2."Along with losing the Spirit, pornography users also lose perspective and proportion. Like King David, they try to conceal their sin, forgetting that nothing is hidden from the Lord (see 2 Nephi 27:27). Real consequences start to accumulate as self-respect ebbs away, sweet relationships sour, marriages wither, and innocent victims begin to pile up. Finding that what they have been viewing no longer satisfies, they experiment with more extreme images. They slowly grow addicted even if they don’t know it or they deny it, and like David’s, their behavior deteriorates as their moral standards disintegrate." (L. Whitney Clayton, Blessed are the Pure in Heart, 2007 November Ensign, http://www.lds.org)
3."Pornography, though billed by Satan as entertainment, is a deeply poisonous, deceptive snake that lies coiled up in magazines, the Internet, and the television." (David E. Sorensen, You Can’t Pet a Rattlesnake, 2001 July Ensign, http://www.lds.org)
4."I plead with you boys tonight to keep yourselves free from the
stains of the world. You must not indulge in sleazy talk at school. You must
not tell sultry jokes. You must not fool around with the Internet to find
pornographic material. You must not dial a long-distance telephone number to
listen to filth. You must not rent videos with pornography of any kind. This
salacious stuff simply is not for you. 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." (Gordon
B. Hinckley, Living Worthy of the Girl You Will Someday Marry, 1998 May Ensign, http://www.lds.org)
5."I believe human sexuality cannot be continually portrayed as
just another physical appetite that has to be satisfied—whenever and with
whomever the urge strikes—without diminishing respect for God and His
commandments. And I believe that the desensitizing effect of such media abuses
on the hearts and souls of those who are exposed to them results in a partial
fulfillment of the Savior’s statement that ‘because iniquity shall abound, the
love of many shall wax cold.’ …Pornography is rampant and is absolutely
destructive.” (M. Russell Ballard, “When Shall These Things Be?”, 1996 December
Ensign, http://www.lds.org)
6."Members of the Church everywhere are urged to not only resist
the widespread plague of pornography, but as citizens to become actively and
relentlessly engaged in the fight against this insidious enemy of humanity
around the world. Last year billions of dollars were spent worldwide on obscene
motion pictures and literature. This smut is surfacing in bookstores, magazine
shops, motion picture theaters, and unfortunately, in some department stores,
food markets, and even drugstores." (Spencer W. Kimball, A Report and a
Challenge, 1976 November Ensign, http://www.lds.org)
7."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." (Challenges for the
Year Ahead (pamphlet, 1974), 4–5; reprinted in “Things They’re Saying,” New
Era, Feb. 1974)” (Dallin H. Oaks, Pornography, 2005 May Ensign,
http://www.lds.org)
8."The scriptures repeatedly teach that the Spirit of the Lord
will not dwell in an unclean tabernacle. When we worthily partake of the sacrament,
we are promised that we will “always have his Spirit to be with [us].” To
qualify for that promise we covenant that we will “always remember him” (D&C 20:77).
Those who seek out and use pornography for sexual stimulation obviously violate
that covenant." (Dallin H. Oaks, Pornography, 2005 May Ensign,
http://www.lds.org)
9."Pornography impairs one’s ability to enjoy a normal emotional,
romantic, and spiritual relationship with a person of the opposite sex. It
erodes the moral barriers that stand against inappropriate, abnormal, or
illegal behavior. As conscience is desensitized, patrons of pornography are led
to act out what they have witnessed, regardless of its effects on their life
and the lives of others." (Dallin H. Oaks, Pornography, 2005 May Ensign,
http://www.lds.org)
10."Next, 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. How applicable is Alexander Pope’s classic, An Essay on Man:
Vice is a monster of so
frightful mien,
As to be hated needs but to
be seen;
Yet seen too oft, familiar
with her face,
We first
endure, then pity, then embrace." (Thomas S. Monson, True to the Faith, 2006
April Addresses, http://www.lds.org)
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