Monday, September 19, 2016

Buying non-LDS approved gifts for friends

Like we all know, serious LDS choose not to drink alcohol or use tobacco products. These products are forbidden by a chapter in  the scriptures. It is popularly known as the "Word of Wisdom". 

For many LDS, this is not really an issue. Some LDS don't have many close friends outside the church. The reason for this is two fold. One-people usually have friends that share their interests and values. This isn't an LDS thing, it's a life thing. No, that doesn't mean that we only have friends who share our values and interests, and yes, it's a generality, but that doesn't mean it's not generally correct. 

The second reason is that LDS communities tend to be a bit isolated from non-LDS communities. No, that isn't an insult it's just a statement of fact. It's also totally understandable. As the world gets more and more secular and in some cases even hostile to religion, religious people of all types will shrink from it. It's not a good thing for society or religion. Like it or not religions do a huge amount of good in the secular world, even if you don't agree with some of their social values. Study after study shows that religious people do more volunteering and donate more to charity than secular people. 

For those of us who are converts, we tend to have more friendships outside the church. These people don't always follow the same rules and make the same lifestyle choices as we do. For me that is no problem at all-after all if they don't expect me to live by their rules, how dare I expect them to live by mine. If my friends enjoy an expensive bottle of wine or a box of cigars, of course I'll buy it for them. They don't expect me to drink it or smoke them and they aren't forcing me to. 

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