Caffeine is bad for you spiritually

[_Drifting]

I will have chocolate on some special occasions, but for the most part, no caffeine for me. Except for the few times I eat chocolate and my month long experiment, I am caffeine free.

Okay, thanks for clarifying.
I didn't mean just chocolate. Lots of items contain caffeine now, even over the counter medications can contain it.

[_Some Schmo]

I will have chocolate on some special occasions, but for the most part, no caffeine for me. Except for the few times I eat chocolate and my month long experiment, I am caffeine free.

Okay, thanks for clarifying.
I didn't mean just chocolate. Lots of items contain caffeine now, even over the counter medications can contain it.

Not to mention Coke, Pepsi, Mountain Dew, Barq's, etc etc.

[_Themis]

I have a hard time believing that caffeine in a heated liquid is worse for you either physical or spiritually than in a cold form. It would seem that tea and coffee share a single substance which logically appears to be the substance in which God does not want members to partake of. God may only give us simple rules such as not partaking of tea and coffee, but it very well may be our responsibility to learn how to live a higher law and gain greater spirituality.

The WoW never identifies caffeine and neither does the church. Coffee and tea also do share others substances. The real problem here is that God was never involved, and Joseph came up with the WoW from ideas of men at that time, which thought that hot temperatures were bad for the body. Later on when it was realized that hot drinks were not bad for you the church reinterpreted hot drinks to mean coffee and tea.

[_JAK]

CSA,

Is it your intention to remove all caffeine from your diet or just that which is involved in liquids? Because as I understand the Word of Wisdom and the modern Prophetic counsel on it, it only applies to Tea and Coffee, not caffeine per se.

I have a hard time believing that caffeine in a heated liquid is worse for you either physical or spiritually than in a cold form. It would seem that tea and coffee share a single substance which logically appears to be the substance in which God does not want members to partake of. God may only give us simple rules such as not partaking of tea and coffee, but it very well may be our responsibility to learn how to live a higher law and gain greater spirituality.

While you are discussing caffeine, I’m skeptical that at the time prohibition of coffee and tea was declared that it was based on any genuine information about caffeine. Although it may have been perceived that coffee and tea made people feel somewhat different, was caffeine as a specific identified?

If chocolate was not forbidden, then it was not caffeine which was being forbidden. Did/do "hot drinks" include hot apple cider? There is plenty of that available in late October. It can be a "hot drink" and it looks much like tea.

So just why, other than a God claim, was coffee and tea forbidden. Or, if it was merely a God commands it, then it was an unreasoned (irrational) “DO NOT.”

JAK

[_CSA]

While I will admit that there are some spiritually minded people who do partake of caffeinated beverages, I intend to prove that caffeine blocks a persons ability to feel the Holy Spirit in a much greater degree. I have seen this first-hand in people who have decided to give up caffeine and they feel and can describe a greater spiritual awareness than when they used caffeine.

I thought I would revisit this site and give an update to my experiment. I will first have to say that my original thoughts on this subject are incorrect. As many of you have pointed out spiritual awareness is difficult to measure or even define.

I have been conducting experiments with 8 individuals over the last 3 months. All were regular caffeine users or abusers. For the experiment half gave up caffeinated beverages for 3 months for the purpose of this experiment.

In interviewing and surveying the participants I did measure a greater level of self described perceived feelings of spirituality. The experiment included a dedication to improve one's spirituality. The one group raised their level of temple attendance, reading scriptures and prayer and the other the same, but removed caffeine from their diet's. (Some did experience headaches the first couple of weeks)

After 3 months each considered that they raised their level of spirituality and no real difference could be found between the two groups. But there was a very surprising result that came about from all of this which I attribute to the elimination of caffeine.

The big surprise in my opinion was not what they perceived as a heightened spirituality, but of what the Lord perceived. Some of the participants are in the same ward but out of the 8 they represent 4 wards. Three weeks ago two from the group of caffeine abstainers were called as a counselors in a Bishopric and just this morning another of the caffeine abstainers has been called to be a Bishop.

The caffeine drinkers have also been part of wards with recent changes to ward leadership (The entire stake have been undergoing ward leadership changes). While I do believe that all participants gained increased spirituality, it is the group who went the extra mile and followed the WoW more precisely that the Lord has recognized as most fit to attain leadership roles.

As for the caffeine drinking group, one member of that group has been called to be the Sunday School first counselor, so I guess a person can gain some increased spirituality if they try, even if they partake in drinking caffeinated soda.