Christ fasted for forty days while he communed with his Father prior to beginning his mortal ministry. At the end of this time period, he was tempted by Satan. Satan tempted the Master with carnal temptations. The first thing he offered was bread. The Savior, of course, refused. Contrast this with the famished Esau, who after wandering in the field (probably for no more than 1-2 days), sold his birthright to his brother Jacob for some red pottage (Gen 25:29-33). The Savior is a good example of one who is spiritually-minded; Esau is a good example of one who is carnally-minded.
The scriptures are replete with explanations of this principle. In King Benjamin’s sermon, he states, For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father (Mosiah 3:19).
The eighth chapter of Romans beautifully teaches that man cannot please God if he follows his carnal desires, they that are in the flesh cannot please God (Rom8:8). Instead, we must please God by putting off the natural man and following the enticings of the spirit. If we do, we will become the sons and daughters of God, if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God (Rom 8:13-4).
According to Alma the carnal state is a state contrary to the nature of happiness (Alma 41:11). This occurs from following the plan of Satan, for his words are pleasing to the carnal mind (Alma 30:53). Much of current advertising methods, primetime TV shows, music videos, magazines, and popular music appeal to the carnal mind. That is why the brethren have been so faithful to warn us of their influence.
In a Church News article, Bruce L. Olsen remarked:
"You are part of the media generation. You are growing up in an era which looks to the media for news, information and entertainment. There is no doubt that your generation has the possibility of being the best informed of any that has lived.
"…Today’s media can have a positive effect on you….Of course, the opposite can also be true. Vulgar videos, foul language, taking the Lord’s name in vain, obscenity, deviant sexual behavior, and violence have become the cornerstones of much of today’s media fare.
"Just look at a few statistics:
- Youth spend about 23 hours a week watching TV. By age 70 they’ll have spent seven years in front of the tube.
- American youth watch an average of 14,000 sexual references - not counting commercials - a year.
- Youth view 2,000 beer and wine commercials a year. They watch an hour of music videos on weekdays, two on weekends. About 75 percent of music videos have sexual themes, and 50 percent have violence.
- A study by the national Coalition on Television Violence points out that by the time an American is 18 years old, he or she will have witnessed 32,000 murders and 40,000 attempted murders on television.
- The percentage of R-rated movies has increased 61 percent since ratings began in 1968.
- Nearly 33 percent of all close relationships on TV involve conflict or violence.
- Male/female associations on TV tend to over-emphasize the physical aspect of relationships. Couples tend to spend a disproportionate amount of time expressing love physically rather than through acts of kindness, sacrifice and service.
- Sometimes called ‘Raunch’n’roll,’ teenagers listen to an estimated 10,500 hours of rock music between the seventh and twelfth grade.
- By the time a student leaves high school he or she will have spent 24,000 hours in front of the television, twice the amount of time that will have been spent in the classroom.
"The list, of course, is much longer, but what is important is how your exposure to such events affects you. You might feel that your family life, education, standards and values make you ‘immune’ to such influences. They don’t. Dr. Fredric Wertham, a psychiatrist, notes, ’ … my work convinces me that no immunity exists. Harm is harm… . There may be defenses against a snowball, but there are not against an avalanche.’
"Too many teenagers and adults want to pass off exposure to sleazy media as having no effect. They are simply wrong. What is portrayed as the norm in the media often becomes accepted standard of expectation and behavior.
"President Spencer W. Kimball, in an address to the students at Weber State College, cautioned this way:
“’Each person must keep himself (or herself) free from lusts, from adultery and homosexuality and from drugs. He must shun ugly, polluted thoughts and acts as he would an enemy. Pornographic and erotic stories and pictures are worse than polluted food. Shun them. The body has power to rid itself of sickening food. The person who entertains filthy stories or pornographic pictures and literature records them in his marvelous human computer, the brain, which can’t forget such filth. Once recorded, it will always remain there subject to recall.’” (LDS Church News, Deseret News, Jun 8, 1991)