Mormons, Coca-Cola and Caffeine

I stopped in at the Maverick this morning to get a drink before heading to work and happened to overhear a heated discussion by two employees about Mormons, caffeine and the Coca Cola Company. Their thought was that it was hypocritical for Mormons, who are supposedly not allowed to drink caffeine (false), to come in every morning to get their Diet Cokes. One of the employees also pointed out that the LDS Church owns half of the Coca Cola Company (also false). I felt bad after leaving the store without correcting them, so I will try to set the record straight here.

Myth #1 - Mormons are not allowed to drink caffeine
I always find it a little annoying when people say "Mormons can't (fill in the blank)". One of the most basic principles of the LDS Church is the principle of agency. Every human being is allowed to use their own judgment and make their own decisions. This is as true for Mormons as it is for anyone else. The gift of agency is not free and there are consequences (good and bad) for each decision that we make. Mormons are free to choose to drink coffee, alcohol, take drugs, lie, steal, cheat, etc. just like everyone else in this world. The difference is that most Mormons choose not to. A Mormon who chooses to drink alcohol, for example, would not be able to enter LDS temples. Temples are considered sacred by members of the LDS church and only members in good standing are allowed to enter. Mormons who want to enter the temple choose not to consume substances that are outlined in the Word of Wisdom.

With all of that said, it is not against LDS teachings to drink sodas that contain caffeine. While some leaders may have counseled against its use, there has never been an official statement from the church that bans its consumption.

I can see where the confusion may come from. The Word of Wisdom, a commandment for healthy spiritual and physical living, forbids the use of tea and coffee which both contain, among other things, caffeine. But sodas that contain caffeine are not specifically forbidden. I think caffeine and overeating could be lumped in the same "gray area" category. Although neither one is healty, they are not expressley forbidden. I can understand both sides of the caffeine argument. One one hand it probably does not have the same effects as alcohol or drugs, but on the other hand I think it can still be addictive. This is an area of the LDS doctrine that is left open for individual members to interpret. I have personally felt addicted to caffeinated sodas at various times of my life and as a result I have chosen to drink less. I think we give up a little bit (or a lot) of our agency with every addiction we take on.

Myth #2 - The LDS Church owns a large percentage of the Coca-Cola Company
This myth is so outrageous that it almost doesn't deserve talking about. The Coca-Cola Company is one of the largest companies on earth and is far too large for a single entity to own a majority percentage of. The largest single shareholder (Berhshire Hathaway) in the Coca-Cola Company owns about 8% of the company (a value of about $11 billion). Now, I am not one to speak about the financial position of the LDS Church and have absolutely no idea how much money they have available for investments, but my guess is that most of their investments are tied up in real estate, church buildings, etc. To be honest, I think the LDS Church has better things to do with their money than trying to buy a controlling interest in a large corporation.

Please click here to read more about this subject at Snopes.com.

Hopefully this has cleared up some misconceptions about Mormons and the LDS Church. If you still have questions about this or any other subject relating to the LDS Church, I recommend that you visit on of the Church's websites at www.lds.org or www.mormon.org.

Thank you for being patient with my rant...

NEW CAR

I love our new car!
It's a dream come true.
I've always wanted a Toyota Highlander but I think I love my Hyundai Santa Fe even better...
Sorry mom.

Looking for a new car

Monday I totalled my car on the freeway! :(
Harrison and I were in the car when it was raining and the cars in front of me slowed down to fast for me to break and the water on the road caused me to not get any traction.
We are totally fine. We were VERY blessed.

We are now looking for a new to us (used) car.
If anyone knows any good quality inexpensive and safe autos please let me know. I've been looking on line for the last 2 days and haven't really found anything.

Thanks for all the concern and support we have received from all our family and friends since the accident.

Puppet Show at the Library

On Saturday we took Harrison down to the Salt Lake library for the 8th Annual No Strings Attached Puppetry Festival. There were several performances by different puppetry groups but we went to see the Tears of Joy Theatre's performance of Little One Inch.

We weren't sure if Harrison would sit through the whole thing or not, but we were pretty sure that he would have fun. We were really surprised that he did so well! He just stared at the puppets and would smile and clap every once in a while. He made it through about two thirds of the show before getting too restless to stay in his seat.

Harrison was entranced by the puppet show. He hardly ever sits still for anything.

We were really impressed with the show and the group that put it on. The puppets were amazing and we all had a really good time. I even found myself clapping and laughing out loud at the show.

After the puppet show we took a walk on the top of the library and had a fun time chasing Harrison around and watching him touch all of the plants. It was a great place to take some pictures of the city too.

Harrison and Sabrina on the bridge at the Library.

I love Salt Lake City.

This picture kind of sums up Harrison's personality.

He wanted to touch every plant that he saw on the roof of the Library.

Harrison and Sabrina at the top of the Library.

Big Smile... Bad Luck

Josh and I had fun at the BYU vs. Utah at Utah.
I'm a little disallusioned because so far this year I've attended both football and basketball games that BYU played Utah and we have lost. I hope i'm not bad luck for BYU. Maybe next year my luck will change.

What Harrison has been up to

Harrison loves sitting on the counter in the kitchen while i'm cooking. It's so much fun until he wants to climb into the sink and throw all the dirty dishes on the floor.

Harrison's first wall-art!

Save Now

DINOS

We had so much fun taking Harrison to the Thanksgiving point dinosaur museum.
He wanted to touch EVERYTHING.