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Why is there the age thing at 31?

Do LDS people turn into "pumpkins" at the stroke of midnight on their 32nd birthday??

18 is the age for adulthood, is it not?? What's the "young" and "old" thing all about?? Seems rather "age discriminatory"?? Some people at 28 seem really old. Others at 41 seem "young and vibrant.

Not everyone ages at the same rate. Thomas S. Monson doesn't look or talk like a typical person at 80+ years. And Steve Young's great great great grandparents got married across that "magical line".

Brigham Young at 43 and Emily Dow Partridge (Edward's daughter) was 20 when they got married. If they hadn't crossed that "age line" Steve Young would not have had a father, grandfather, etc., etc. Later on the timeline> No Quaterback for BYU or the 49ers...

As an outsider (non LDS) I do not understand this "age" stuff for people who are already ADULTS!!

The reason for the "age thing" is because not many 40 year olds are going to want to fraternize with 18 year olds in a dating setting. Nor should they. There are single wards for those older than 31. I don't see a problem with it.

You picked the number "40" instead of 31 in your response. 40 seems more of aa even splitting point of the "Adulthood" years.

My concern is the "preciseness" of the numbers. Shouldn't the individuals themselves determine whether they feel like "younger adults" or "older". It seems too much "categorizing" or "pigeonholing" of people, which leads to stereotyping based on age. Are there categories for "never married", "divorced", "widowed", "with or without children" too??

My concern is that if it's too tight, many will feel left out. How about that person who just turned 32 or is 33?? Too much emphasis on one aspect of one's identity and self appraisal. There are a number of LDS people who don't feel there's a place for them. I'm sure this "age categorizing" contributes to that.

I do want to say it's good to have "single adult" activities in a basically Family orientated Church. And it's good to have groups for the younger and the older, BUT I do feel it should be an individual's choice if they feel better in the younger or older group and age numbers should not be a factor.