Quotes About Pornography - Page 1
There are many quotes by Latter-day prophets and General Authorities regarding 'R'-rated movies.
One comes from President Benson in the April 1986 conference. Within the context of his address, President Benson referred to Alma's words to his son Corianton, 'Forsake your sins, and go no more after the lusts of your eyes.' Then President Benson defined the lusts of our eyes, and gave this counsel:
"...Don't see 'R'-rated movies or vulgar videos or participate in any entertainment that is immoral, suggestive or pornographic. Don't listen to music that is degrading.
Remember Boyd K. Packer's statement: 'Music, once...innocent, now is often used for wicked purposes... In our day music itself has been corrupted. Music can, by its tempo, by its beat, by its intensity (and I would add by its lyrics), dull the spiritual sensitivity of men..."
"You are the one who must decide whose thoughts you will entertain. You are free to choose—but you are not free to alter the consequences of those choices. You will be what you think about—what you consistently allow to occupy the stage of your mind."
Ezra Taft Benson
"We are lathered with soap operas in need of nothing so much as soap for the scrubbing of themselves," he said. "Some seriously maintain that media violence and sleaze leave consumers untouched. But revenue is received from commercials precisely because of their influence. Either we deserve reforms, or sponsors deserve refunds!"
Church News, April 10, 1993, p.20
Elder Neal A. Maxwell of the Council of the Twelve
"We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men; indeed, we may say that we follow the admonition of Paul—We believe all things, we hope all things, we have endured many things, and hope to be able to endure all things. If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things."
13th Article of Faith
"Behold, verily, verily, I say unto you, ye must watch and pray always lest ye enter into temptation; for Satan desireth to have you, that he may sift you as wheat."
3 Nephi 18:18
"Just How Much Impact Does Music Have? In 1703, Andrew Fletcher, a great Scottish patriot, made this observation (and I paraphrase him): 'You write the laws, let me write the music, and I will rule your country.'"
Zig Ziglar, Book: Raising Positive Kids in a Negative World
"How you spend your hours equals who you are today."
Dr. Stephen Bavolek, Psychologist
"Be as careful of the books you read, as of the company you keep; for your habits and character will be as much influenced by the former as by the latter."
English Clergyman Edwin Paxton Hood, The New Dictionary of Thoughts
"Discipline what you allow your eyes to see, your ears to hear, your mouth to speak, and your hands to touch."
Elder Rulon G. Craven, "Temptation" - CR April, 1996, p. 106
"In so far as you approach temptation to a man, you do him an injury; and if he is overcome, you share his guilt."
Samuel Johnson
Senator Robert Byrd has said: "If we in this nation continue to sow the images of murder, violence, drug abuse,...perversion, (and) pornography...before the eyes of millions..., year after year and day after day, we should not be surprised if the foundations of our society rot away as if from leprosy."
BYU Speeches, 1993-94, p. 57
"Vice is a monster of so frightful mein
As to be hated needs but to be seen;
Yet seen too oft, familiar with her face,
We first endure, then pity, then embrace."
Alexander Pope (1688-1744)— Essay on Man, Epistle II, line 217
In General Conference of October, 1997, President Gordon B. Hinckley, President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, had the following to say about the problem of pornography in our modern world:
"You live in a world of terrible temptations. Pornography, with its sleazy filth, sweeps over the earth like a horrible, engulfing tide. It is poison. Do not watch it or read it. It will destroy you if you do. It will take from you your self-respect. It will rob you of a sense of the beauties of life. It will tear you down and pull you into a slough of evil thoughts and possibly of evil actions.
Stay away from it. Shun it as you would a foul disease, for it is just as deadly. Be virtuous in thought and in deed. God has planted in you, for a purpose, a divine urge which may be easily subverted to evil and destructive ends.
When you are young, do not get involved in steady dating. When you reach an age where you think of marriage, then is the time to become so involved. But you boys who are in high school don't need this, and neither do the girls."
President Gordon B. Hinckley, General Conference, October 1997, Priesthood Session
"We are living in a time when the best of things are on the earth...and the worst of things. Are we taking advantage of the best of things...and staying away from the worst of things?"
"I do not intend to read (or watch or listen to) anything I do not wish to remember through eternity."
"If you are faced with temptation and choose the temptation, your desire and willingness to do evil will increase. We have to start by doing something good when we don't want to do it. Then our desire and ability to do good will increase. Obedience breeds desire."
Harold C. Brown - while President of Cottonwood Stake, Young Adult Fireside
"If a man be pure in thought, he will be correspondingly pure in action; but if he allows his mind to roam in unrestricted freedom through the various avenues of evil or to dwell unchecked upon the contemplation of forbidden indulgences, it will not be long before his feet tread those paths and his hand plucks the tempting but deceitful fruit."
Pres. George Q. Cannon
"Consider carefully the words of the prophet Alma to his errant son, Corianton, "Forsake your sins, and go no more after the lusts of your eyes" (Alma 39:9). "The lusts of your eyes" — in our day what does that expression 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. Don't listen to music that is degrading." (CR April 1986, Ensign, May 1986, p. 45.)
"Live up to your godly potential. Remember who you are and the priesthood that you bear. Be modern-day sons of Helaman. Put on the whole armor of God." (CR April 1986, Ensign, May 1986, p. 46.)
Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson, p. 222-223