a sin?

I was reading the following:

D&C 89: 9 And again, hot drinks are not for the body or belly.... 12 Yea, flesh also of beasts and of the fowls of the air, I, the Lord, have ordained for the use of man with thanksgiving; nevertheless they are to be used sparingly; 13 And it is pleasing unto me that they should not be used, only in times of winter, or of cold, or famine.

In verse 9 we have the well-known teaching which forbids Mormons from drinking hot tea or coffee, but verses 12 and 13 seem to me to make it also a sin to eat a Big Mac during the summer. Do Mormons faithfully follow that passage, or is it somehow interpreted differently from what appears to be plain language, and therefore in fact there really aren't any dietary restrictions that Mormons are required to follow?

Also, if you don't mind, how do you get drinking iced tea, iced coffee or a coke is a sin since all of those drinks are cold?

Thank you for helping me to better understand the LDS Church and its teachings.

Update:

Thanks for helping me phrog, but your answer still left me with a couple of questions. So the word "hot" is no longer really relevant, and instead the word was sort of redefined to mean tea and coffee no matter what their temperature is? Was it always like that, or did a later Mormon prophet clarify that passage?

Also, you used the word "moderation", but the passage does say meat "should NOT be used" (emphasis added).

Update 2:

Therefore I get the impression that no Mormon does not use meat during the summer (i.e. is a strict vegetarian) based on that passage, but rather if they don't pig out on meat all the time, they are considered in compliance with the passage. Is that true?

Update 3:

Publius, thanks for answering my question. Please indulge my request for further clarification So I guess what you are saying is that if a Mormon chooses to eat a hot dog on the Fourth of July, he knowingly is choosing to displease God, but will do it anyway? That amazes me. When the children of Israel displeased God, he refused to allow them to enter his rest (Heb 3:10-11). ...

Update 4:

... Another time the word "displeased" is used in reference to God was regarding David's adulterous affair with Bathsheba and the murder of her husband (2Sam 11:27). I get the impression Mormon's are somewhat cavalier about displeasing God in regard to eating meat during the summer. If that is true, are there any other similar things where Mormons routinely displease God, but don't give it much thought because they think it's not a requirement?

Update 5:

Obviously I'm not a Mormon, and am not trying through my question to tell any Mormons how to be a proper Mormon, but if I read something like D&C 89:12-13 in my Bible, I would instantly pick up on the words "displeasing" and "only" and therefore conclude that God only allows me to eat meat during winter, cold and famines, and anything other than that would displease God; and historically speaking, displeasing God always has a negative outcome and therefore should be avoided. ...

Update 6:

Again, I'm very thankful for enlightening me about the LDS Church. I'm learning a lot more about Mormonism than I anticipated with my question. There does seem to be a different attitude toward pleasing God within Mormonism than my understanding of non-Mormon Christianity. Pulbius or phrog, are you aware of any Mormons that take DC 89:12-13 as seriously as I would if I were a Mormon (meaning no Big Macs until December)?

Update 7:

Thank you flora for your extensive answer. I'm curious though how you would interpret those passages if it was you talking about something else in a similar way to your children. For instance, let's say you told your children: "Concerning our family computer, it should be used sparingly. It pleases me that it should not be used, only between the hours of 7 and 9 pm on school nights (but can be used anytime on the weekends)." And then let's say your son interpreted that to mean that ...

Update 8:

... he could use it anytime he wanted and as much as he wanted as long as he felt he had used it in moderation. If he were my child, I would tell him that is NOT what I meant. I meant only between 7 and 9 pm on school nights. On the weekends, he could use it as much as he wanted. I'm guessing that you would side with the son's interpretation rather than mine.

Maybe Mormonism and its way of interpreting God's commands are just more "fluid" (for lack of a better word) than what I am used ...

Update 9:

... to in my understanding of how to interpret a command of God. I mean I have read statements from Mormon prophets in the past such as Brigham Young saying things like polygyny would always be a part of the Mormon religion, and that blacks would never be part of the Mormon priesthood; obviously those commands weren't to be so concretely interpreted.

Are there any other Mormon teachings like that where the wording seems to plainly command something, but Mormons don't interpret it that way?

Update 10:

Thanks c. It's just my opinion as an outsider to Mormonism that the passage appears to be basically ignored with a variety of excuses given for ignoring it. I'm not trying to push the teaching on anyone. I wonder if there ever was a time in Mormon history when Mormons did avoid meat except during the winter. I also get the impression from your comment that that teaching is not the only one that basically Mormons ignore. Phrog makes it sound like a Mormoan can ignore whatever they want ...

Update 11:

... and assume it's not a problem unless somehow God makes his will known that in fact he meant what he said. Did you see a lot of that when you were a Mormon? Did you hear anything from other Mormons like what phrog said; basically that if God thought what a Mormon was doing was a problem (even though a passage may seem to teach against what they were doing), he would somehow make it known to them, and if he didn't, they could continue on doing whatever they were doing without consequence?

8 Answers

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  • 6 years ago
    Favorite Answer

    The Word of Wisdom was originally given as guide to good health. It teaches moderation and the avoidance of excess and substances that are harmful. Much later, it became a commandment to abstain from alcohol, tobacco products and tea (green and black) and coffee. The rest remains a guideline or a lesson in practicing moderation, but is not meant to be a strict dietary plan that Mormons must literally follow. I think that many non-Mormons think that the Word of Wisdom is something that we must strictly follow like the Jews and Muslims must do in their religion.

    Again, most of the WOW is a lesson on following good health practices. Some of the counsel given in the Word of Wisdom, isn't necessary or practical in this day and age when we have a variety of fresh produce available all year round. Other counsel is still sound. Back when the WOW was given. People had limited food choices in the winter and they ate a lot of meat during the winter months. This was teaching the early Mormons to limit their meat intake during months when other kinds of foods were plentiful. Now days, we don't need to eat lots of meat in the winter and no meat in the summer, because we can eat a well balanced diet all year round.

    Concerning "hot drinks", again, this is something people take too literally. Back then people commonly referred to tea and coffee as "hot drinks", and it was later clarified that hot drinks means coffee and tea. If you apply logic to this, if it literally meant to avoid hot drinks, we could simply allow our "hot drinks" to cool of and enjoy them cold, and we'd have to allow hot soups and other hot beverages to cool off as well.

    So, to answer "is eating meat sometimes a sin". This is what the Bible teaches:

    1Cor. 3:16-18

    "Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?

    If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are."

    I personally think that if someone eats meat in excessive amounts to the degree that they are making their bodies unhealthy, they are defiling their body and that could be considered a sin. But I don't think that eating meat in the summer is sinful. Just my opinion.

    Additional: I think that you are now putting meaning into our answers that isn't there. You're hearing what you want to hear and ignoring what we are saying. And you do seem to be trying to tell us how to live our religion, by defining counsel or "not pleasing unto me" to be equal to commandment. That is how you define it, not us. We believe that one of our purposes for being here is to exercise the agency that God has given us. We believe that he is literally the father of our spirits and like any parent He gives us rules that we must follow for our own protection and to keep us pure, and he gives us guidelines that He would like us to follow because it is what is best for us, but allows us the agency to find out for ourselves the wisdom of his counsel. We don't have an attitude that we can do whatever we want, or pick and choose what commandments to follow. These same people on here telling you that we have a lackadaisical attitude toward the Word or Wisdom or other words of counsel from our leaders have answered other questions about Mormons by saying that we are so under the control of our leaders that we can't even breath without permission. We can't be of both extremes, now can we?

    To answer your hypothetical question about the use of the computer. As a parent, I have many times given my children advice that they have chosen not to follow. They have had to deal with the consequences of not following my advice and have learned valuable lessons. This is the same with Heavenly Father. In His infinite wisdom, He doesn't tightly control us because we are here to experience life on an imperfect, individual level and because he wants us to experience both joy and sorrow in this world. We would have none of that if there were not a balance of commandments that we must follow and wise counsel that we should follow and would be pleasing unto God if we did follow.

  • 6 years ago

    Well, according to their scripture, eating meat anytime other than famine or winter (i.e. when meat was the only source of food), is a sin. However, they ignore that part.

    The Mormon apologists will squirm all over the place now to try to explain how it really isn't forbidden. I think I'll have a Big Mac and watch their responses for entertainment.

  • Anonymous
    6 years ago

    Oh, no. If the mormons ever lived up to what the WOW actually says, they would join with the SDA's! We'd have a few million more vegetarians roaming around frowning at people entering MacDonalds! NOOOOO!!!!!

    As a former mormon, while growing up in Utah I never once heard any mormon say, "Lets not have our usual 2" thick steak tonight, dear. It's so un-WOW."

  • Anonymous
    6 years ago

    Joseph Smith didn't condone eating meat,but who really cares what he thinks.

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  • Anonymous
    6 years ago

    They drink Dr Pepper which is loaded with caffeine

  • Yeah, if a gay guy is sucking another guy's meat

  • Truth
    Lv 7
    6 years ago

    everything is fair game for a man who talks to rocks in a hat

  • phrog
    Lv 7
    6 years ago

    the intent is moderation in all things.

    tea and coffee have been prohibited in any form. "hot drinks" were defined as tea and coffee. it has nothing to do with caffeine.

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