Will there be a BYU Manila and BYU Sao Paulo? The third world country membership is starved for good educational opportunities.

The Church does operate schools in other countries. A couple I’ve read about in Church publications are in Tonga and in (oh shoot I wish I could remember more specifically) South America somewhere. A member of my ward served at the Tonga school.

leave local US politics out of the messages. Who cares if Hinkley [sic] supported the recent attack on Iraq…?

Is there something showing that he did support the attack?

With respect to the Word of Wisdom, I think any question on a temple recommend can fairly safely be considered a core belief. And perhaps this is the best guide as to what should constitute the worldwide, universal doctrine of the Church. I enjoyed participating in Boy Scouts and I have pioneer ancestors, but they don’t really matter to the central tenets of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

It works for me, and seemingly might appeal to all of you. Since none of you can reach a consensus on any complete understanding of the faith.

The word of wisdom never was observed as a commandment in the church until the Heber J. Grant administration. Prior to that, it was exactly what the scriptures says it is: advice, that is adaptable to each individual’s personal situations (see D&C 89:2-3). Not only that, but the present official and temple-worthy interpretation of it completely ignores certain aspects of the WoW, such as the admonition to not eat much meat (vv. 12-13) and the WoW explicitly recommends barley-based “mild drinks” in v. 17 (that would be suggesting beer, for the barley-challenged).

The commandment status of the WoW is very new (only in the last 60 years) and completely ignores the entire intent of the revelation as it was given to Joseph Smith.

Why should we be demanding that Chinese and other oriental converts give up their tea to become a follower of Christ? I do not think Jesus cares if Chinese saints drink tea. This is just one example, of course.