Can LDS men have different hobbies than "typical" guys?
You bet we can.
There is a meme going around that shows a father and son working on a van. The meme says "Memories aren't made by playing Xbox with Dad". Upfront-this is not about those who post the meme, it's about the meme itself. That meme is totally wrong. My father and I have great memories of us playing video games together on a Commodore 64. Hours were spent talking about every topic under the sun in front of an old tv, a 1541 disk drive and the original Castle Wolfenstien. It is without question some of the best memories I have of childhood, for sure.
I've never heard a prophet say that in order to be a good priesthood holder, you have to have certain hobbies. You can enjoy comics, anime, video games, heavy metal-anything you want really and still give blessings and pass the sacrament. You don't have to enjoy home repair (I can barely change a light bulb), working on cars (I can barely pump gasoline), sports (I do love baseball) and scouting (The two weeks spent at a summer camp during childhood qualify as the worst two weeks of my life).
Several LDS men I've spoken to feel deficient or in some way "not equal" to those LDS whose interests aren't the same as ours. Some people wrongly think video games or anime are "childish". You are of course free to think that way-but they are very wrong. It's just a different hobby.
Oddly, what they may not realize is that having certain hobbies has nothing to do with what kind of priesthood holder you are. I've seen people who look very conservative and put on a show of holiness be the biggest hypocrite. Some of the most moral people I know have tattoos, go to comic conventions and are big Star Trek fans.
Your hobbies don't really mean anything. While it's true that you are what you do, that statement is more about how you treat people, your moral choices and not if you spend your time debating who has a better lightsaber technique.
This post is for priesthood holders, which in the LDS world are men only. My personal view is that woman should have the priesthood, but that's a totally different post.
What I'm curious about though-do LDS women feel like they have to act a certain way? Do they feel pressure if they don't have the same hobbies as their friends or families?
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