By: Dan Thieme
I remember as a youth growing up in the Church hearing many lessons about the Word of Wisdom. Inevitably, these lessons would emphasize that Joseph Smith surely was prophet, for how could he know at the time he lived in to write a document about health, teaching us to avoid alcohol and tobacco, which would save us from the ills of these substances which were so harmful to our physical bodies. I was amazed. I also hardly even noticed, or cared to notice, the other counsel that appears in that section of scripture: That is, what we should eat and not eat. I was never really taught that eating meat sparingly was part of the Word of Wisdom, and if we wanted to please Him, meaning the Lord (who wouldn’t!) that we should eat meat not at all. Has that phrase really been in there all these years? How many lessons and discussions over the years have I heard about the Word of Wisdom, and yet not one of those spoke of that second phrase?
And besides, who would be conspiring to make me eat meat? After all, protein is good for me right? Mom always told me to eat my vegetables, but she never had to tell me to eat my meat. Somehow I seemed to have an innate desire to eat that stuff—it came naturally to a growing boy, and eating lots of meat even seemed to be part of becoming a man. As men, we barbecue, we shoot or catch our own food with our own hands, bring it home and prepare it. Very manly. It seemed a natural part of the old ways that society was forgetting. What could be more healthy? What could be more social? At every family gathering we surrounded a table of the best meat, both from the land and the sea: prime roast, juicy steaks, good old hamburgers, or crab, shrimp, and fish. But even pork, and chicken and other meats are so wonderful!
As I grew, I became more manly and more carnivorous. I ground my own meat, smoked and barbecued that meat, refined my barbecue sauce recipe to perfection and had the best pork ribs you could find anywhere. I knew bacon was not good for me, so I only ate it occasionally. I worked out five times a week, ate lots of yogurt for the probiotics, and ate what I considered a healthy diet—whole wheat bread and lots of fruits and vegetables to go with my manly animal protein. With my health profession education and background as an optometrist, I thought I had a decent handle on what I should be eating, and what I should be avoiding.