Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints wear religious clothing called garments. Several non-members, whether innocently ignorant, or in outright opposition to the church, sometimes refer to them as “Magic Mormon underwear”. The “Mormon” part is self-explanatory, as members of the church who have completed ordinances in a temple wear them. First, I will address the “underwear” part, then I will address the “magic” part of this clothing.
As is the case with all religious clothing, it is symbolic. It serves as a constant reminder of spiritual things and seeks to turn the wearer’s life toward the Divine. The LDS (Latter-Day Saint) garment serves the wearer in the exact same way. Members who wear the garment use it as an undergarment, meaning it is worn beneath their regular clothes. The purpose of this is twofold. First, since it is an undergarment, it is something that members wear everyday, and put on everyday. This is a method to turn the wearer’s thoughts to God on a daily basis. Second, the fact that it is worn under their clothes is also symbolic. In one sense, the wearer remembers that at his core, his innermost layer, he promised to live a life according to the commandments of God. Despite what everyone can see, or judge about his appearance, he knows, and God knows, that his inner self is devoted to God, despite what is shown on the outside. There is much more symbolism that the garment represents, some of which is near universal, and some of it deeply personal. I need to not make an exhaustive explanation of the symbolism of religious clothing; for, either the reader already has a baseline knowledge of the sanctity and importance of religious clothing to the devoted wearer, or the reader has already convinced himself of the oddity it is for one to wear something for religious reasons.
Why is the title “magic” applied to the LDS garment? This comes from LDS teaching that by properly wearing the garment, it will protect wearer. On the surface, this is nothing to write home about, however, the manner in which the garment will protect the wearer determines if it is “magic” or not. The garment is not “magic,” and LDS members do not believe it is “magic.” In the first place, it is not stated how wearers are protected. Are they protected physically, spiritually, or both? First and foremost, the garment is a spiritual protection. Remember we are talking about religious clothing; spiritual things are in the forefront of religious things. This is not implying some fantastical legion of demons being repelled by some cloth, as anti-Mormons sometimes think. Spiritual protection comes in the form of strengthening the wearers resolve to resist temptation, and choose enlightenment and eternal virtues.
But what about physical protection? If you listen to enough stories, eventually, at least one LDS member will recall a story of someone else who survived a fire and received burn marks on their bodies, but not the parts covered by their garments; or something similar. I have no firsthand knowledge of any of this, but it is entirely possible that such a miracle occurred to some person at some time. However, this is not in any way proof that such protection should be expected by all persons, at all times, or even by many persons at many times. LDS members get hurt physically, just as much as anyone else. It may be in the Lord’s interest to perform some miracle to one of His children, but that is for Him to decide, and not a guarantee by wearing garments. It is from this miraculous story mentioned above that some members, and other anti-Mormons believe that the garment has magical properties. It does not. It is symbolic clothing used to draw the wearer closer to God, and God blesses the faithful with various forms of protection, often spiritual, and sometimes physical.
Those who call the LDS garment “Magic Mormon Underwear” are largely ignorant of what garments are, why they are worn, and what they provide to the wearer. They are not “magical” per say, but they are spiritual in nature, like other religious clothing. While God continues to perform miracles, even in matters of physical safety, LDS members do not believe they are practically invincible because they wear garments, that is simply the silly-sayings of strangers to the spiritual.
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