Posted on 03/03/2008 11:08:00 AM PST by greyfoxx39
Religious and cultural traditions collide in odd ways.
• Is it right to tell election poll workers, assigned to Mormon church meeting houses, to not bring coffee, sodas or anything else caffeinated to refresh themselves during their long day tending to voters?
-SNIP-
First, let’s look at the polling place duties and sipping Maxwell House in the meeting house.
Longtime Tempe poll worker Mary Ann Hemmingson has signed up to work the polls for the March 11 election. She’ll spend her 14- or 15-hour day in a church, but no longer one that belongs to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
“I never sign up to work at a Mormon church because the board workers there are not allowed to have any caffeine on the premises,” she said. “That means no coffee in the morning and no Diet Coke in the afternoon. ... You don’t want to see what I look like without my daily dose of caffeine. It’s not a pretty picture.”
“The Word of Wisdom” portion of the Doctrine and Covenants, put forth in 1833 by church founder and prophet Joseph Smith, says that “hot drinks are not for the body or belly.” Add to that what H. Burke Peterson, first counselor in the Presiding Bishopric, said in 1975: “We know that cola drinks contain the drug caffeine. We know caffeine is not wholesome nor prudent for the use of our bodies. It is only sound judgment to conclude that cola drinks and any others that contain caffeine or other harmful ingredients should not be used.”
Advising followers to restrict what they take into their bodies is one thing, but applying that mandate to those people who perform a public job inside their buildings in a one-day stint seems to be taking things too Far.
(Excerpt) Read more at eastvalleytribune.com ...
it appears that in an election year the enforcement of a religious rule in our polling place deserves some comment.
PING
is de-caf OK? Buckler? O’Douls?
No tea, alcohol...postum OK. How can you prove it’s de-caf if it’s in the cup, already made?
Would Romney have prohibited coffee at state dinners, too?
No it is not alright. These polling places are not the “ward” but polling places, PUBLIC polling places.
As I wasn’t on the Romney guest list, I wouldn’t know about the state dinners.;)
No caffeine? I know plenty of LDS people who drink cola drinks.
Mitt Romney was the keynote speaker at a Chamber of Commerce Breakfast in my city and there was plenty of Joe.
And I know plenty of Christians who lie, fornicate, and swear, but that doesn't mean its allowed in their churches.
And, that applies to rules in polling places....how?
Tough call. If they own the building, they should be able to set the rules inside the building...but then again, the building is being rented or granted for use to perform a secular, public function.
}:-)4
At Catholic polling places, they have 8 kinds of domestic on tap. :)
By the by -- do they disallow chocolate as well? I'm not Mormon, I ask because chocolate also has caffeine in it.
So what’s a good Catholic Irishman or Irishman-for-a-day to do with St. Patrick’s Day?
What any good Catholic should do regardless the holiday -- give Jesus His due respect. Is it really so difficult to miss out on the drinking binge when the day falls during Holy Week? Such a sacrifice? I recall the Pope giving dispensation regarding meatless Fridays during Lent when St. Patrick's Day happened to fall on a Friday -- sheesh, people, you can't miss the corned beef ONE year?
“Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.”
- Paul, from Colossians 2:16-17
Was the breakfast held on Mormon turf? That is the problem here, not that those of the Mormon faith cannot be around caffeinated products.
I have a simple solution.....
Why don’t they just let the heathens imbibe in their hot caffinated beverages during polling and then simply hold a rededication ceremony afterward to cleanse the premises like they do after a Temple tour?
:-)
LOL...works for me.
What a crock of bull. There is not any food we probably eat that is not in some way harmful is some way. This is just another rule placed to test how much power they have over the flock. Not working.
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