LDS Garments: Why I Want Out of This Club

[KillerDog]

Based on a discussion thread recently at FMH, I'm not so sure that everybody is told to wear garments under their bras. Whatever ends up being a person's prevailing belief on this topic honestly seems to depend on whoever was the temple matron the day the individual received her endowment. Some people in the FMH discussion were told to definitely wear it under and others weren't told anything at all.

For something that reflect every day life as much as garment-wearing, you'd think there's be more uniformity in this regard.

Honestly, I think the preoccupation with the subject is the problem. I never had anyone tell me how or when to wear my underwear prior to my endowment. I don't need anyone to tell me how or when to wear my underwear now. Some people are really obsessed with this topic and constantly tell others what to do on the subject. I am just not interested in whether the Bishop/S.P./M.P./or G.A. think I should wear my underwear to play ball. For the record, I don't ever wear my garments to the beach, gym, track, or anywhere else I might want to take off my shirt.

[Mrs. Funk]

Well said. Moreover, you and Mrs. LA Ute are kindred spirits.

In an Anne of Green Gables kind of sense?

[LA Ute]

I'm pretty good about it, I think. I don't have any qualms answering the question, at any rate.

I think the extreme behavior and attitudes of some members and leaders is one of the reasons why we have to (1) read the TR interview questions exactly as written, and (2) read the "Wearing the Temple Garment" guidance to every interviewee. Too much whackyness. (Is that a word?)

[LA Ute]

In an Anne of Green Gables kind of sense?

Sorry, that's a chick book. I haven't read it.

[Uncle Ted]

Based on a discussion thread recently at FMH, I'm not so sure that everybody is told to wear garments under their bras. Whatever ends up being a person's prevailing belief on this topic honestly seems to depend on whoever was the temple matron the day the individual received her endowment. Some people in the FMH discussion were told to definitely wear it under and others weren't told anything at all.

My wife was told she could wear her bra under her garments by a temple matron. Being a [now former] TV reporter she always seems to ask a lot of questions. She also asked if they had something in more of a french cut for the bottoms too.

[Rosebud]

Based on a discussion thread recently at FMH, I'm not so sure that everybody is told to wear garments under their bras. Whatever ends up being a person's prevailing belief on this topic honestly seems to depend on whoever was the temple matron the day the individual received her endowment. Some people in the FMH discussion were told to definitely wear it under and others weren't told anything at all.

For something that reflect every day life as much as garment-wearing, you'd think there's be more uniformity in this regard.

Interesting. Well.... maybe a priesthood correlation committee will take care of it soon. I guess they're probably not too aware of the issue, though .

If they pick bra on the outside, all the inside wearers will be pissed. If they pick bra on the inside, they'll have to really take on the design problem 'cause wearing the garments over the bra makes the marks visible through T-shirts.

On another sort of related topic... the single, older women working in the temple may really be in need of some sort of correlated leadership. Seriously. I've had temple workers in the locker room chat with me about their beliefs in eternal polygamy and which of the famous married men in the church they're planning on becoming a plural wife to in the afterlife. It can be really creepy. I know they're disappointed 'cause they feel like they need to be married and all. I feel sad for them. But whispering their testimony of the marriage they'll get in the next world is a bit much. It's at times like these that it's easy to understand why a worldwide organization needs standards and rules everyone follows.

[Mrs. Funk]

Sorry, that's a chick book. I haven't read it.

Psssh. Anne rocks. (Though, incidentally, my book club opted to read Anne of Green Gables rather than some suggestion I and other made of The Interpreter of Maladies or The Name of the Rose because we have a few "tenderer" souls in the group. Anne is really a bit juvenile for a group that has four JDs and one doctoral student in modern English literature.)

I was just wondering why you think we're "kindred spirits." My thoughts about garments?

[LA Ute]

Psssh. Anne rocks. (Though, incidentally, my book club opted to read Anne of Green Gables rather than some suggestion I and other made of The Interpreter of Maladies or The Name of the Rose because we have a few "tenderer" souls in the group. Anne is really a bit juvenile for a group that has four JDs and one doctoral student in modern English literature.)

I was just wondering why you think we're "kindred spirits." My thoughts about garments?

Yes, as well as other things you have said. I think the two of you would get along famously.

[UtahDan]

Psssh. Anne rocks. (Though, incidentally, my book club opted to read Anne of Green Gables rather than some suggestion I and other made of The Interpreter of Maladies or The Name of the Rose because we have a few "tenderer" souls in the group. Anne is really a bit juvenile for a group that has four JDs and one doctoral student in modern English literature.)

I was just wondering why you think we're "kindred spirits." My thoughts about garments?

You bypassed Umberto Eco? Double ugh.

[Mrs. Funk]

Honestly, I think the preoccupation with the subject is the problem. I never had anyone tell me how or when to wear my underwear prior to my endowment. I don't need anyone to tell me how or when to wear my underwear now. Some people are really obsessed with this topic and constantly tell others what to do on the subject. I am just not interested in whether the Bishop/S.P./M.P./or G.A. think I should wear my underwear to play ball. For the record, I don't ever wear my garments to the beach, gym, track, or anywhere else I might want to take off my shirt.

To me, garment wearing is something that people can do "perfectly" like the temple recommend version of the Word of Wisdom (most people aren't living the Word of Wisdom as actually written) and the single-ear-piercing thing. Some people end up hanging their personal testimonies on their personal "perfect" observance of these things, and judge others as unrighteous or disobedient for not following it the way they do. These outward observances have very little to do with being a good person or one's personal relationship with Christ, but some people put a lot of stock in them.

[Mrs. Funk]

You bypassed Umberto Eco? Double ugh.

I weep for the future of our book club. Eco is one of my favorite authors. Because we have a few people who don't like to read "yucky things" or "things that make them uncomfortable" (the reason we didn't end up reading The Kite Runner), we end up reading books like Anne of Green Gables. The other suggestion proffered by one of the sensitive souls was the Chronicles of Narnia (a good read . . . when I was 10). Sigh.

[UtahDan]

I weep for the future of our book club. Eco is one of my favorite authors. Because we have a few people who don't like to read "yucky things" or "things that make them uncomfortable" (the reason we didn't end up reading The Kite Runner), we end up reading books like Anne of Green Gables. The other suggestion proffered by one of the sensitive souls was the Chronicles of Narnia (a good read . . . when I was 10). Sigh.

Cross the old testament off the list too, I suppose.

[Mrs. Funk]

Yes, as well as other things you have said. I think the two of you would get along famously.

You should get her to sign up for the board.

[beefytee]

Interesting. Well.... maybe a priesthood correlation committee will take care of it soon. I guess they're probably not too aware of the issue, though .

If they pick bra on the outside, all the inside wearers will be pissed. If they pick bra on the inside, they'll have to really take on the design problem 'cause wearing the garments over the bra makes the marks visible through T-shirts.

When my wife went through the temple for the first time, the matron was a former RS General President and she told her that either way worked.

[Pheidippides]

This sounds similar to the instruction that garments should never touch the floor. Some (like me) have been told this by parents, others by temple workers, and others have never heard that at all.

Yeah, I was told this but I don't believe it's authoritative. I do believe it's superstitious.

Agreed. It is really hard for me. It doesn't make me lose my testimony because it isn't a Gospel issue, it is a Church issue. I love the Gospel, but sometimes I feel squashed by the Church as an organization. Anyway, yeah, comment box would be cool. Hopefully by the time your and my girls get bigger they will have some kind of system for such concerns.

A very useful distinction that I often use to deal with my frequent moments of cognitive dissonance.

I think the extreme behavior and attitudes of some members and leaders is one of the reasons why we have to (1) read the TR interview questions exactly as written, and (2) read the "Wearing the Temple Garment" guidance to every interviewee. Too much whackyness. (Is that a word?)

And am I every thankful that they do this. Garment-wearing standards are officially (and in my view appropriately) very vague. This offers a great deal of latitude, once you eliminate the personal-opinions-presented-as-doctrine.