cmac, I like the idea of not drinking coffee as representing a kind of larger attitude. I appreciate the Word of Wisdom as a kind of tangible, everyday reminder of my religious commitments. I can’t figure out what I think about the virtue of obedience, though; that’s another topic that I’d like to tackle sometime.

annegb, thanks for making me laugh.

Melyngoch, I think you’re okay as long as you take out your nose ring before eating your coffee-flavored ice cream and drinking your mead.

Vada, does this aversion to the smell of coffee render you unable to truly enjoy the True Church of Barnes & Noble? I must say, that’s a real tragedy.

Eve, I’ve long known you were under the influence of the devil, but I’ll refrain from saying more, lest you retaliate in kind.

Kiskilili, I too find myself somewhat fascinated by the strict religious lifestyle. I like that the Church has some clear behavioral markers, and I also like some of the practices I see in other faiths, such as giving up something for Lent. (Somewhat related tangent: I actually had a Catholic friend last year tell me that I inspired him to give up coffee for Lent. He said that if I could live without it, so could he. I laughed and pointed out that it was probably a whole lot more of a sacrifice for him, since I don’t really know what I’m missing.)

But there are ways in which I’ve always been drawn to the strict religious lifestyle, and I’m not entirely sure why. As a child I wanted to be either an orthodox Jew or an Amish. I found the idea of separating myself from the larger culture by a unique commitment to God extremely appealing. For similar reasons, I’m fascinated by the people who have ashes on their foreheads on Ash Wednesday. (Just the other day I almost bought a rosary, but then I thought that might be sacreligious for a non-Catholic . . . )

Relatively “neutral” behaviors that are drawn into the realm of Church commitment I have no problem with (avoiding multiple earrings or tattoos, etc.). Whether God actually commands Jews to keep kosher, I like to hope that he appreciates their willingness to make this type of sacrifice for their relationship with him, because they believe it’s important. (When the behaviors the Church commands are morally objectionable, though, things of course get trickier.)

(Someday I’ll shock all of you socially responsible leftists out there by posting about my conversion a few years ago to the True Church of Barnes and Noble.)

Okay, so really it’s just that I get migraines when I smell coffee. I would be in some serious trouble if it started to be an acceptable thing for church members. So join me in my campaign to keep coffee out of our churches and our lives!!!!! (insert maniacal laughter…)

Spring semester I had my first (and, I suspect, last) sample of alcoholic beverage, in a small glass (cup? vial? what do you call those little hard-alcohol drinking vessels?) of mead. I had agreed previously that if someone provided the mead, I, as a budding Anglo-Saxonists, would certainly be willing to try drinking it. I shouldn’t have been surprised when someone did secure some mead, and I was called upon to make good.

I didn’t and don’t feel guilty for my two ounces of fourteen-proof fermented honey, and I don’t really feel like my friends who go out for a beer or two (or six) on Friday night are going to pick up a lightning bolt to hell on Saturday morning. But I have no desire to drink any further alcohol, and only partially because it feels like drinking boiling candle wax. At the very least, it seems like I’d appreciate any potential numbing effects it might have to offer, but nonetheless, I’m either thoroughly conditioned or thoroughly converted by or to the Word of Wisdom. Meanwhile, the BYU/FtSoY dress code has had no such effect.

But if you don’t believe it’s inspired, that’s different– I just mean this application helps me understand why I don’t drink coffee. Like my seminary teacher once said– will two earrings keep you out of the celestial kingdom? no, but the attitude will. I can see some problems with this statement, but maybe it is at least a little bit true?

This may have to do with the works-oriented approach to spirituality and salvation that has been engrained into me as a life-long Mormon. I recognize that there is a possibility that I’m totally wrong in my assessment of Church doctrines and practice–maybe the injunction against coffee and tea really did come straight from God, and perhaps my eternal happiness really does depend on my obedience to this commandment. So, while I may not even really believe that this aspect of the WoW is inspired, I’m still going to keep it, ‘just to be safe.’

The other day I was reading Romans 7, in which Paul delights in “the law of God after the inward man.” In this chapter Paul promotes the idea that it’s the “inward man” that really counts when it comes to salvation. He desires righteousness, but because of the weakness of the fless, he acts contrary to his desires and sins. He says that, when he commits these sins, “it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.” The focus is clearly on desires and intent, not outward works (the JST entirely changes this, but still). So I suppose it’s not really justifiable for me to keep a commandment I don’t believe is inspired, ‘just to be safe.’ Hmmm.

But also, I’m just so used to not drinking coffee, and I’ve never felt deprived, so for me to go out and get some would probably be more motivated by a desire to rebel than a desire to drink coffee.

Beijing, that’s a good point about habit–and a funny story. Even if I left the Church someday, I can imagine myself still opting for Sprite while my friends ordered beer.

LaGirrrl, while coffee hasn’t been the particular thing that has played that role in my life, I can actually relate a lot to that feeling of needing something just to get you through the day when life is feeling overwhelming and miserable and there’s not much positive in it. I have to admit that I’ve used things like chocolate sometimes to bribe myself into getting out of bed.

cmac, you got me thinking about the ways I chose to rebel as a teenager. One of the things I did was swear, which was particularly entertaining to do at BYU because people would be so shocked. I think a large part of why I’ve mostly quit is that it’s just never been as much fun since.

Annegb, ahh yes, that ever-thorny question of obedience for the sake of obedience. I don’t entirely know what I think. But even if my motives for doing so are complicated, I don’t think it’s necessarily bad that I do something like avoid coffee on the basis of the Church’s proscription (as it’s not something I see as inherently wrong).

Michael, I’ve been told that by a number of people. It’s nice to think that in being able to smell but not taste, I’m actually getting the better end of the deal!

Eve, I suspect that part of what motivates me as well in at least in some of these behaviors is a desire to pre-empt the accusation that I’m only questioning x, y, and z in Church doctrine because I’m seeking (for example) to rationalize my failure to follow the Word of Wisdom. And like you, I’ve at times questioned to what extent my approach to commandment-keeping is healthy; I notice that it’s in some ways marked by a rather strong legalism–which, I think, stems from a desire to fight off the despair of noticing just how thoroughly sin pervades my life.

Another thought on this–I’ve noticed that over the years, as I’ve found myself in some ways feeling less theologically connected to the Church, things like the Word of Wisdom have actually come to feel more important. Perhaps it’s because they’re a way of maintaining a connection that, no matter how conflicted it is at times, still matters profoundly to me. If I ever did choose to drink coffee, I think for me that would signify that I’d given up on this whole Mormon thing.

At a friend’s wedding this summer, a stranger asked me if I was Mormon. I wondered where that question came from, and then I realized I was the only person in the group drinking lemonade, and I was the only woman in the group whose shoulders were covered. I have no religious reasons for either of those behaviors. It was unbearably hot, so I decided I would not add to my misery by drinking that night. And I haven’t bought any fancy dresses since I abandoned my religious reasons for full shoulder coverage.