Well, and there’s been an interesting development in the way that garments are produced and distributed. For years, the making of one’s own garments is prohibited. From what I understand, in the mid-20th Century in Utah, people could purchase garments in local JC Penney’s and other department stores. Then they were moved so that the church distributed them in temples only, and then online. However, due to the desecration of the garments by non-believers, the garments are now only available to people with worthy temple recommends.
Now, for those of you who are not familiar with garments, once an LDS member is “endowed” in the temple, it is a spiritual oath requirement to wear them constantly, with few exceptions such as bathing and swimming, until their death. To be endowed and then to cease wearing garments is one of the biggest sins that a person can commit in the LDS church.
Here’s where the problems come in:
- Only temple-worthy LDS members can purchase endowments.
- Once endowed, the commitment is there for life.
- The LDS church is the only distributor of these garments (they cannot be made outside of the official LDS channels).
- So financially, a person will not only have to give 10% of their income for tithing, but will also have to give money for the rest of their lives to pay for the garments (which used to range from $15/$30 set, and most people have at least a week’s worth, that last aboyt a year after weekly wear).
To give a comperable example, imagine that to be a faithful Catholic, after Confirmation and marriage, you had to have an interview with the priest once a year, guaranteeing that a true 10% of your income was being tithed to the church, plus you have to wear a brown scapular for the rest of your life. And the only place you could buy the scapular was the Catholic Cathedral Church. Oh, and if you stopped wearing it, it would not be that you would lose the blessings of grace, but you would be risking your immortal soul.
Let me give you a very real example of the consequences of this. My mother was LDS for her entire adult life. When she moved to Arkansas, her “ward” (local church) was over 30 minutes away, on winding roads that made her nervous to drive. She also has an issue with smoking and drinking coffee. Due to her Word of Wisdom violations, and her marginal activity in the church, she was not eligible for a temple recommend.
For 20+ years, every pair of panties, and every camisole, that she purchase was done through the LDS church. But once she was no longer eligible for the temple recommend, she had to go out and buy regular panties when her garments finally wore through and were no longer wearable.
She felt for a few years that she was sinning and doomed, and would not be with my father in the Celestial Kingdom because she could not wear her garments. She finally realized after prayer that she did not need to go to the Mormon church, and now attends the First Baptist Church of Van Buren - 5 minutes from her house.
I don’t begrudge giving money to a church, or buying sacramentals. But having to give a certain percentage with the consequence of sin, plus buying specific sacramentals through the church that have a definite shelf life (with no option of making your own, or buying them at a discount) really bothers me.
When I am at their church service, all I want to do is get up and run out as fast as I can. But, I have felt that way about Mormonism since I was 15 or 16 years old. 
