Mosiah 25:12; 27:8-9; Matt. 17:6; 1 Tim. 4:12; Conference Report, Vandenberg, Apr. 1965, p. 49
“The Lord says if we labor all our days and save but one soul, how great will be our joy with him; on the other hand how great will be our sorrow and our condemnation if through our acts we have led one soul away from this truth… . For the destruction of a soul is the destruction of the greatest thing that has ever been created.” (Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, 1:313-314)
“Never before has the Church had a better reputation than it has now. This is because of you, my brethren and sisters. The opinions of people concerning us for the most part arise out of personal and individual experiences. It is your friendliness, your concern for others, and the good examples of your lives that result in the opinions held by others concerning the Latter-day Saints.” (Gordon B. Hinckley, Ensign, Nov. 1997, p. 4)
Lust of Your Eyes
2 Ne. 27:31; 1 Tim. 5:22; Ensign, May 1997, p. 49
“The lust of your eyes. In our day, what does that mean? Movies, television programs, and video recordings that are both suggestive and lewd. Magazines and books that are obscene and pornographic. We counsel you young men, not to pollute your minds with such degrading matter, for the mind through which this filth passes is never the same afterwards. Don’t see R-rated movies or vulgar videos or participate in any entertainment that is immoral, suggestive, or pornographic.” (Ezra Taft Benson, Ensign, May 1986, p.45)
“Turn it off, walk away from it, burn it, erase it, destroy it. I know it is hard counsel we give when we say movies that are R-rated, and many with PG-13 ratings, are produced by satanic influences. Our standards should not be dictated by the rating system. I repeat, because of what they really represent, these types of movies, music, tapes, etc. serve the purposes of the author of all darkness.” (H. Burke Peterson, Ensign, Nov. 1993, p. 43)
“There is neither happiness nor peace to be gained from surrendering to the weakness of indulging in these things which degrade and destroy. When such material is on television, turn off the set. Stop being a boob in front of the tube. Avoid titillating videotapes as you would a foul disease. They are in the same category. Stay away from pornographic magazines and other destructive literature. There is too much of good to see, there is too much of wonderful reading to be experienced to waste time and destroy character and willpower in submitting to such destructive rot.” (Gordon B. Hinckley, Ensign, Nov. 1992, pp. 51-52)
“Each person must keep himself clean and free from lusts… . 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.” (Spencer W. Kimball, Ensign, July 1978, pp. 3-7)
“We must be very careful of the entertainment we allow into our homes. Parents sometimes allow their children to see and hear things that are objectionable because they have more and more difficulty finding a movie, videotape, or television program that does not contain offensive elements. Rather than ban entertainment, parents tend to permit their children to watch a movie with violence or profanity or sexual content, hoping their children will realize that Hollywood’s standards do not reflect those of the parents. The difference between Hollywood’s standards and those of most Americans is appalling, as shown in a 1991 study. ‘More than one hundred top television writers and executives were asked questions that paralleled a poll taken of average American viewers. The results:
• A whopping 85 percent of the country believes adultery to be wrong. But in Hollywood, it’s 49 percent.
• … 4 percent of the nation says it has no religious affiliation, compared to 45 percent in Hollywood.
• Some 76 percent of Americans feel [homosexuality is] wrong. In Hollywood, it’s 20 percent.
• Abortion rights are supported by 59 percent of the country [which is appalling] compared to Hollywood’s 97 percent.’ (Chris Hicks, Deseret News, 6/19/92)
Truly, parents and children will need to be diligent and cautious in choosing what type of entertainment to take into their homes.” (Joseph B. Wirthlin, Ensign, Mar. 1993, p. 71)
“We are surrounded by the promotional literature of illicit sexual relations, on the printed page and on the screen. For your own good, avoid it. 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 and 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.” (Dallin H. Oaks, New Era, Feb. 1974, p. 18)
“Be clean. I cannot emphasize that enough. Be clean. It is so very very important and you at your age are in such temptation all the time. It is thrown at you on television. It is thrown at you in books and magazines and videos. You do not have to rent them. Don’t do it. Just don’t do it. Don’t look at them. If somebody proposes that you sit around all night watching some of that sleazy stuff, you say, ‘It’s not for me.’ Stay away from it.” (Gordon B. Hinckley, Denver, Colorado, Youth Meeting, Apr. 14, 1996)
“A bishop reported that he had observed that the spiritual level of the young priesthood bearers in his ward was declining. Through his personal interviews with them, he discovered that many of them were watching R-rated movies. When he asked them where they went to see such trash, they said, ‘… We watch them at home. We have cable television, and when our parents are gone we watch anything we want to.’ … The Lord and his living prophets are counting on you to avoid the trash that surrounds you in the media… . Temptations are all around us, and today with the advent of the Internet, they are increasing. There is much that is positive in the world of the media, but here is so much that is negative. If we permit ourselves to become involved with the negative, there will be much more cause for the devil to laugh and his angels to rejoice.” (Joe J. Christensen, Ensign, Nov. 1996, p. 40)
“The girl you marry can expect you to come to the marriage altar absolutely clean. She can expect you to be a young man of virtue in thought and word and deed. I plead with you boys tonight to keep yourselves free from the stains of the world… . You must not fool around with the Internet to find pornographic material… . You must not rent videos with pornography of any kind… . Stay away from pornography as you would avoid a serious disease. It is as destructive. It can become habitual, and those who indulge in it get so they cannot leave it alone. It is addictive… . It seduces and destroys its victims… . I plead with you young men not to get involved in its use. You simply cannot afford to. The girl you marry is worthy of a husband whose life has not been tainted by this ugly and corrosive material.” (Gordon B. Hinckley, Ensign, May 1998, p. 49)