Julie M. Smith posted a question over at T&S asking if there are any profession members of the Church just can?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢t do. It has garnered a number of responses thus far, most of which I disagree with. For example, the ones I disagree with include:
- Brewer
- Tobacconist
- Evolutionary scientist
- Gay-wedding planner
I’m not so sure that members of the Church can’t work in industries that promote breaking of the Word of Wisdom. So long as the individual is not drinking beer, why can s/he not work in a brewery? So long as the individual does not smoke the tobacco, why couldn’t s/he harvest it for the tobacco company. For that matter, what of the trucker who ships the products, the grocer who sells them or the manufacturer who creates their packaging?
So long as the person does not violate the Word of Wisdom, I see no reason for them not being able to hold jobs with such companies.
I, too, see no reason for a member of the Church not to be an evolutionary scientist since evolution is not against church teachings.
Nor do I see why a member of the Church cannot plan gay weddings.
I was talking with a friend who joked that all weddings are gay …
:)
I had the impression, though I could be wrong, that we have evolutionary scientist’s blogs. Maybe they are just fans, but I was giving them the benfit of the doubt, just because it’s not a subject of interest to me and therefore haven’t read them much.
As for the WoW jobs, Joseph Smith had a Pub in the Manor house in Nauvoo, he seemed to have no problem selling liquor to gentiles. Which had a friend of mine wondering why couldn’t we sell drugs? He was sincere, just ill-informed about actual state and federal law superseding Brother Joseph’s capitalism.
I didn’t read the T&S post, I take it pornographer was included?
The Thing with Joseph Smith is that the Word of Wisdom was something entirely different from what it is now.
I realize this is a very old post, but I just thought I would put in my two cents.
A woman in my ward growing up told us this story. They were strong members of the church and her husband was looking for work and got a job offer from a large tabacco company. He didn’t feel right about working for the tobacco company and turned it down. I believe they continued to pursue him as an employee and after much fasting and prayer he felt like he was supposed to take the job. He came down with a rare form of cancer and the benefits of that job continued to pay her and the children a severance of some sort so she didn’t work the entire time her children were growing up. They had three young children at the time of his death.
I just write this to say that I don’t think we can ever judge anyone for their profession and I do believe it is between the person and Heavenly Father as to what is right for them and their family.
When I was in Mesquite, NV, on my mission, I met dozens of people who worked at the local casinos. As the largest non-governmental employers in the city, it was inevitable some members of the church would work there.