NOM

There are plenty of aspects of the temple that I’m thrilled are firmly behind us, like forbidding anyone with African ancestry from entering the building. (In fact, Mormon racism was once so entrenched that in 1966, President David O. McKay and his counselors clarified that temple ordinances could not be performed for Black people even if they were dead. The policy was that any deceased person could be baptized or endowed, “except those of known Negro blood, without the consideration of worthiness or any other qualification.” In other words, a murderer or rapist who had had white skin in life could still receive temple ordinances, but no people with black skin could, regardless of their righteousness.)

Other temple policies and practices that I would venture to guess no one misses include two gems from Brigham Young’s time: that a man “should not touch a woman for 10 days” before receiving his endowment, and that a woman “should not go for a week after her menses were upon her.”

My point is that temple rituals have evolved. The clothing we wear to the temple, whom we consider worthy to enter it (and at what time of the month!), the sacred rites we perform there: in these ways and more, the temple is vastly different today than in the past. For example, we no longer baptize members of the church for their own health and healing. No one who is struggling with cancer or heart disease gets to enjoy a special temple ritual of immersion in baptismal waters. Today, temple baptisms are performed only for the dead, and they are rites of otherworldly salvation, not earthly health. The ritual of the Second Anointing, once common among members, is now restricted only to the highest church leaders.