IX
THE WORD OF WISDOM
1.
Habits of eating, drinking and smoking form a meeting ground upon which Mormons of today come into almost continuous conflict with other Americans, whether they be members of any church or not.
In a country where sizzling steaks and barbecued spareribs have become a fetish, the Mormons place little meat upon their tables and proclaim that it is the wish of God that man eat sparingly of the flesh of beasts or fowls.
In a nation where beer, wine and hard liquors can be purchased on nearly every street corner, and at several places along the streets in between, Mormons say the Lord has decreed that the only way man should use alcohol is externally.
In a population where many millions of cigarets are consumed every day, and where to smoke and be sociable are almost synonymous, these Latter-day Saints say that tobacco is to be used only as a curative herb, and to be applied to bruises and the healing of sick cattle with the skill and judgment of a physician or veterinarian.
To those who do not understand the fundamental reasons behind this orthodox Mormon attitude, the whole thing is bewildering and perplexing.
Foundation for dietary practices of Latter-day Saints is the Word of Wisdom.
This was a revelation which Joseph Smith reported was given to him by God on February 27, 1833, at Kirtland, Ohio. The revelation, thus, occurred when the L.D.S. church organization was about three years old. At that time, some of the members of the church were addicted to the use of strong frontier liquor, and to the use of tobacco, in common with the habits of most other Americans then. The young prophet for some time felt that smoking and chewing of tobacco by priests during a solemn discussion of the glories of God was somewhat undignified and out of place. He, therefore, took the problem to the Lord in prayer and asked for guidance. The result was a complete revelation on all dietary practices.
The revelation was not given as a commandment, nor as a restraint. It pointed the way to a higher plane of living, however, and promised rich rewards to all who would practice it.
The idea of a prophet voicing the will of God in the matter of what people ought to eat, or ought not to eat, of course, is not a new one. Members of many Catholic churches in Christendom are familiar with canonical rules in regard to feast days and fast days, and to Lent, with instructions from the priesthood as to what ought to be eaten or left alone. Most oriental religions have extensive and rigid dietary laws. Mohammed laid out a food and drink program for his followers. Then, too, there is the classic example of the law of Moses that charted a course of dietary conduct which many orthodox Jews today follow in the consumption of Kosher foods. The uniqueness of the Word of Wisdom in this respect was that it was pronounced in comparatively modern times, and that it applies so closely to living habits of humans today.
The Word of Wisdom forms Section 89 of the Doctrine and Covenants. The first four verses, or numbered paragraphs, serve as a general introduction. The next five verses are concerned with negative health factors, the following eight verses tell of positive health factors, and the final four verses promise both group and individual rewards of longer and happier lives and freedom from pestilence and epidemics.
Essentially, the Word of Wisdom:
a. Forbids the use of alcoholic drinks except for the washing of sick human bodies;
b. Forbids the use of tobacco eecept as a healing herb;
c. Discourages the use of any hot drinks (excepting a few, such as warm lemonade and warm chocolate);
d. Encourages the use of wholesome herbs, fruits and vegetables for human food, especially when they are in season;
e. Authorizes for food the flesh of beasts and fowls, but only sparingly and with thanksgiving, (adding that it is a pleasure to God that flesh itself should not be eaten, except in times of winter, cold or famine);
f. Ordains all grain as the staff of life for beasts and man, fowls and wild beasts, wheat for the man, corn for the ox, oats for the horse, rye for fowls, swine and all the beasts of the field, barley for all useful animals and for mild drinks;
g. Promises that those who observe "Shall run and not be weary, shall walk and not faint";
h. Gievs a group blessing promise, that the destroying angel shall pass by them, as the Children of Israel, and not slay them.
The L.D.S. Church has vigorously applied the Word of Wisdom in both its teachings and practices. The late President Heber J. Grant placed great store in the teaching of this religious principle, and the entire church absorbed much of his personality in this direction. There have been few general conferences during the last quarter of a century in which the Word of Wisdom has not been a featured subject. Some leaders, both within and without the church have voiced the uneasy feeling that the church has been overdoing this one field. At a quarterly stake conference in Salt Lake City in 1946, Presiding Bishop LeGrand Richards said, "I wonder if we haven't been teaching too much about the Word of Wisdom and neglecting other more important phases of clean living, especially among our young people."
The Mormon church has cooperated with almost every known agency that has been honestly and actively engaged in teaching the bad effects of tobacco and liquors. Its officials have carefully garnered from all parts of the world as much as they could of literature, illustrations and statistics that might aid them in suppressing these evils through teaching people their bad effects. It has put on church-wide drives, culminating in grand assemblages in the huge tabernacle in Salt Lake City, that have been strenuous anti-liquor and anti-tobacco campaigns.
The attitude of the church is not entirely a negative, or anti-drive against tobacco and liquor. Following the wise lead of Prophet Smith, who held forth rewards for observance of the Word of Wisdom, as well as punishments for its neglect, the church leaders have pointed out the benefits to be gained from compliance. Accurate statistics have been compiled to show that people who practice the Word of Wisdom actually live longer than those who do not. In placing emphasis upon the joy of living, they point out that people who are in good health get more wholesome joy from living an abundant life. And, too, the leaders have appealed to the mercenary drives of their members by showing how good health increases a person's earning power. An interesting object lesson is the billions of dollars that annually are lost because earners are idle from illness, hangovers, or just plain drunkenness, due to improper dietary habits. The church repeatedly has given many constructive examples of things that could have been accomplished with money dissipated on tobacco and liquors.
In their church-wde conferences, the Mormons from time to time officially adopt prohibitory measures in interpretation of the Word of Wisdom in the light of modern living. In this process, authorities of the church, after exhaustive studies and analyses of a drink or food, make a recommendation to prohibit its use. These recommendations usually always are sustained, or ratified, by the assembly. A notable recent example of this was the ruling against the use of a famous soft drink, which was found to be habit-forming and, the authorities said, which is harmful to the human body. On the face of it, this might have appeared to have been a simple matter affecting only one group of people who happen to have unusual religious ideas. When the economic aspects of the action are viewed, however, it is seen that about one million people of a high average income level have agreed to support an absolute boycott of a soft drink product of which the very name has become an American by-word.
On the other hand, the church strongly encourages the heavy consumption of milk, fruit juices and drinks made from natural products. Thus, the national citrus, apple, dairy and cereal-beverage industries stand to profit from Mormon policies.
One of the honors and privileges available to devout Mormons is that of entering the sacred temple. This is explained in another chapter. However, a person is not permitted to enter the temple if he does not practice the Word of Wisdom. Entrance to the temple is secured by presenting a "recommend" from the applicant's bishop. This recommendation, which is standardized throughout the church, has printed on it several questions which the applicant must answer. Among them, of course, are those that put the applicant "on the spot" as to whether he uses tobacco or intoxicants. Inasmuch as so many ordinances important in the Mormon faith are performed only in the temple, a person who uses alcohol or tobacco, even in moderation, is, in effect, cut off from the greater benefits of the church.
Those who are lukewarm in their practice of the Word of Wisdom and yet retain nominal membership in the church colloquially are called "Jack Mormons." There are very many of these, and the church has lost their active support and the benefit of their brains and tithes because it has found no method to gracefully recall them, short of the traditional demand for repentance and future compliance. The Jack Mormon, exposed from earliest childhood to the rather advanced theological concepts of the L.D.S. church, is, philosophically speaking, one of the unhappiest persons in the world. He is never able wholeheartedly to accept a church that offers a less complete philosophy. His desire to follow the living habits of a majority of Americans prevents his being active in the church in which he was born. So he becomes church-less, the possessor of a philosophy that he treasures but cannot fully use.
The aim of the Word of Wisdom is one of the highest standards of living yet devised for human beings. The manner in which the church has been able to put it into effect has produced many negative as well as positive results. When any desirable standard is held aloft, there are some who can follow it to the end of life, some who embrace it and later turn aside, and others who must honestly oppose it because of previous commitments, beliefs and loyalties. The higher the standard, the more conflict it arouses with enthroned customs of another plane that might be less wholesome in some respects.
The church was, perhaps, misunderstood in its stand on tobacco and liquor during the latter part of the life of the late President Heber J. Grant of the church. His vigorous championship of the cause of prohibition was seen, not so much as a religious act, as a political one, in the eyes of many non-Mormons and Jack Mormons. It was an unfortunate accident that the policies of President Grant conformed so closely with those of ex-president Herbert Hoover of the United States when the latter was campaigning for re-election against Franklin Delano Roosevelt. In the great national upsurge of liberal social ideas that accompanied the repeal of prohibition, the church suffered a tremendous blow to its prestige by reason of having been so far "out on a limb" on the losing side of a national political issue.
The manner in which the state of Utah, due mainly to Mormon influence, has handled the liquor situation since repeal of prohibition has not been especially flattering, nor any better than the worst in the United States. The sale of liquor by the drink is not permitted, and the strongest that any tavern can legally offer its customers is 3.2 beer. There is so little profit in cheap beer that such places rarely can lift themselves out of the disreputable class. As a result, both Ogden and Salt Lake City have developed regular "skidrow" sections, and Zion flaunts some of the filthiest beer joints in the nation. The state, allegedly, maintains a monopoly on liquor and sells it, usually, at prices much higher than those that exist in neighboring states. A private restaurant or bar operator may not retail liquor. But if you are a member of any of several exclusive clubs in Salt Lake City, Ogden, and other parts of Utah, you may buy your whiskey and ditch water across the bar in any quantity you desire. In Salt Lake City, several of these clubs are about a stone's throw from the great Mormon temple. The situation indirectly is a result of the church's stand against liquor. An administration of politicians playing for the support of the huge Mormon vote consistently has fought down any attempt to liberalize the state's liquor laws. In 1946, the secretary of state of Utah used every possible technicality, some of them quite contemptible, to even keep the issue from going onto the ballot where the people themselves, in the good old American custom, might say what they did or did not want. In all fairness, it cannot be said that the secretary of state was voicing any official stand of the church, because at the same time, he was rather deeply involved in several matters in opposition to church officials.
However, to an outsider, the official views and actions of the church itself often are contradictory in the matter of liquor, tobacco and coffee. Just across from Temple Square in Salt Lake City is located the beautiful white Hotel Utah, at "the crossroads of the West." The Hotel Utah is owned by the L.D.S. church. Yet, the Empire dining room and Skylight Gardens of the Hotel Utah are the most exclusive places in the city where a non-club member may drink liquor in public. In keeping with state law, the Hotel Utah does not sell liquor. The customer brings his own bottle and plants it in the middle of his table; the hotel recognizes his consumption of the liquor by selling him a bowl of cracked ice and the usual mixers, at the usual night club prices; the church, as owner, shares in any profits that accrue therefrom. And, to be sure, the cigar counter in the lobby of the hotel has one of the finest stocks of tobacco, cigarets and cigars in the state, which appears to be actually sold at retail by the Mormon church. There are two popular views of this anomaly. One is that the church has a genuine desire to be a good host to its guests. The other is that the church is unwilling to forego the profits to be obtained by catering to lusts of a heavy tourist trade of the curious. Flattering or not, the latter view, naturally, is the more popular.
Whatever the aims of the promulgation of the Word of Wisdom at the top levels, its social application on down to the ward and family strata often results in many violent and pettifogging conflicts that are unworthy of so great a church, but inevitable whenever part of a population insists upon departing from the mores and taboos of another powerful part of the same population. I have in mind a family of staunch Episcopalians that happened to buy a home in an urban area that was predominantly Mormon. The men of the family smoked, as a matter of course, in exercising the ancient right to live as they pleased so long as they bothered no one else. If they happened to be smoking outside their home, their Mormon neighbors never failed to show disapproval of the custom, either by making some uncomplimentary remark, or by smirking self-righteously in such a manner that their meaning could not be mistaken. Whenever one of their Mormon neighbors came into their home, and this was frequent, the visitors almost invariably displayed what, to the Episcopalians, is the height of bad taste by criticizing the living habits of a host under his own roof. The Mormons, in all sincerity, were in blissful ignorance that they were being boorish in the presence of an ancient culture.
Whatever the conflicts that result from application of the Word of Wisdom, there is no denying its value as a dietary code. Nearly every one of its tenets can be adequately proved by findings of modern science. Perhaps the best argument in its favor is the remarkable longevity and agility of many of the higher church leaders who have been under such close scrutiny of the Mormon community that there is no doubt that they have practiced the Word of Wisdom most of their lives. Among them are many men far past the allotted three score and ten years of mankind, who are more vigorous mentally and physically than most men of middle age. An apostle of nearly eighty thinks nothing of departing on a journey that will take him half way around the world and back before he can again sleep in his own bed.
The accurate population statistics maintained by the L.D.S. church show, beyond confutation, that Mormons as a group can expect much longer lives than other Americans, or persons belonging to different sociological and ideological groups.
The following table contains a summarization of the most recent church vital statistics, as compared with the latest available non-church data. It is presented here through the courtesy of Dr. John A. Widtsoe, member of the L.D.S. council of twelve apostles, who is himself nearing his eightieth birthday.
In a country where sizzling steaks and barbecued spareribs have become a fetish, the Mormons place little meat upon their tables and proclaim that it is the wish of God that man eat sparingly of the flesh of beasts or fowls.
In a nation where beer, wine and hard liquors can be purchased on nearly every street corner, and at several places along the streets in between, Mormons say the Lord has decreed that the only way man should use alcohol is externally.
In a population where many millions of cigarets are consumed every day, and where to smoke and be sociable are almost synonymous, these Latter-day Saints say that tobacco is to be used only as a curative herb, and to be applied to bruises and the healing of sick cattle with the skill and judgment of a physician or veterinarian.
To those who do not understand the fundamental reasons behind this orthodox Mormon attitude, the whole thing is bewildering and perplexing.
Foundation for dietary practices of Latter-day Saints is the Word of Wisdom.
This was a revelation which Joseph Smith reported was given to him by God on February 27, 1833, at Kirtland, Ohio. The revelation, thus, occurred when the L.D.S. church organization was about three years old. At that time, some of the members of the church were addicted to the use of strong frontier liquor, and to the use of tobacco, in common with the habits of most other Americans then. The young prophet for some time felt that smoking and chewing of tobacco by priests during a solemn discussion of the glories of God was somewhat undignified and out of place. He, therefore, took the problem to the Lord in prayer and asked for guidance. The result was a complete revelation on all dietary practices.
The revelation was not given as a commandment, nor as a restraint. It pointed the way to a higher plane of living, however, and promised rich rewards to all who would practice it.
The idea of a prophet voicing the will of God in the matter of what people ought to eat, or ought not to eat, of course, is not a new one. Members of many Catholic churches in Christendom are familiar with canonical rules in regard to feast days and fast days, and to Lent, with instructions from the priesthood as to what ought to be eaten or left alone. Most oriental religions have extensive and rigid dietary laws. Mohammed laid out a food and drink program for his followers. Then, too, there is the classic example of the law of Moses that charted a course of dietary conduct which many orthodox Jews today follow in the consumption of Kosher foods. The uniqueness of the Word of Wisdom in this respect was that it was pronounced in comparatively modern times, and that it applies so closely to living habits of humans today.
The Word of Wisdom forms Section 89 of the Doctrine and Covenants. The first four verses, or numbered paragraphs, serve as a general introduction. The next five verses are concerned with negative health factors, the following eight verses tell of positive health factors, and the final four verses promise both group and individual rewards of longer and happier lives and freedom from pestilence and epidemics.
Essentially, the Word of Wisdom:
a. Forbids the use of alcoholic drinks except for the washing of sick human bodies;
b. Forbids the use of tobacco eecept as a healing herb;
c. Discourages the use of any hot drinks (excepting a few, such as warm lemonade and warm chocolate);
d. Encourages the use of wholesome herbs, fruits and vegetables for human food, especially when they are in season;
e. Authorizes for food the flesh of beasts and fowls, but only sparingly and with thanksgiving, (adding that it is a pleasure to God that flesh itself should not be eaten, except in times of winter, cold or famine);
f. Ordains all grain as the staff of life for beasts and man, fowls and wild beasts, wheat for the man, corn for the ox, oats for the horse, rye for fowls, swine and all the beasts of the field, barley for all useful animals and for mild drinks;
g. Promises that those who observe "Shall run and not be weary, shall walk and not faint";
h. Gievs a group blessing promise, that the destroying angel shall pass by them, as the Children of Israel, and not slay them.
The L.D.S. Church has vigorously applied the Word of Wisdom in both its teachings and practices. The late President Heber J. Grant placed great store in the teaching of this religious principle, and the entire church absorbed much of his personality in this direction. There have been few general conferences during the last quarter of a century in which the Word of Wisdom has not been a featured subject. Some leaders, both within and without the church have voiced the uneasy feeling that the church has been overdoing this one field. At a quarterly stake conference in Salt Lake City in 1946, Presiding Bishop LeGrand Richards said, "I wonder if we haven't been teaching too much about the Word of Wisdom and neglecting other more important phases of clean living, especially among our young people."
The Mormon church has cooperated with almost every known agency that has been honestly and actively engaged in teaching the bad effects of tobacco and liquors. Its officials have carefully garnered from all parts of the world as much as they could of literature, illustrations and statistics that might aid them in suppressing these evils through teaching people their bad effects. It has put on church-wide drives, culminating in grand assemblages in the huge tabernacle in Salt Lake City, that have been strenuous anti-liquor and anti-tobacco campaigns.
The attitude of the church is not entirely a negative, or anti-drive against tobacco and liquor. Following the wise lead of Prophet Smith, who held forth rewards for observance of the Word of Wisdom, as well as punishments for its neglect, the church leaders have pointed out the benefits to be gained from compliance. Accurate statistics have been compiled to show that people who practice the Word of Wisdom actually live longer than those who do not. In placing emphasis upon the joy of living, they point out that people who are in good health get more wholesome joy from living an abundant life. And, too, the leaders have appealed to the mercenary drives of their members by showing how good health increases a person's earning power. An interesting object lesson is the billions of dollars that annually are lost because earners are idle from illness, hangovers, or just plain drunkenness, due to improper dietary habits. The church repeatedly has given many constructive examples of things that could have been accomplished with money dissipated on tobacco and liquors.
In their church-wde conferences, the Mormons from time to time officially adopt prohibitory measures in interpretation of the Word of Wisdom in the light of modern living. In this process, authorities of the church, after exhaustive studies and analyses of a drink or food, make a recommendation to prohibit its use. These recommendations usually always are sustained, or ratified, by the assembly. A notable recent example of this was the ruling against the use of a famous soft drink, which was found to be habit-forming and, the authorities said, which is harmful to the human body. On the face of it, this might have appeared to have been a simple matter affecting only one group of people who happen to have unusual religious ideas. When the economic aspects of the action are viewed, however, it is seen that about one million people of a high average income level have agreed to support an absolute boycott of a soft drink product of which the very name has become an American by-word.
On the other hand, the church strongly encourages the heavy consumption of milk, fruit juices and drinks made from natural products. Thus, the national citrus, apple, dairy and cereal-beverage industries stand to profit from Mormon policies.
One of the honors and privileges available to devout Mormons is that of entering the sacred temple. This is explained in another chapter. However, a person is not permitted to enter the temple if he does not practice the Word of Wisdom. Entrance to the temple is secured by presenting a "recommend" from the applicant's bishop. This recommendation, which is standardized throughout the church, has printed on it several questions which the applicant must answer. Among them, of course, are those that put the applicant "on the spot" as to whether he uses tobacco or intoxicants. Inasmuch as so many ordinances important in the Mormon faith are performed only in the temple, a person who uses alcohol or tobacco, even in moderation, is, in effect, cut off from the greater benefits of the church.
Those who are lukewarm in their practice of the Word of Wisdom and yet retain nominal membership in the church colloquially are called "Jack Mormons." There are very many of these, and the church has lost their active support and the benefit of their brains and tithes because it has found no method to gracefully recall them, short of the traditional demand for repentance and future compliance. The Jack Mormon, exposed from earliest childhood to the rather advanced theological concepts of the L.D.S. church, is, philosophically speaking, one of the unhappiest persons in the world. He is never able wholeheartedly to accept a church that offers a less complete philosophy. His desire to follow the living habits of a majority of Americans prevents his being active in the church in which he was born. So he becomes church-less, the possessor of a philosophy that he treasures but cannot fully use.
The aim of the Word of Wisdom is one of the highest standards of living yet devised for human beings. The manner in which the church has been able to put it into effect has produced many negative as well as positive results. When any desirable standard is held aloft, there are some who can follow it to the end of life, some who embrace it and later turn aside, and others who must honestly oppose it because of previous commitments, beliefs and loyalties. The higher the standard, the more conflict it arouses with enthroned customs of another plane that might be less wholesome in some respects.
The church was, perhaps, misunderstood in its stand on tobacco and liquor during the latter part of the life of the late President Heber J. Grant of the church. His vigorous championship of the cause of prohibition was seen, not so much as a religious act, as a political one, in the eyes of many non-Mormons and Jack Mormons. It was an unfortunate accident that the policies of President Grant conformed so closely with those of ex-president Herbert Hoover of the United States when the latter was campaigning for re-election against Franklin Delano Roosevelt. In the great national upsurge of liberal social ideas that accompanied the repeal of prohibition, the church suffered a tremendous blow to its prestige by reason of having been so far "out on a limb" on the losing side of a national political issue.
The manner in which the state of Utah, due mainly to Mormon influence, has handled the liquor situation since repeal of prohibition has not been especially flattering, nor any better than the worst in the United States. The sale of liquor by the drink is not permitted, and the strongest that any tavern can legally offer its customers is 3.2 beer. There is so little profit in cheap beer that such places rarely can lift themselves out of the disreputable class. As a result, both Ogden and Salt Lake City have developed regular "skidrow" sections, and Zion flaunts some of the filthiest beer joints in the nation. The state, allegedly, maintains a monopoly on liquor and sells it, usually, at prices much higher than those that exist in neighboring states. A private restaurant or bar operator may not retail liquor. But if you are a member of any of several exclusive clubs in Salt Lake City, Ogden, and other parts of Utah, you may buy your whiskey and ditch water across the bar in any quantity you desire. In Salt Lake City, several of these clubs are about a stone's throw from the great Mormon temple. The situation indirectly is a result of the church's stand against liquor. An administration of politicians playing for the support of the huge Mormon vote consistently has fought down any attempt to liberalize the state's liquor laws. In 1946, the secretary of state of Utah used every possible technicality, some of them quite contemptible, to even keep the issue from going onto the ballot where the people themselves, in the good old American custom, might say what they did or did not want. In all fairness, it cannot be said that the secretary of state was voicing any official stand of the church, because at the same time, he was rather deeply involved in several matters in opposition to church officials.
However, to an outsider, the official views and actions of the church itself often are contradictory in the matter of liquor, tobacco and coffee. Just across from Temple Square in Salt Lake City is located the beautiful white Hotel Utah, at "the crossroads of the West." The Hotel Utah is owned by the L.D.S. church. Yet, the Empire dining room and Skylight Gardens of the Hotel Utah are the most exclusive places in the city where a non-club member may drink liquor in public. In keeping with state law, the Hotel Utah does not sell liquor. The customer brings his own bottle and plants it in the middle of his table; the hotel recognizes his consumption of the liquor by selling him a bowl of cracked ice and the usual mixers, at the usual night club prices; the church, as owner, shares in any profits that accrue therefrom. And, to be sure, the cigar counter in the lobby of the hotel has one of the finest stocks of tobacco, cigarets and cigars in the state, which appears to be actually sold at retail by the Mormon church. There are two popular views of this anomaly. One is that the church has a genuine desire to be a good host to its guests. The other is that the church is unwilling to forego the profits to be obtained by catering to lusts of a heavy tourist trade of the curious. Flattering or not, the latter view, naturally, is the more popular.
Whatever the aims of the promulgation of the Word of Wisdom at the top levels, its social application on down to the ward and family strata often results in many violent and pettifogging conflicts that are unworthy of so great a church, but inevitable whenever part of a population insists upon departing from the mores and taboos of another powerful part of the same population. I have in mind a family of staunch Episcopalians that happened to buy a home in an urban area that was predominantly Mormon. The men of the family smoked, as a matter of course, in exercising the ancient right to live as they pleased so long as they bothered no one else. If they happened to be smoking outside their home, their Mormon neighbors never failed to show disapproval of the custom, either by making some uncomplimentary remark, or by smirking self-righteously in such a manner that their meaning could not be mistaken. Whenever one of their Mormon neighbors came into their home, and this was frequent, the visitors almost invariably displayed what, to the Episcopalians, is the height of bad taste by criticizing the living habits of a host under his own roof. The Mormons, in all sincerity, were in blissful ignorance that they were being boorish in the presence of an ancient culture.
Whatever the conflicts that result from application of the Word of Wisdom, there is no denying its value as a dietary code. Nearly every one of its tenets can be adequately proved by findings of modern science. Perhaps the best argument in its favor is the remarkable longevity and agility of many of the higher church leaders who have been under such close scrutiny of the Mormon community that there is no doubt that they have practiced the Word of Wisdom most of their lives. Among them are many men far past the allotted three score and ten years of mankind, who are more vigorous mentally and physically than most men of middle age. An apostle of nearly eighty thinks nothing of departing on a journey that will take him half way around the world and back before he can again sleep in his own bed.
The accurate population statistics maintained by the L.D.S. church show, beyond confutation, that Mormons as a group can expect much longer lives than other Americans, or persons belonging to different sociological and ideological groups.
The following table contains a summarization of the most recent church vital statistics, as compared with the latest available non-church data. It is presented here through the courtesy of Dr. John A. Widtsoe, member of the L.D.S. council of twelve apostles, who is himself nearing his eightieth birthday.
COMPARISON OF DEATHS REPORTED IN THE
L. D. S. CHURCH - 1945 AND THOSE REPORTED
IN THE U. S. FOR THE YEAR 1943
PER 100,000 POPULATION
L. D. S. CHURCH - 1945 AND THOSE REPORTED
IN THE U. S. FOR THE YEAR 1943
PER 100,000 POPULATION
U.S. Church
1. Infections and Parasitic Diseases ............. 68.54 16.30
2. Cancer & Other Tumors .......................... 133.96 56.28
3. Rheumatism, Diseaseas of Nutrition,
Endocrine Glands and other general
Diseases and Avitaminoses .......................... 35.96 14.86
4. Diseases of the Blood and Blood-
forming Organs ................................................ 8.33 4.18
5. Chronic Poisoning and Intoxication .............. 1.75 .72
6. Diseases of the Nervous System and
Sense Organs .............................................. 105.39 57.14
7. Diseases of the Circulatory System ......... 351.27 167.96
8. Diseases of the Respiratory System .......... 61.88 45.31
9. Diseases of the Digestive System .............. 52.53 18.32
10. Diseases of the Genito-Urinary System .... 81.10 13.71
11. Diseases of Pregnancy, Childbirth,
and the Puerperium ........................................... 4.53 3.03
12. Diseases of the Skin and Cellular Tissue ...... .85 .43
13. Diseases of the Bones and Organs of
Movement ............................................................ .71 .29
14. Congenital Malformations .......................... 13.03 .87
15. Diseases Peculiar to the First Year of
Life ................................................................... 39.53 21.36
16. Senility (Old Age) ......................................... 8.07 77.20
17. Violent or Accidental Deaths ...................... 87.45 72.29
18. Ill-Defined and Unknown Causes ................. 9.04 66.09
Total per 100,000 population ........................ 1063.92 636.34
Death rate per 1,000 population ....................... 10.63 6.36
Note 1 - These figures include only those of the white race - no Negroes or other race.
Note 2 - Church figures computed from Form "E," "Transcript of Record of Members - 1945" Based on a Church population of record in Stakes totalling 693,054 members.
Note 3 - U. S. Figures computed from "Vital Statistics of the U. S. - 1943" Part I, U. S. Dept. of Commerce, Bureau of Census. Total Estimated white population of 120,278,980 as of July 1943. (Last Gov. estimated census figures available.)
Note 4 - These figures do not include any persons killed or missing in action in World War II.
Next: Business, Labor and Politics
2. Cancer & Other Tumors .......................... 133.96 56.28
3. Rheumatism, Diseaseas of Nutrition,
Endocrine Glands and other general
Diseases and Avitaminoses .......................... 35.96 14.86
4. Diseases of the Blood and Blood-
forming Organs ................................................ 8.33 4.18
5. Chronic Poisoning and Intoxication .............. 1.75 .72
6. Diseases of the Nervous System and
Sense Organs .............................................. 105.39 57.14
7. Diseases of the Circulatory System ......... 351.27 167.96
8. Diseases of the Respiratory System .......... 61.88 45.31
9. Diseases of the Digestive System .............. 52.53 18.32
10. Diseases of the Genito-Urinary System .... 81.10 13.71
11. Diseases of Pregnancy, Childbirth,
and the Puerperium ........................................... 4.53 3.03
12. Diseases of the Skin and Cellular Tissue ...... .85 .43
13. Diseases of the Bones and Organs of
Movement ............................................................ .71 .29
14. Congenital Malformations .......................... 13.03 .87
15. Diseases Peculiar to the First Year of
Life ................................................................... 39.53 21.36
16. Senility (Old Age) ......................................... 8.07 77.20
17. Violent or Accidental Deaths ...................... 87.45 72.29
18. Ill-Defined and Unknown Causes ................. 9.04 66.09
Total per 100,000 population ........................ 1063.92 636.34
Death rate per 1,000 population ....................... 10.63 6.36
Note 1 - These figures include only those of the white race - no Negroes or other race.
Note 2 - Church figures computed from Form "E," "Transcript of Record of Members - 1945" Based on a Church population of record in Stakes totalling 693,054 members.
Note 3 - U. S. Figures computed from "Vital Statistics of the U. S. - 1943" Part I, U. S. Dept. of Commerce, Bureau of Census. Total Estimated white population of 120,278,980 as of July 1943. (Last Gov. estimated census figures available.)
Note 4 - These figures do not include any persons killed or missing in action in World War II.
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