David O. McKay and the Rise of Modern Mormonism by Gregory A. Prince

Prince describes a situation where President McKay actually requested Coke. We all know the admonition to “avoid the appearance of evil”, yet President McKay was more liberal than some on the subject of Coke. But it appears that President David O McKay was a bit more liberal on some of these Word of Wisdom issues. I find it an odd situation, and I don’t have much to say when these non-LDS people rant about banning caffeine on campus. So, Coke and Pepsi are sold on campus, but without caffeine. (I took one of those red-eye flights just this weekend, and drank some cheap cola to keep me awake.) Often these guys fly in on red-eye flights, and a boost of caffeine is very helpful to keeping them alert during football and basketball broadcasts. I work for a few large national cable tv networks, and when they come to BYU, they often rant that they can’t find a good cup of coffee in Provo, and they are especially perplexed by the soft drink restrictions.

Prince tells some interesting stories about President McKay and the Word of Wisdom.īYU has banned caffeinated soft drinks on campus for years. Princes's event with Benchmark Books: Click here for a link to purchase the audio book.I just started reading Greg Prince’s book, David O McKay and the Rise of Modern Mormonism. In 2015, when the Supreme Court made marriage equality the law of the land, the Mormon Church turned its attention inward, declaring same-sex couples “apostates” and denying their children access to key Mormon rites of passage, including the blessing (christening) of infants and the baptism of children. That involvement reached a peak in 2008 during California’s fight over Proposition 8, which many came to call the “Mormon Proposition.”

Initially that principally involved only its own members, but with its entry into the Hawaiian political arena, the church signaled an intent to shape the outcome of the marriage equality battle. Gregory Prince draws from over 50,000 pages of public records, private documents, and interview transcripts to capture the past half-century of the Mormon Church’s attitudes on homosexuality.

Since then, the church has been a significant player in the ongoing saga of LGBT rights within the United States and at times has carried decisive political clout.

The Mormon Church entered the public square on LGBT issues by joining forces with traditional-marriage proponents in Hawaii in 1993.

David O. McKay and the Rise of Modern Mormonism by Gregory A. Prince