Nobody really likes to talk about their underwear, and Mormons probably have better reason than most to be reticent. They don't even call it "underwear." The term they prefer is "garments," which is taken from the King James Bible, and gives these scraps of white cloth a formal name to go along with the vaguely talismanic character they hold in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They don't look like anything special: a white T-shirt and boxer briefs, slightly longer than average, distinctive in nothing much but their color and the fact that all adult, devout Mormons, men and women, wear them.
Mormons don't use the word "underwear" to talk about their garments, and they certainly don't use the word "magic," or really believe that garments have any special powers to stop bullets or keep them from getting sick or serve as a sort of nylon-and-cotton flame retardant. There are stories of some of these things, like there are stories of the relics of Catholic saints curing epilepsy or blindness, but to most Mormons these are faith-promoting rumors, evocative but archaic folklore. The garments are a sign of devotion, a marker of faith, to be respected for the same reasons that it's considered rude to burn a Koran, but hardly mystical.
When confronted with raised eyebrows, Mormons often point to Jewish yarmulkes and tzitzit, or the communion dresses of Catholic children, or the turbans of Sikhs and collars of some Christian clergy. Sacred clothing is hardly an innovation Joseph Smith came up with, and surely mockery of a yarmulke or a Sikh turban would be horrifying and verboten in most of the tolerant Western world, even in the genealogically Protestant United States, where "religion" is supposed to be something that you believe, not something that you wear, and sacred clothing seems strange and exotic. But, of course, Mormon garments are underwear. In the determinedly public world of modern America underwear is rather less dignified - and more chuckle-inducing - than something you put on your head.
Mormons know this. Many of them find the garments as awkward as any other American might. They are manufactured by the church, and particularly for women, wearing them can be a chore: the cut might be slightly off, or the bottoms baggy, or the collar chafing. And, of course, garments mean that wearing a sleeveless dress flashes your underwear to the world, which is frustrating in Texas or Arizona. In the past forty years or so, covering the garments has become a marker of modesty for Mormons, particularly women, and sleeves are therefore essential. Combine that with the scoop neck garment shirt that many older Mormon men still wear, and you can usually pick out Mormons on vacation in Florida.
That is, in part, the point. When Bill Clinton fielded questions about his boxer shorts on MTV in 1992, there were lamentations for the American dignity the brash young candidate and his audience of chortling teenagers had flushed down the toilet. Mormons, unlike Bill Clinton, don't want to talk about their underwear. They are given their first pair of garments in young adulthood, after they participate in the endowment ceremony, a sacrament comparable to Catholic First Communion. This ceremony takes place in the temple, which is closed to non-Mormons, and Mormons are told not to speak too much about it outside the temple. The garments themselves are a token of that ceremony, and the fact that they are undergarments, worn beneath clothes, is a reminder of its private intimacy.
The endowment is a sacred drama depicting the fall of Adam and Eve from God and the Garden of Eden and their eventual return to heaven. Along the way, Mormons are periodically told to view those first parents as models for themselves. The word "garment" derives from Genesis 3:24, in which the narrator tells us that God, having just cast his children from the Garden of Eden, clothed them in a "garment of skins" before sending them into the bleak and painful world. This, then, is what the garments mean for Mormons: they can be bunchy and uncomfortable, and they remind both Mormons and everybody else that these people are of a different faith; many young Mormons have felt a moment of panic in the locker room. But the clothing reminds them always of their faith that God offers care, and that this land east of Eden might be less alien than it appears.
Click through the slideshow to see most and least Mormon states in the United States:
Carr Harkrader: Saint Pauli Murray
Daniel C. Maguire: The Loneliness of the Truth Teller
Temple garment - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Mormon Curtain - MORMON GARMENTS
A Brief Guide To "Mormon Underwear"
The new garment guidelines - Mormons are not happy and are ...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96g5kzPcuVg
From a 50 year former Church Member
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7kFfipZ1qU&feature=relmfu
The downfall of this country is due to the intolerance, incivility, rudeness, and close-mindedness people show to others.
I also enjoy the hypocrisy that is flung all over through the comments on articles like this, religion is a very debated topic, but the way that non-religious or anti-church people come out against things such as this is interesting to me. Christians have to accept homosexuality, but others do not have to accept or try to understand religious activities or symbols. I cannot say that gay marriage is unacceptable, but hundreds on this post can make fun of or disregard a persons choice to accept a doctrine or believe in a God. And that is some how OK, or not relevant.
I have only read a few comments on the comment board, but the ones I have read bring to mind ignorance and misunderstanding. I find it unusual the way people want to pick apart religious traditions and in many cases openly make fun of them. It's notable how many people I have met in my life that are surprised by how "normal" I am (yet also a Mormon!). I hope I never make a comment that makes someone feel misunderstood because of their religious beliefs and traditions. As I look at various religions and religious practices of people of other faiths, I can't imagine talking about them in the disrespectful and ignorant way people are commenting on this board. But I can take it for what it is and try to laugh about it or not worry much about it.
"Do you really think it is unusual for folks to take stock in ficticous works such as the BOM and testimony about salamanders turned into toads with devine knowledge?"
As you know, the "salamander" story is a 20th century forgery that has nothing to do with Mormon origins. As you also know, E. D. Howe's "toad" story is equally bogus; it's just older.
But bogus is how you like your stories, isn't it?
The Joseph Smith Nativity Scene.
Now thats Majik!
http://www.mrm.org/praise-to-the-man
"We are the beneficiaries of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ, a work which had its earthly commencement with the birth of Joseph Smith, in the hills of Vermont on a December day in 1805. As we commemorate the birth of the baby in Bethlehem, the Savior of the world, may we also remember his messenger, Joseph Smith, and rejoice in his life and sacrifice."
http://www.mrm.org/praise-to-the-man
:-D
Salvation not through Jesus Christ, but Joseph Smith
"If we get our salvation, we shall have to pass by him [Joseph Smith]; if we enter our glory, it will be through the authority he has received. We cannot get around him [Joseph Smith]"
- Apostle George Q. Cannon, as quoted in 1988 Melchizedek Priesthood Study Guide, p. 142
"No man or woman in this dispensation will ever enter into the celestial kingdom of God without the consent of Joseph Smith...every man and woman must have the certificate of Joseph Smith, junior, as a passport to their entrance into the mansion where God and Christ are... [Joseph Smith] reigns there as supreme a being in his sphere, capacity, and calling, as God does in heaven. Many will exclaim—"Oh, that is very disagreeable! It is preposterous! We cannot bear the thought!" But it is true."
- Prophet Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, vol. 7, p.289-91
[There is] "no salvation without accepting Joseph Smith. If Joseph Smith was verily a prophet, and if he told the truth...no man can reject that testimony without incurring the most dreadful consequences, for he cannot enter the kingdom of God"
- Prophet Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, vol. 1, p.190
http://wonderwitch.blogspot.com/2007/11/mormons-worship-joseph-smith-more-than.html
Satans brother or the one that created the earth?
But of course, as anyone who has ever laid eyes on an actual "Nativity Scene" can tell, that mockup of a 19th century house interior isn't one. Even Arcanum herself ultimately admitted that rather non-controversial fact.
How about you, Pines? Can you see a baby? A mother? Shepherds? Magi? Lambs? Oxen? Asses?
Apart from those who insist, against the evidence, that there is a "nativity scene" in that picture, that is....
"After presenting our "temple recommends" (passes), we immediately were shunted into separate dressing areas – I went to a Washing and Anointing area. After removing all my clothing, my naked body was covered in a thin, white, poncho/sheet called a "shield."
Nudity in religious ceremony was not new to me. In fact, the shield was identical to the one I had worn when going through my initiation into the witchcraft Melchizedek Priesthood in Zion State Park outside Chicago. The only difference was that the shield I’d worn in witchcraft was black. (1) I’d been taught that the lower degrees of witchcraft wore black, but the highest degrees wore white. In fact, we used the term "The Great White brotherhood," to refer to high-level Magi. (2) Since I knew that this was to be a very high initiation, I expected the color to be white. "
Why is that, Pines? What are you hiding?
Did you get it from Bill Schoebolen? Because he's a notorious charlatan. Just so you know.
And modern "witchcraft" ceremonies pose as old, but they're actually very recent. Considerably more recent than ours, in fact.
More than a few Mormons claim they were horribly burned in fires on most of their bodies EXCEPT where their garments were covering their skin.
If the garments were really supposed to be just a simple reminder to the wearer to "not sin" Mormons wouldn't need to tell these tall tales repeatedly from the pulpit and elsewhere. I suppose the story about the garments simply being a 'reminder' is more palatable to Gentiles during Romney's run for POTUS though. In Mormonism there is always a 'good' reason to Lie For The Lord.
For those of us who find all religions guilty of magical thinking, the Mormon undergarments are a classic example.
your mind is severely impaired.