Additionally, as I make this case to people, I have been interrupted with a “Oh… that’s right… wasn’t it (insert former president of the church here)?” This is one of the oldest Mormon myths out there, one I had wondered about for years.
I found an interesting article a couple of years ago by Huan Hsu of the Washington City Paper that contained the following information:
Though the ultimate goal is the same, the pressures that single men and women face during the journey vary. In a 1996 interview with Mike Wallace on 60 Minutes, All-Pro quarterback Steve Young, a direct descendant of Prophet Brigham Young, tried to explain what it’s like to be 34, single, and Mormon. “You want to talk about the pressure I feel?” Young asked Wallace. “Brigham Young once said…that anyone over 27 years of age that’s not married is a menace to society. So here’s my [great-great-great] grandfather telling me to get with it. You don’t think I feel the pressure? I guarantee it.”
Actually, Brigham Young never said that. The closest thing is something George Q. Cannon, a church apostle, said in 1878: “I am firmly of the opinion that a large number of unmarried men, over the age of 24 years, is a dangerous element in any community.…”
Hsu, Huan. "The Church of Latter-day Singles." Washington City Paper. 29 July 2005.
Please join with me and all the single 30-somethings in a collective sigh of relief.
Faithpromotingrumors.com Fact Tracker:
Assertion: Brigham Young claimed that to be over the age of 27 and unmarried is to be a “Menace to Society.”
Refuted
Assertion: Any church leader claimed that to be over the age of 27 and unmarried is to be a “Menace to Society.”
Refuted
