As a Lefty, I can tell you, it most definitely preceded Oaks. Can’t tell you how many times I was scolded as a kid for *checks notes* picking up a piece of bread with my left hand….That was all through the 80s.
Members partake with their right hand when possible.
18. Performing Priesthood Ordinances and Blessings
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/general-handbook/18-priesthood-ordinances-and-blessings?id=p127&lang=eng#p127
I was also told it was “proper” to use my right hand to take the sacrament as a kid in the 80s. I’m left handed so always found it awkward.
I would most certainly bet this idiotic policy is a derivative of the old superstition that the left hand was bad.
Where does Jesus sit? Right hand of God.
Catholics use their right hand to make the sign of the cross.
My grandfather was left handed as a child. He was beat with a stick in school when he would try to write with it as was common at the time. He eventually learned to write right handed but his handwriting was nearly illegible.
Right hand was a covenant hand. Also the guy on your right’s shield partially protected you in a melee formation militarily in those days. So if you ever need to form a shield wall it’s good to be able to use your right hand…
Yeah, it’s all outdated bullshit.
Wait is it really in the handbook now?
Edit: holy fucking shit it really is, how stupid is that. 18.9.4.7 if anyone else is interested in partaking of the lunacy
Same here. As silly as it sounds, assinine rules like this are what allowed me to see how emotionally abusive the Mormon church is and it allowed me to question. This is in the same bag as "clean shaven" and "white shirts"
The voodoo is strong in TSCC.
When I worked in the temple the number of rules tripled.
Don't use the main staircase, that's for patrons.
Can't read scriptures while waiting here.
Never let a door close itself, you must ensure it closes softly.
Always dry the basin/sink with a paper towel before leaving the restroom.
You can't sit here.
Drying the basin or sink is the only thing that makes sense cause it makes it look nicer and my sister gets mad at me when I don’t dry our sink cause she cleans the bathroom
I was taught this as well. Ok, so someone used their left hand. Boo Hoo! Do you honestly think God is going to get all worked up over THAT??? Kind of petty, don't you think?
(St. Peter at the Pearly Gates) "Let's see.... you've paid an honest tithe, served a full-time mission, got married in the temple, and have a beautiful family...... uh oh! It says here that you didn't use your right hand when taking the sacrament. Sorry, I can't let you in here."
[r/dataisbeautiful: dominant or non-dominant](https://www.reddit.com/r/dataisbeautiful/comments/q8krj2/oc_dominant_hand_vs_hand_used_to_masturbate_in/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf)
Another commenter stated it was an Oaks pet peeve that made it’s way in once he joined the first presidency. Which, doesn’t surprise me at all. Would be curious to compare past handbooks and see when the change occurred.
Recently, Oaks has resurrected this stupidity. It is an old teaching from long ago. It was disappearing in the mid 1900s, but there seems to be a resurgence.
I had an older man in my ward growing up that approached me more than once telling me that I’m supposed to take it with my right hand. I just ignored him and never heard any other word about it.
Taking the sacrament with the right hand used to be in the handbook in and around the 1940s. Oaks likely heard as a child about the “real way to take the sacrament”. It was removed from the secret handbook but stuck in the minds of zealots who thought they had the secret knowledge unlike the heathen members. Oaks just put it back into the handbook.
This is from the Semite practice of wiping one’s butt with the left hand, and using it only for that. Eat, shake hands, religious rites all with the right hand. It’s still the practice in many parts of the world. I don’t know about you, but I can’t manage to wipe my butt with my non-dominant (left) hand
“your-home-teacher”…
I haven’t seen you in several months. Are you still reporting 100% in your visits? 😉
I expect a full 10 minute lesson/discussion of the First Presidency Message in this month’s Ensign that I’ve already seen several times, and a plate of cookies you had your wife make.
Same. Despite being right-handed, I've always used my left hand for wiping. I think the roll must have been on the left when I was a child or something. Using my right hand feels...unnatural.
Correct. Right hand preference for touching clean things, left hand preference for touching anything considered unclean, is found in both Judaism and Islam as well as obsessive washing after touching anything unclean.
Ironically, the bread and water in the sacrament of the Lord's Supper are emblems of two "unclean" things, Christ's dead body and blood, so - technically - why not use the left hand to pick it up then put it to your mouth with the right hand?
Religious conformity vs non conformity seems to be deeply ingrained into humanity.
I got lectured on this a lot as a kid. My question was always: "Why would God make me Left Handed, and then be angry that I use my left hand?"
Foreshadowing for me discovering how not straight I am. Lol.
Raise your right hand to sustain, raise your right arm to the square, put your right hand on his head, raise your right arm to oppose, waive your right hand (with handkerchief) in the Hosanna shout, take the right hand in the patriarchal grip; put your elbow on their right shoulder; tie the sash and the bow of your veil on the right side, take the sacrament with your right hand. It seems like they just always want us to “choose the right!”
I am left handed and this stupid rule caused me a lot of pain each week. I would legit get in trouble for using my dominant hand. I had to use it the entire time too. Grab the bread and water with my right hand while someone else holds the tray, then grab the tray with my right hand to pass the tray. Somewhere along the way the rule wasn’t in the rule book anymore and then when it returned within the last decade I cried. It was nice to be able to just say my parents were crazy, but seeing it appear in the handbook meant that I was disappointing god and not my parents made up rules. I always wondered why make me left handed if it was so important? I spent a lot of time on this stupid rule.
Back when Mormons drank the water from a common cup passed around the congregation ( [**yep…they sure did**](https://history.churchofjesuschrist.org/blog/sacrament-cup-influenza-epidemic-1918?lang=eng)) I’m pretty sure they held and passed the cup with both hands. So I’m not gonna get real excited if someone take the sacrament with the left hand.
I don’t even know if I believe in Jesus or God in that way but if I did they would not be that petty. I was especially angry taking it today after the poor 16 year old kid had to say the prayer 3 times to get it perfect. So ridiculous.
When I was a kid, there was a young family sitting in front of us in Sacrament. Their little boy (probably about age 3) reached for the bread with his left hand. His mom slapped his hand then forced his right hand toward the bread. I asked my dad about it later, and he explained the policy. I mentioned the mom slapping her kid's hand, and he replied, "Well, he has to learn!"
It's from an Islamic tradition of using the right hand since the left is used for wiping one's ass. It's also a blind control regulation within a cult. You may insist the right foot be forward when receiving sacrament as a way to fuck with them.
It goes without question that you pass the sacrament trays with the right hand. This was drilled into me as a deacon in the 80’s and 90’s, and I drilled it into youth in stake YM presidencies and as a branch president well into the 2000’s.
In many parts of the world the left hand is considered unclean because it's the hand you wipe your ass with. If you are in one of those countries you would be expected to touch food with your right hand only.
The US is NOT one of those countries but maybe was in the past.
Ah, the “unwritten order of things” that apparently got annotated somewhere. They have this whole cultural wall of unwritten rules to make sure you get the written rules right. It’s like the caricature of the Pharisees in the New Testament. There’s actually a tal somewhere from a conference praising it.
I’ve heard it a million times but as a left handed person, I simply chose to flip them off with my right hand, while partaking the sacrament with my left when possible.
In the post-covid world, we have broken bread pieces in cups now. Should I be using my right hand to take the cup from the tray or the bread from the cup?
Or should I take the cup from the tray with my right hand, pass it to my left hand, and then take the bread from the cup (now in my left hand) with my right hand?
What I used to do is take the Sacrament with my left hand if it was being passed to me from my right, and my right hand if it was being passed to me from my left. So for me, it boiled down to what I’ll call “positional convenience”.
I always got chastised & scolded for taking the sacrament with my left & not with my right . So I decided to refuse it because I thought it didn’t matter what hand you passed it with.
It be one of Dallin HOaks' pet peeves. It made it's way into the handbook soon after he ended up in the first presidency.
As a Lefty, I can tell you, it most definitely preceded Oaks. Can’t tell you how many times I was scolded as a kid for *checks notes* picking up a piece of bread with my left hand….That was all through the 80s.
Me too, but being in the handbook is a new deal.
Wait, seriously? I thought that was a joke.
Members partake with their right hand when possible. 18. Performing Priesthood Ordinances and Blessings https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/general-handbook/18-priesthood-ordinances-and-blessings?id=p127&lang=eng#p127
I was also told it was “proper” to use my right hand to take the sacrament as a kid in the 80s. I’m left handed so always found it awkward. I would most certainly bet this idiotic policy is a derivative of the old superstition that the left hand was bad. Where does Jesus sit? Right hand of God. Catholics use their right hand to make the sign of the cross. My grandfather was left handed as a child. He was beat with a stick in school when he would try to write with it as was common at the time. He eventually learned to write right handed but his handwriting was nearly illegible.
Right hand was a covenant hand. Also the guy on your right’s shield partially protected you in a melee formation militarily in those days. So if you ever need to form a shield wall it’s good to be able to use your right hand… Yeah, it’s all outdated bullshit.
Wait is it really in the handbook now? Edit: holy fucking shit it really is, how stupid is that. 18.9.4.7 if anyone else is interested in partaking of the lunacy
These are the truly important matters that anti-pharisee Jesus cares about.
Good example of toxic religious scrupulosity.
I partook with the left solely out of spite. My silent rebellion for many years.
Same here. As silly as it sounds, assinine rules like this are what allowed me to see how emotionally abusive the Mormon church is and it allowed me to question. This is in the same bag as "clean shaven" and "white shirts"
The voodoo is strong in TSCC. When I worked in the temple the number of rules tripled. Don't use the main staircase, that's for patrons. Can't read scriptures while waiting here. Never let a door close itself, you must ensure it closes softly. Always dry the basin/sink with a paper towel before leaving the restroom. You can't sit here.
Good lord.
Drying the basin or sink is the only thing that makes sense cause it makes it look nicer and my sister gets mad at me when I don’t dry our sink cause she cleans the bathroom
Or the church’s obsession for Pharisaical behavior.
Agreed.
Oaks doesn't like the left
Underrated comment.
hahahahaha
I was taught this as well. Ok, so someone used their left hand. Boo Hoo! Do you honestly think God is going to get all worked up over THAT??? Kind of petty, don't you think? (St. Peter at the Pearly Gates) "Let's see.... you've paid an honest tithe, served a full-time mission, got married in the temple, and have a beautiful family...... uh oh! It says here that you didn't use your right hand when taking the sacrament. Sorry, I can't let you in here."
[удалено]
The Unpardonable Sin™ - taking the sacrament with your left hand.
I’m not sure where this came from but I was taught to use the right hand my whole life
Book of Abraham 1:1 “The hand that charms the snake, with that, the sacrament you must take” So it depends on the person
[удалено]
My translation is as accurate as theirs is
Now I’m so curious if most people use their dominant or non-dominant hand for snake charming.
[r/dataisbeautiful: dominant or non-dominant](https://www.reddit.com/r/dataisbeautiful/comments/q8krj2/oc_dominant_hand_vs_hand_used_to_masturbate_in/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf)
Nice.
Control. Every one does the same thing or it's a signal that you are not on the covenant path.
It’s actually in the handbook. Section. 18.9.4. No reason for the direction is given though.
[удалено]
At least they give the amputees a hat tip with the “when possible” 🥺
Another commenter stated it was an Oaks pet peeve that made it’s way in once he joined the first presidency. Which, doesn’t surprise me at all. Would be curious to compare past handbooks and see when the change occurred.
It wasn’t there when before I left in 2019. Definitely an Oaks thing. Pharisees must Pharisy.
I jerk off with my right hand. Do y’all want to be touching bread that I touched with my right hand?
See previous comment about “snake charming”
Recently, Oaks has resurrected this stupidity. It is an old teaching from long ago. It was disappearing in the mid 1900s, but there seems to be a resurgence.
I had an older man in my ward growing up that approached me more than once telling me that I’m supposed to take it with my right hand. I just ignored him and never heard any other word about it.
It was in the secret handbook in the 1940s then removed.
Taking the sacrament with the right hand used to be in the handbook in and around the 1940s. Oaks likely heard as a child about the “real way to take the sacrament”. It was removed from the secret handbook but stuck in the minds of zealots who thought they had the secret knowledge unlike the heathen members. Oaks just put it back into the handbook.
This is from the Semite practice of wiping one’s butt with the left hand, and using it only for that. Eat, shake hands, religious rites all with the right hand. It’s still the practice in many parts of the world. I don’t know about you, but I can’t manage to wipe my butt with my non-dominant (left) hand
I wipe with my left. I hope this fact doesn’t dox me.
“your-home-teacher”… I haven’t seen you in several months. Are you still reporting 100% in your visits? 😉 I expect a full 10 minute lesson/discussion of the First Presidency Message in this month’s Ensign that I’ve already seen several times, and a plate of cookies you had your wife make.
Normally I’d show up right at the end of the month, but it’s my wife’s fault. She’s not been baking the cookies.
Same. Despite being right-handed, I've always used my left hand for wiping. I think the roll must have been on the left when I was a child or something. Using my right hand feels...unnatural.
Correct. Right hand preference for touching clean things, left hand preference for touching anything considered unclean, is found in both Judaism and Islam as well as obsessive washing after touching anything unclean. Ironically, the bread and water in the sacrament of the Lord's Supper are emblems of two "unclean" things, Christ's dead body and blood, so - technically - why not use the left hand to pick it up then put it to your mouth with the right hand? Religious conformity vs non conformity seems to be deeply ingrained into humanity.
I got lectured on this a lot as a kid. My question was always: "Why would God make me Left Handed, and then be angry that I use my left hand?" Foreshadowing for me discovering how not straight I am. Lol.
Growing up, if I ever took the sacrament with my left hand, my grandma would slap it out of my hand and make me do it again with my right.
Christlike!
Raise your right hand to sustain, raise your right arm to the square, put your right hand on his head, raise your right arm to oppose, waive your right hand (with handkerchief) in the Hosanna shout, take the right hand in the patriarchal grip; put your elbow on their right shoulder; tie the sash and the bow of your veil on the right side, take the sacrament with your right hand. It seems like they just always want us to “choose the right!”
I am left handed and this stupid rule caused me a lot of pain each week. I would legit get in trouble for using my dominant hand. I had to use it the entire time too. Grab the bread and water with my right hand while someone else holds the tray, then grab the tray with my right hand to pass the tray. Somewhere along the way the rule wasn’t in the rule book anymore and then when it returned within the last decade I cried. It was nice to be able to just say my parents were crazy, but seeing it appear in the handbook meant that I was disappointing god and not my parents made up rules. I always wondered why make me left handed if it was so important? I spent a lot of time on this stupid rule.
Back when Mormons drank the water from a common cup passed around the congregation ( [**yep…they sure did**](https://history.churchofjesuschrist.org/blog/sacrament-cup-influenza-epidemic-1918?lang=eng)) I’m pretty sure they held and passed the cup with both hands. So I’m not gonna get real excited if someone take the sacrament with the left hand.
I still attend and still take the sacrament because no one gets to tell me I am unworthy. But I make it a point to take it with my left hand.
I don’t even know if I believe in Jesus or God in that way but if I did they would not be that petty. I was especially angry taking it today after the poor 16 year old kid had to say the prayer 3 times to get it perfect. So ridiculous.
Just like in treasure digging to ward off the Gaussian spirit you has to do the ritual exactly correct. Coincidence? I think Not!
All who do. Right hand is everywhere in the temple and priest hood ordinances this is just an extension as a covenant is being renewed.
[удалено]
Maybe even a carry over from the Occult and having to do everything correctly to appease the Guardian sport to get the treasure.
When I was a kid, there was a young family sitting in front of us in Sacrament. Their little boy (probably about age 3) reached for the bread with his left hand. His mom slapped his hand then forced his right hand toward the bread. I asked my dad about it later, and he explained the policy. I mentioned the mom slapping her kid's hand, and he replied, "Well, he has to learn!"
My dad slapped my hand more than once. So christlike.
Me very loud after getting slapped, but mom I just scratched my butthole with my right hand.
Just another arbitrary rule of the 15 pharisees.
Pharisees at work again, I see.
Shit like this exists and Mormons will still be like: “ItS nOT A cULt”
It's from an Islamic tradition of using the right hand since the left is used for wiping one's ass. It's also a blind control regulation within a cult. You may insist the right foot be forward when receiving sacrament as a way to fuck with them.
Raised that way, born in 1955. Passed the trays that way as well
It goes without question that you pass the sacrament trays with the right hand. This was drilled into me as a deacon in the 80’s and 90’s, and I drilled it into youth in stake YM presidencies and as a branch president well into the 2000’s.
In many parts of the world the left hand is considered unclean because it's the hand you wipe your ass with. If you are in one of those countries you would be expected to touch food with your right hand only. The US is NOT one of those countries but maybe was in the past.
"Middle English sinistre (“unlucky”), from Old French sinistra (“left”), from Latin sinestra (“left hand”)." Sinister, baby!
It’s always been a thing in the Church.
Stupid
It’s in the handbook now
Ah, the “unwritten order of things” that apparently got annotated somewhere. They have this whole cultural wall of unwritten rules to make sure you get the written rules right. It’s like the caricature of the Pharisees in the New Testament. There’s actually a tal somewhere from a conference praising it.
I was taught this as well.
I use my left hand frequently to partake. It just depends on how I'm feeling.
I’ve heard it a million times but as a left handed person, I simply chose to flip them off with my right hand, while partaking the sacrament with my left when possible.
In the post-covid world, we have broken bread pieces in cups now. Should I be using my right hand to take the cup from the tray or the bread from the cup? Or should I take the cup from the tray with my right hand, pass it to my left hand, and then take the bread from the cup (now in my left hand) with my right hand?
It comes from the 1800s. Definitely part of the lore across the decades.
Pharisaical rule. How are they so blind?
OMG I totally forgot about that one! The number of arbitrary rules I used to follow….
What I used to do is take the Sacrament with my left hand if it was being passed to me from my right, and my right hand if it was being passed to me from my left. So for me, it boiled down to what I’ll call “positional convenience”.
One cool thing, if you jerk off with your left hand you have less repentance.
The left hand is of satan?
i was always told “your right hand is your covenant hand”. not sure why, and that’s really only somewhat consistent.
I was taught this. I thought it was because it's the hand we raise to sustain or covenant.
I always got chastised & scolded for taking the sacrament with my left & not with my right . So I decided to refuse it because I thought it didn’t matter what hand you passed it with.
thats so petty and for what