Can the Temple Be Barren? Can the Covenants Be Sterile?

There is a pattern at work to watch for. Consider the cub scouts. I read somewhere that Baden-Powell was against cub scouts. His scouting program was something for maturing boys moving into manhood. However, there was irresistible appeal drawing younger boys to the scouting program. The 8-year-old tykes look so cute in their blue shirts aping the teenagers, but by making boy scouting at 11 a continuation of cub scouting at 8 that “making boys into men” concept lost locus, and being a 16-year-old boy scout started to seem immature. BSA over the decades kept playing on the “grab them early when they are interested” end of things, adding tiger cubs and then lion cubs. The result was a lot of elementary school cub packs and fewer boys continuing on to scouting proper, even before the meltdown of the last decade.

The 20th Century of LDS missionaries bears some similarity. Mission calls were issued to married men who left their wives and children to preach. I knew one such, my sister’s father-in-law, a married WWII vet who was called to Tahiti in 1952. The younger men also called in the first half of the 20th Century were obviously stepping up to a mature undertaking. The second half of the 20th Century that idea of a mission call as serious, sober stuff receded bit by bit as the memory faded of mature men doing it. Sending most missionaries out at 18 would have felt off 60 years ago, but no one really thinks of them as successors to Wilford Woodruff and Parley P. Pratt anymore.

And now the temple. We want to pluck green fruit because we fear we cannot trust it will mature in season.

Has there been a change in age requirements for the temple?

@ WJT,
Not technically a change, but they’ve been emphasizing getting endowed, even without marriage or a mission on the horizon, far more in the last few years.

And there has been an emphasis that youth should go to the temple frequently to participate in proxy baptism.

I think John Mansfield makes some good points. I’ve long been of the opinion and belief that there should be things to look forward to in the future. For example, graduation from high school becomes meaningless after “graduation” ceremonies from kindergarten, elementary school, middle school/junior high. If there is nothing to look forward to, nothing that separates adulthood from childhood, what are we left with? Repetition and boredom? Seeking fulfillment and new experiences outside of church?
I’ve had to bite my tongue a lot because I disagree with the policy of letting 11 year olds advance as of Jan 1st of the year they turn 12. (Especially the immature boys who really need more time to prepare for the responsibility and solemnity of the priesthood.) Does this policy also include dating? Could some interpret it as such? Well, I’m going to turn 16 this year so I should be able to date.
I’m not in charge, have no say in the matter, and at this point am glad that all my children are raised.

This is an area where I’m not inclined to lament the changes toward allowing things at a younger age.

Looking at a study on marriage from a few years ago, what I noticed was that for most men in America they would get married approximately two years after finishing their education–whether that was high school, a PhD program, or something in between. Among Latter-day Saint men, however, the average age for marriage was two years after their mission. What I concluded from it was that while the world regards finishing school as the rite of passage into manhood, for us it’s completing a mission.

Are there benefits to having mature men serve missions? They’re definitely more seasoned and knowledgeable, and likely more motivated. Having to disrupt careers and miss some of their children’s formative years would be a huge sacrifice, especially in our post-agrarian economy, but then there are the (usually intangible) blessings for such faith to offset that. It would have a very polarizing effect on the Church’s membership if such a practice was restored. (Considering my wife’s health, I don’t see how I could do it.)

However, the immaturity of the young men serving missions is a feature as much as a bug, since they’re definitely weak and simple compared to those who represent other churches. Having to get along with a variety of companions for two years is also great preparation for marriage; Gene R. Cook visited my mission once and told us about a companion of his he just didn’t get along with. After he returned home and began dating again, if he saw any attributes in a woman that reminded him of that companion he immediately knew that a relationship wouldn’t be worth pursuing–thus helping him become more efficient at finding someone he could be happy with.

I’m guessing more mission experiences can help women prepare better for marriage as well, for the same reason. And by lowering the age to 19 the Church has given them that option below the sweet spot where most of them start getting married. My wife and all of my sisters got married when they were 20; once I polled my ward’s gospel doctrine class, and only two of the women in my ward were married before 19.

My son was part of the first group of 11-year-old deacons, and he was totally against the idea when I first told him about the policy change. He didn’t change his mind until he interviewed with our bishop, and I give the credit to the Holy Ghost since our bishop wasn’t a particularly persuasive person. Sure, boys are still immature, but responsibility can help with that, and there’s a lot of value in the policy’s stated purpose of keeping age cohorts together longer–emphasizing a group identity against our natural individualistic tendencies. As someone whose birthday occurs late in the year, I would have been overjoyed with not having to watch my friends move on to better things while I chafed at being stuck in Primary.

If we’re going to reverse our declining birthrates, I think there are more useful things to focus on than adjustments to the ages at which these milestone events happen.

I was reminded of a family I knew, a little younger than mine whose oldest son was about ten when I met them. The couple wed shortly after his mission while she was a senior in high school. She told my wife that the women of the Relief Society were somewhat unwelcoming to the young bride because they did not want their daughters getting the idea of also marrying before finishing high school. The thing I wondered was how the romance developed; I suppose the seeds of it were in place when he was 18 and she was 15. When BYU was depleted of 18-year-old male freshmen a decade ago, I speculated that the only people the freshmen girls would have to date would be returned missionaries, and there would therefore be an increase in the number of 19-year-old brides. Too bad that didn’t happen.

Eric,
my concern is less with what is happening earlier than with what isn’t