Pornography
Place No More For The Enemy of My Soul
Jeffrey R. Holland
April 2010
1.Tragically,
the same computer and Internet service that allows me to do my family history and
prepare those names for temple work could, without filters and controls, allow
my children or grandchildren access to a global cesspool of perceptions that
could blast a crater in their brains forever.
2. If we
stop chopping at the branches of this problem and strike more directly at the
root of the tree, not surprisingly we find lust lurking furtively there. Lust
is an unsavory word, and it is certainly an unsavory topic for me to address,
but there is good reason why in some traditions it is known as the most deadly
of the seven deadly sins. 2
3. True love
we are absolutely giddy about—as I am about Sister Holland; we shout it from
the housetops. But lust is characterized by shame and stealth and is almost
pathologically clandestine—the later and darker the hour the better, with a
double-bolted door just in case. Love makes us instinctively reach out to God
and other people. Lust, on the other hand, is anything but godly and celebrates
self-indulgence. Love comes with open hands and open heart; lust comes with only
an open appetite.
4. Above all, start by separating yourself from
people, materials, and circumstances that will harm you. As those battling
something like alcoholism know, the pull of proximity can be fatal. So too in
moral matters. Like Joseph in the presence of Potiphar’s wife, 4 just run—run as far away as you can get from whatever or whoever
it is that beguiles you. And please, when fleeing the scene of temptation, do
not leave a forwarding address.
5. When we face such temptations in our time, we
must declare, as young Nephi did in his, “[I will] give place no more for the
enemy of my soul.” 1
A Tragic
Evil Among Us
Gordon B.
Hinckley
October 2004
6While the
matter of which I speak was a problem then, it is a much more serious problem
now. It grows increasingly worse. It is like a raging storm, destroying
individuals and families, utterly ruining what was once wholesome and
beautiful. I speak of pornography in all of its manifestations.
7. Please warn the brethren (and sisters).
Pornography is not some titillating feast for the eyes that gives a momentary
rush of excitement. [Rather] it has the effect of damaging hearts and souls to
their very depths, strangling the life out of relationships that should be
sacred, hurting to the very core those you should love the most.”
8. If there be any within the sound of
my voice who are doing so, then may you plead with the Lord out of the depths
of your soul that He will remove from you the addiction which enslaves you. And
may you have the courage to seek the loving guidance of your bishop and, if
necessary, the counsel of caring professionals.
9. How wonderful are the ways of our Lord. How
glorious His promises. When tempted we can substitute for thoughts of evil
thoughts of Him and His teachings. He has said: “And if your eye be single to
my glory, your whole bodies shall be filled with light, and there shall be no
darkness in you; and that body which is filled with light comprehendeth all
things.
10. And to all of you, young or old, who are not
involved, I congratulate you and leave my blessing with you. How beautiful is
the life that is patterned after the teachings of the gospel of Him who was
without sin. Such a man walks with unblemished brow in the sunlight of virtue
and strength.
Thomas S.
Monson
Pornography
– The Deadly Carrier
October 1979
11. How like the elm is man. From a minute seed,
and in accordance with a divine plan, we grow, are nurtured, and mature. The
bright sunlight of heaven, the rich blessings of earth are ours. In our private
forest of family and friends, life is richly rewarding and
abundantly beautiful. Then suddenly, there appears before us in this generation
a sinister and diabolical enemy—pornography. Like the bark beetle it too is the
carrier of a deadly disease. I shall name it “pernicious permissiveness.”
12.
An ominous warning was voiced by Laurence M. Gould, president emeritus of
Carleton College:
“I do not
believe the greatest threat to our future is from bombs or guided missiles. I
don’t think our civilization will die that way. I think it will die when we no
longer care. Arnold Toynbee has pointed out that 19 of 21 civilizations have
died from within and not by conquest from without. There were no bands playing
and flags waving when these civilizations decayed. It happened slowly, in the
quiet and the dark when no one was aware.”
13. Today we have a rebirth of ancient Sodom and
Gomorrah. From seldom-read pages in dusty Bibles they come forth as real cities
in a real world, depicting a real malady—pernicious permissiveness.
14. We have the capacity and the responsibility
to stand as a bulwark between all we hold dear and the fatal contamination of
the pornography beetle. May I suggest three specific steps in our battle plan:
First,
a return to righteousness. An understanding of who we are and what God expects
us to become will prompt us to pray—as individuals and as families. Such a
return reveals the constant truth: “Wickedness never was happiness” (Alma 41:10). Let not the evil one dissuade. We
can yet be guided by that still small voice—unerring in its direction and
all-powerful in its influence.
Second,
a quest for the good life. I speak not of the fun life, the sophisticated life,
the popular life. Rather, I urge each to seek eternal life—life everlasting
with mother, father, brothers, sisters, husband, wife, sons, and daughters,
forever and forever together.
Third, a
pledge to wage and win the war against pernicious permissiveness. As we
encounter that evil carrier, the pornography beetle, let our battle standard and
that of our communities be taken from that famous ensign of early America,
“Don’t tread on me” (John Bartlett, Familiar Quotations, p. 1090).
Pornography
Dallin H.
Oaks
April 2005
15. We were concerned to see the inroads pornography had made in the United States while
we were away. For many years our Church leaders have warned against the dangers
of images and words intended to arouse sexual desires. Now the corrupting
influence of pornography, produced and disseminated for commercial gain, is
sweeping over our society like an avalanche of evil.
16. “Pornographic or erotic stories and pictures
are worse than filthy or polluted food. The body has defenses to rid itself of
unwholesome food. With a few fatal exceptions, bad food will only make you sick
but do no permanent harm. In contrast, a person who feasts upon filthy stories
or pornographic or erotic pictures and literature records them in this
marvelous retrieval system we call a brain. The brain won’t vomit back filth.
Once recorded, it will always remain subject to recall, flashing its perverted
images across your mind and drawing you away from the wholesome things in
life.” 1
17. The immediate spiritual consequences of such
hypocrisy are devastating. Those who seek out and use pornography forfeit the
power of their priesthood. The Lord declares: “When we undertake to cover our
sins, … behold, the heavens withdraw themselves; the Spirit of the Lord is
grieved; and when it is withdrawn, Amen to the priesthood or the authority of
that man” (D&C 121:37).
Patrons of
pornography also lose the companionship of the Spirit. Pornography produces
fantasies that destroy spirituality. “To be carnally minded is death”—spiritual
death (Rom. 8:6; see also 2 Ne. 9:39).
18. Some seek to justify their indulgence by
arguing that they are only viewing “soft,” not “hard,” porn. A wise bishop
called this refusing to see evil as evil. He quoted men seeking to justify
their viewing choices by comparisons such as “not as bad as” or “only one bad
scene.” But the test of what is evil is not its degree but its effect. When
persons entertain evil thoughts long enough for the Spirit to withdraw, they
lose their spiritual protection and they are subject to the power and direction
of the evil one. When they use Internet or other pornography for what this
bishop described as “arousal on demand” (letter of Mar. 13, 2005), they are
deeply soiled by sin.
19. Don’t accommodate any degree of temptation.
Prevent sin and avoid having to deal with its inevitable destruction. So, turn
it off! Look away! Avoid it at all costs. Direct your thoughts in wholesome
paths. Remember your covenants and be faithful in temple attendance. The wise
bishop I quoted earlier reported that “an endowed priesthood bearer’s fall into
pornography never occurs during periods of regular worship in the temple; it
happens when he has become casual in his temple worship” (letter of Mar. 13,
2005).
To Acquire
Spiritual Guidance
Richard G.
Scott
October 2009
20. Satan has become a master at using the
addictive power of pornography to limit individual capacity to be
led by the Spirit. The onslaught of pornography in all of its vicious,
corroding, destructive forms has caused great grief, suffering, heartache, and
destroyed marriages. It is one of the most damning influences on earth. Whether
it be through the printed page, movies, television, obscene lyrics, vulgarities
on the telephone, or flickering personal computer screen, pornography is
overpoweringly addictive and severely damaging. This potent tool of Lucifer
degrades the mind and the heart and the soul of any who use it. All who are
caught in its seductive, tantalizing web and remain so will become addicted to
its immoral, destructive influence. For many, that addiction cannot be overcome
without help. The tragic pattern is so familiar. It begins with curiosity that
is fueled by its stimulation and is justified by the false premise that when
done privately, it does no harm to anyone else. For those lulled by this lie,
the experimentation goes deeper, with more powerful stimulations, until the
trap closes and a terribly immoral, addictive habit exercises its vicious
control.
21. Participation in pornography in any of its
lurid forms is a manifestation of unbridled selfishness.
Cleansing
The Inner Vessel
Boyd K.
Packer
October 2010
22. The old saying “The Lord is voting for me,
and Lucifer is voting against me, but it is my vote that counts” describes a
doctrinal certainty that our agency is more powerful than the adversary’s will.
Agency is precious. We can foolishly, blindly give it away, but it cannot be
forcibly taken from us.
23. To be entrusted with the power to create life
carries with it the greatest of joys and dangerous temptations. The gift of
mortal life and the capacity to kindle other lives is a supernal blessing.
Through the righteous exercise of this power, as in nothing else, we may come
close to our Father in Heaven and experience a fulness of joy. This power is
not an incidental part of the plan of happiness. It is the key—the very key.
Whether we
use this power as the eternal laws require or reject its divine purpose will
forever determine what we will become. “Know ye not that ye are the temple of
God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?” 7
24. In our day the dreadful influence of pornography is like unto a plague sweeping
across the world, infecting one here and one there, relentlessly trying to
invade every home, most frequently through the husband and father. The effect
of this plague can be, unfortunately often is, spiritually fatal. Lucifer seeks
to disrupt “the great plan of redemption,” 11 “the
great plan of happiness.” 12
25. There are both moral and physical laws
“irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundations of this world” that
cannot be changed. 17 History demonstrates over and over again that moral
standards cannot be changed by battle and cannot be changed by ballot. To
legalize that which is basically wrong or evil will not prevent the pain and
penalties that will follow as surely as night follows day.
26. Every soul confined in a prison of sin,
guilt, or perversion has a key to the gate. The key is labeled “repentance.” If
you know how to use this key, the adversary cannot hold you. The twin
principles of repentance and forgiveness exceed in strength the awesome
power of the tempter. If you are bound by a habit or an addiction that is
unworthy, you must stop conduct that is harmful. Angels will coach you, 19 and
priesthood leaders will guide you through those difficult times.
27. Sometimes, even after confession and paying
penalties, the most difficult part of repentance is to forgive one’s self. You
must come to know that forgiveness means forgiveness.
