Mitt Romney’s coffee ice cream binge from weeks earlier has been given the pass by the Mormon Church. Turns out the whole “caffeine is a no-no” thing was just a great big misunderstanding. The Latter Day Saints church have issued a clarification statement (online, no less) that says caffeine is a-okay – unless it’s hot tea or hot coffee. Via Washington Post:
On Wednesday (Aug. 29), the LDS church posted a statement on its website saying that “the church does not prohibit the use of caffeine” and that the faith’s health-code reference to “hot drinks” ‘’does not go beyond (tea and coffee).”
A day later, the website wording was slightly softened, saying only that “the church revelation spelling out health practices … does not mention the use of caffeine.”
This week’s clarification on caffeine “is long overdue,” said Matthew Jorgensen, a Mormon and longtime Mountain Dew drinker.
Jorgensen, who is doing a two-year research fellowship in Germany, grew up “in a devout Mormon household, in a small, devout Mormon town,” where his neighbors and church leaders viewed “drinking a Coca-Cola as so close to drinking coffee that it made your worthiness … questionable.”
That view was magnified when the late LDS church President Gordon B. Hinckley offhandedly told “60 Minutes” that Mormons avoid caffeine. Several earlier LDS leaders, including apostle Bruce R. McConkie, considered imbibing Coke as a violation of the “spirit” of the Word of Wisdom.
The official word from the top means that a Romney White House can be stocked with cold brew iced stubbies, Starbucks Mocha Frappuccinos, and gallons upon gallons of coffee ice cream. Espresso? No. Espresso affogato? Make Mitt’s a double scoop!
