Hanging garments outside to line dry

[Backroads]

Got involved in a Facebook discussion (never a good start to a sentence) on the topical question. Plenty of yeahs and nays on the appropriateness thereof, but those against it would reference an instruction once given to specifically not to. No one had a source, though.

My curiosity is now sparked. Anyone know of such a statement?

[The Folk Prophet]

Handbook 2

"The garment is sacred and should be treated with respect at all times. Garments should be kept off the floor. They should also be kept clean and mended. After garments are washed, they should not be hung in public areas to dry. Nor should they be displayed or exposed to the view of people who do not understand their significance"

[Backroads]

2 minutes ago, The Folk Prophet said:

Handbook 2

"The garment is sacred and should be treated with respect at all times. Garments should be kept off the floor. They should also be kept clean and mended. After garments are washed, they should not be hung in public areas to dry. Nor should they be displayed or exposed to the view of people who do not understand their significance"

Thanks, though I still wonder if there were more. People were insisting it was the line drying that was the problem, completely separate from the issue of a public area.

[The Folk Prophet]

3 minutes ago, Backroads said:

People were insisting it was the line drying that was the problem, completely separate from the issue of a public area.

Well that's ridiculous. Most third world countries don't have any other options. 

[mirkwood]

You may hang them on an outside line to dry if you only take 24 steps to get to the line and 24 steps to get back from the line.

[Fether]

19 minutes ago, mirkwood said:

You may hang them on an outside line to dry if you only take 24 steps to get to the line and 24 steps to get back from the line.

Looks like we got a jack Mormon here fellas.

You should only take 10 steps. Stop trying to stretch the commandments.

[Fether]

56 minutes ago, Backroads said:

Got involved in a Facebook discussion (never a good start to a sentence) on the topical question. Plenty of yeahs and nays on the appropriateness thereof, but those against it would reference an instruction once given to specifically not to. No one had a source, though.

My curiosity is now sparked. Anyone know of such a statement?

I think much like the Sabbath day, it’s more about the principle than it is the actual check-list to-dos and to-donts. 

I think the line shared by The Folk Prophet is very clear about hanging clothes, and I can’t think of any situation where one would hand their clothes publicly other than doing so to air dry. So much like how the person who works to prevent needing to do menial chores on the sabbath (like doing dishes, de-cluttering their room, etc.) is more blessed than those who don’t, so is the person that strives to keep the garments sacred and out of sight of those that don’t understand.

[Just_A_Guy]

I served in northern Brazil, and we had a missionary in our mission whose garments were stolen off the line.  Local kids apparently liked using the tops as T-shirts.   

[Backroads]

21 minutes ago, Just_A_Guy said:

I served in northern Brazil, and we had a missionary in our mission whose garments were stolen off the line.  Local kids apparently liked using the tops as T-shirts.   

Same thing happened to Husband's mission in Guatemala

[The Folk Prophet]

I remember visiting one individual on my mission who was wearing only a garment top (meaning that he wasn't wearing the garment bottom, but shorts instead (short enough to know), not that he was literally "only" wearing his garment top...but I digress...) with the marks cut out. So like a t-shirt but with specifically placed holes. I'm not sure (don't recall) if it was stolen or just an inactive member who didn't understand. I would guess the latter.

[Jane_Doe]

9 hours ago, Backroads said:

Got involved in a Facebook discussion (never a good start to a sentence) on the topical question. Plenty of yeahs and nays on the appropriateness thereof, but those against it would reference an instruction once given to specifically not to. No one had a source, though.

My curiosity is now sparked. Anyone know of such a statement?

--Addressing this big picture style--

If it's a place you (as a conservative modest Christian) wouldn't feel ok having your bras and panties visible, then it's probably not a good idea to place garments there either.  

[Backroads]

33 minutes ago, Jane_Doe said:

--Addressing this big picture style--

If it's a place you (as a conservative modest Christian) wouldn't feel ok having your bras and panties visible, then it's probably not a good idea to place garments there either.  

Yeah... I hang by bras outside to dry all the time...

[Backroads]

So someone said the instrument is not from the handbook but an Ensign article a few decades back?

Edited July 1, 2019 by Backroads

[Jane_Doe]

 

1 hour ago, Backroads said:

So someone said the instrument is not from the handbook but an Ensign article a few decades back?

I cannot find such a statement in Handbook 2 (Section 21.1.42 Temple Clothing and Garments https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/handbook-2-administering-the-church/selected-church-policies-and-guidelines/selected-church-policies?lang=eng#title_number2)  

[The Folk Prophet]

1 hour ago, Jane_Doe said:

 

I cannot find such a statement in Handbook 2 (Section 21.1.42 Temple Clothing and Garments https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/handbook-2-administering-the-church/selected-church-policies-and-guidelines/selected-church-policies?lang=eng#title_number2)  

The 2006 version mentions not displaying them but not specifically the public hanging and drying. Might have been the previous one before that that had the specific direction. I remember it being a policy when I was on a mission. I'm suppose I could find the specific handbook version if I cared to.

Edited July 1, 2019 by The Folk Prophet

[The Folk Prophet]

3 hours ago, Backroads said:

So someone said the instrument is not from the handbook but an Ensign article a few decades back?

I took that quote from Ask Gramps. Since it referenced handbook 2 I simply indicated that as the source. Maybe "Gramps" was mistaken. 

https://askgramps.org/can-non-members-see-wash-touch-temple-garments/

[MarginOfError]

5 hours ago, The Folk Prophet said:

I took that quote from Ask Gramps. Since it referenced handbook 2 I simply indicated that as the source. Maybe "Gramps" was mistaken. 

https://askgramps.org/can-non-members-see-wash-touch-temple-garments/

More likely, they've changed Handbook 2.  They make changes very quietly sometimes, and they don't exactly keep a GitHub repository where you can view the changes.

Handbook 1 has a statement that members should avoid displaying garments publicly.  

Personally, I wouldn't consider hanging them on a line in your back yard as a public display.

[Backroads]

The insistence is the Handbook says one thing, but the old Ensign article says another. Nothing to do with public view, but respect, I guess.

I trust the handbook more...

[Backroads]

9 hours ago, The Folk Prophet said:

I took that quote from Ask Gramps. Since it referenced handbook 2 I simply indicated that as the source. Maybe "Gramps" was mistaken. 

https://askgramps.org/can-non-members-see-wash-touch-temple-garments/

I doubt Gramps was mistaken.

Just that apparently other unofficial counsel was once given?

[Guest Mores]

15 minutes ago, Backroads said:

I doubt Gramps was mistaken.

Just that apparently other unofficial counsel was once given?

I'd be more inclined to go along with @MarginOfError.  It was probably a change because the statement caused questions like yours.  And in many situations, it simply isn't an option.  If you do have an option, let the counsel of "displaying it in public" be your guide.  Make a judgment.

In case people haven't noticed, the Church is making an effort to NOT say so much anymore.  Enough has been said about EVERYTHING, that we need to study things out in our own minds and let the Spirit guide us.  It's a new era with a new purpose.  Let's hope we're up to the task or we'll be back to 3-hour church again.

[Iggy]

When I had the land area to have an outdoor clothesline, they were not visible by the public. Driving up to my house you might be able to see a peek of a line, but unless you went into my back and side yard you couldn't see my laundry hanging on the 6 lines I had out there. I didn't hang the underwear until I had the sheets to hang also because the underwear went on the inside lines with the sheets blocking any view.

For about a month one summer there were these all flat black helicopters flying around above me, well above about 300 acres of land all around me. Never did find out who they belonged to and what the *hay* they were doing, but they never landed and no *Men in Black* drove up my drive to investigate my 1500 square foot vegetable garden or my laundry hung out on 6 clotheslines. The dog I had would have taken several chunks out of any and all who ventured onto *HER* property and laid it all out on the front porch to show *Mommy* what a Good Guard Dog she was.

As for the garments, until one goes through the pre-initory/endowment interview one isn't ever aware of garments. Prior to my own endowment I did the laundry for my two sisters and mother (they all lived together) and separated and folded their garments for nearly 4 months before my Mother passed. They had no privacy to their back yard area yet I managed to hang their garments on the inside lines with towels or sheets to hide them. This is how I was taught to hang all *Knickers* prior to my family joining the LDS church ~ surround them with towels or sheets.

 

 

[The Folk Prophet]

2 hours ago, Mores said:

It was probably a change because the statement caused questions like yours.

The older, "After garments are washed, they should not be hung in public areas to dry" is implicit in the current handbook's, "Members should avoid displaying the garment publicly".

Edited July 1, 2019 by The Folk Prophet