Mormon Church peels back mystery of sacred undergarments

[cbayer]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/10/22/mormon-church-peels-back-mystery-of-sacred-undergarments/

By Lindsey Bever October 22 at 3:38 AM

For years, the Mormon Church’s undergarments have been mocked and misunderstood. Often referred to jokingly as “magic Mormon underwear,” the garb, which resembles a T-shirt and shorts, has been ridiculed on Broadway, referenced in political campaigns and exploited online for profit. That’s why the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) has come forward to explain one of its most sacred Mormon mysteries.

The church released a four-minute video on its Web site, comparing the white two-piece cotton “temple garments” to the priest’s cassock, nun’s habit, Jewish prayer shawl, Muslim’s skullcap and Buddhist monks’ saffron robes. It rejected the perception that the garments have protective powers. The term “magic underwear” is “not only inaccurate but also offensive,” the video said. “There is nothing magical or mystical about temple garments, and church members ask for the same degree of respect and sensitivity that would be afforded to any other faith by people of goodwill.”

The short video is part of a much larger effort by the Mormon Church to clear up common misconceptions about some of its more sensitive practices. In the past few years, the church has spoken out through its Web site about its former ban on black men in the lay clergy, its history of polygamy and false rumors its members were taught they would have their own planet to live on after death, the Associated Press reported.

“Because there is little or no accurate information on this subject on the Internet the church feels it important to provide this resource,” LDS Church spokesman Dale Jones said in statement Monday. “The wearing of religious clothing reflects commitment and devotion to God. Latter-day Saints seek the same respect and sensitivity regarding our sacred clothing as shown to those of other faiths who wear religious vestments.”

more at link

[rug]

1. That's a very well done video.

I hadn't heard of the group that put this out.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intellectual_Reserve

[cbayer]

3. I think it's in their best interest to drop the veil of secrecy.

It just makes them seem odd.

And they have normalized this to the extent that you can normalize special underwear.

[longship]

7. Temple underwear is still very odd.

How can it ever be normalized?

However, I give them kudos for at least attempting.

Then, there's the rest of their strange beliefs. Starting with them being a religion began by a known fraud.

I am always polite when Mormons knock on my door, which they occasionally do (always in male pairs, always dressed alike, like the Bobsie Twins). But I am not especially endeared by the Mormon church. I feel ridicule is appropriate. Temple garments will always be magic underwear to me. Why else would they all have to wear them?

[cbayer]

10. It probably can't be normalized, but maybe somewhat neustalized.

I find other kinds of religious garb mystifying at times, but not weird, if you know what I mean.

I find Mormonism an odd thing. I have met and worked with Mormons who I have found to be totally upstanding and wonderful people. On the other hand, I have read the Book of Mormon and did find it really strange in ways. FWIW, I once posted about reading that book out loud on a road trip and getting some laughs out of it, something that I still take a lot of heat for. Of course, I think I could say the sky is blue today and some would find a way to twist it into something really horrible, lol.

If you ever get a chance to see The Book of Mormon (the musical), do to pass it up. It is both hilarious and very moving. As usual, I think the South Park guys really got this right - not all bad and not all good, and great material for a tragedy/comedy.

[okasha]

14. Even Mormons sometimes laugh

Last edited Fri Oct 24, 2014, 09:29 PM - Edit history (1)

at The Book of Mormon, just as other Christisns sometimes laugh at certain psssages in the Bible.

[cbayer]

17. I know. I happened to sit next to a Mormon couple

when I saw The Book of Mormon and they laughed at least as hard as everyone else there.

Finding humor is not the same as attacking, despite what some people here would have you believe.

Of all the memes that have arisen from my mere existence, the one about me and my husband having a good time reading the book of mormon during a road trip through Utah is clearly one of the funniest.

[okasha]

19. A Mormon friend

jokes about the actual Book at times. While she believes that the Book contains revelation, she also finds Joseph Smith's stilted faux-King James style hilarious, especially long sequences of verses all beginning with "And it came to pass that...."

[cbayer]

20. See, that's the thing. The mormons that I know and have known have

had great senses of humor.

Although I have a lot of trouble understanding their religion and strongly object to some of their beliefs about women and GLBT people, as individuals I find it hard to judge them critically.

Book of Mormon, the musical, hit this ambivalent point very accurately. It had the audience both amused by and respectful of the mormon characters.

[OregonBlue]

2. I'm sorry but having to wear "special" underwear all the time is weird.

there are sacred garments which are worn for temple ceremonies but the garment or special underwear is worn at all times, both day and night, from then on. It serves as a constant reminder of the covenants made during the temple endowment. These are not special underclothes made for church, these are every day, all the time, really dorky undergarments.

They are racists who spurn blacks and they do believe that men, not everyone but only men, will inherit a planet of their own where they will be served eternally by the women they take as wives and by any other women they have involved in their lives.

[cbayer]

4. It is quite foreign to me, but it seems harmless enough.

They stopped spurning blacks a while ago, but their attitude towards women is still very troublesome. There are some very active feminist mormons who are trying to change things form the inside.

[OregonBlue]

13. They stopped spurning black a while ago? Have you ever seen blacks leaving a temple on Sunday

because I sure haven't. They give lip service to it only. As far as women go, they believe that we were put on this earth so serve their needs and to help populate their new male planets along with other wives and daughters. This is truly a snow-job someone is doing. It's just not true.

[cbayer]

16. I have met a few black mormons, but only a few.

The issues with women are much more profound at this time, I agree. There is a growing movement of women within the church, but they are facing some very significant consequences, including a recent excommunication.

Perhaps they will someday change their official position, as they did for blacks, and that is at least a start.

I really don't want to be in the position of defending the Mormon church, but I am somewhat ambivalent. I have worked closely with some mormons that I not only really liked, but highly respected.

[Warren Stupidity]

21. As far as I can tell LDS changed its policy

On blacks because the Romney family had presidential ambitions.

That would be twice that the Mormon deity did a 180 for political expediency.

[OregonBlue]

22. You are correct. They have changed what they say, not what they do. They still believe that woman

was created to serve man and fulfill his needs and that black people are of the devil. They can try to spin it any way they want but what they say and what they do are entirely different things.

[TlalocW]

5. I have a pair

A friend of mine visited Salt Lake City and was able to buy me a pair without showing a Mormon ID card (I don't know if she was serious that you have to do that to get a pair) because she said she looked Mormon enough. I got them for Christmas. I didn't care for the shorts, but the t-shirt was one of the most comfortable ones I've ever had.

We joked that I should hang out Saturday mornings wearing the shirt and shorts, and if any Mormon kids rang my bell, I would answer holding a beer in one hand and a Playboy in the other while exclaiming, "Well, it does my heart good to see my fellow Mormons out on this day!"

TlalocW

[cbayer]

11. I don't think I've ever heard from someone that actually wore

a pair of these. Glad to hear that at least the shirt comfortable.

[newfie11]

6. Live and let live

I've friends that are Mormon and knew about the underwear.
There's "different" things in all religions.
Doesn't bother me!

[cbayer]

12. I feel the same for the most part.

I was much more disturbed by the secrecy than the actual underwear. I think demystifying them was a good idea on their part.

[newfie11]

15. It always helps if people know more about something

The mysteries, lies, and tall tails can give people a totally different idea from the truth.

[cbayer]

18. I agree and I hope this is the truth.

I tend to think it is. More than anything, I think mormons want to be considered mainstream. Of course, they have made some progress in this area as we had a true mormon presidential candidate before we have had a woman or a GLBT person or a native american or a latino.

[trotsky]

8. I'm just glad that Mormonism is one religion it's approved to laugh at.

Since you admitted that you do it.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1218&pid=136850

[AtheistCrusader]

9. "There is nothing magical or mystical about the temple." Fixed that for you.

I've seen the secret video of the interior of their temple, the rituals, etc.

As far as I can tell, the Mormon Church is, basically, the giant vacuum cleaner spaceship from SpaceBalls, firmly attached to millions of people's wallets.

You paid all that money, you tithed through a church AUDITOR, etc... That's fuckin' nuts. And you get the handshake through a plain old, cheap assed curtain as a reward? And you accept that? Holy shit.

Mormonism helped me understand Scientology. It's just a little bit older than 'ol L-Ron.