PORNOGRAPHY

CAPSTONE: Pornography is an evil of the world.  It is Satan’s attempt to take the spirit from us and deceive us into thinking that it is all right to look at.  It saddens me that youth can fall into his trap, but I see how it is easy to fall into the habit.  Just do a quick, innocent internet search for anything and most of the time you’ll see a picture or site that will lead you down the dark path of pornography.  And once you see it, the scene will be stuck in your mind for a long time.  The longer it stays the harder it is to get out and the longer you’ll remember it, and then you’ll want more.  There is no question that it is enticing, but it is not of God and should therefore not be looked at.  I know many worthy, honest men who have succumbed to its grasps and feel terrible for the pain and anguish it causes them and the heaviness they feel on their shoulders.  It makes me thankful that I have only girls, and I hope to never have to deal with it.  I do know that it, like all addictions, can be overcome with the help from the Lord and faith to stop. -becki johnson

1.       “There is also great concern about some of the pernicious, addictive behaviors like gambling and evil pornography that are so personally destructive and so rampant in our society. Remember, brothers and sisters, any kind of addiction is to surrender to something, thus relinquishing agency and becoming dependent.”

-M. Russell Ballard, “O that Cunning Plan of the Evil One,” October 2010 General Conference https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2010/10/o-that-cunning-plan-of-the-evil-one?lang=eng#watch=video

2.        “The healing power of the Lord Jesus Christ—whether it removes our burdens or strengthens us to endure and live with them like the Apostle Paul—is available for every affliction in mortality.”

-Dallin H. Oaks, “He Heals the Heavy Laden,” October 2006 General Conference https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2006/10/he-heals-the-heavy-laden?lang=eng

3.        “I fear this may be going on in some of your homes. It is vicious. It is lewd and filthy. It is enticing and habit-forming. It will take [you] down to destruction as surely as anything in this world. It is foul sleaze that makes its exploiters wealthy, its victims impoverished.”

-Gordon B. Hinckley, “Great Shall Be the Peace of Thy Children,” Ensign, Nov. 2000, p. 51

4.        “Today we are surrounded by the maka-fekes which the evil one dangles before us and with which he attempts to entice us and then to ensnare us. Once grasped, such maka-fekes are ever so difficult—and sometimes nearly impossible—to relinquish. To be safe, we must recognize them for what they are and then be unwavering in our determination to avoid them.  The evil one also dangles before us the maka-feke of pornography. He would have us believe that the viewing of pornography really hurts no one.”

-Thomas S. Monson, “True to the Faith,” April 2006 General Conference https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2006/04/true-to-the-faith?lang=eng

5.       “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.”

-Dallin H. Oaks, “Pornography,” April 2005 General Conference https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2005/04/pornography?lang=eng#1-

6.       “Pornography will always repel the Spirit of Christ and will interrupt the communications between our Heavenly Father and His children and disrupt the tender relationship between husband and wife.”

-Boyd K. Packer, “Cleansing the Inner Vessel,” October 2010 General Conference https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2010/10/cleansing-the-inner-vessel?lang=eng

7.       “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.”

-Richard G. Scott, “To Acquire Spiritual Guidance,” October 2009 General Conference https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2009/10/to-acquire-spiritual-guidance?lang=eng

8.        “It is a wicked, wicked world in which we live and in which our children must find their way. Challenges of pornography, gender confusion, immorality, child abuse, drug addiction, and all the rest are everywhere. There is no way to escape from their influence.  Some are led by curiosity into temptation, then into experimentation, and some become trapped in addiction. They lose hope. The adversary harvests his crop and binds them down.” 

-Boyd K. Packer, “I Will Remember Your Sins No More,” April 2006 General Conference https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2006/04/i-will-remember-your-sins-no-more?lang=eng

9.        “Addictions enslave both the body and the spirit. Full repentance from addiction is best accomplished in this life, while we still have a mortal body to help us.  As children of God, we should not let anything enter the body that might defile it. To allow sensors of sight, touch, or hearing to supply the brain with unclean memories is a sacrilege.”

-Russell M. Nelson, “We Are Children of God,” October 1998 General Conference https://www.lds.org/general-conference/1998/10/we-are-children-of-god?lang=eng

10.    “If we indulge in drugs or pornography or other evils that the Apostle called sowing to the flesh, eternal law dictates that we harvest corruption rather than life eternal.”

-Dallin H. Oaks, “Be Not Deceived,” October 2004 General Conference https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2004/10/be-not-deceived?lang=eng