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In Opposition to Evil
Ensign,
September 2004
By President Gordon B. Hinckley
One
evening I picked up the morning
paper, which I had not previously
read, and thumbed through its pages.
My eyes stopped on the theater ads,
so many of them an open appeal to
witness that which is debauching,
that which leads to violence and
illicit sex.
I
turned to my mail and found a small
magazine which lists the television
fare for the coming week and saw
titles of shows aimed in the same
direction. A news magazine lay on my
desk. This particular issue was
devoted to the rising crime rate.
Articles in the magazine spoke of
additional billions for increased
police forces and larger prisons.
The
flood of pornographic filth, the
inordinate emphasis on sex and
violence are not peculiar to North
America. The situation is as bad in
Europe and in many other areas. The
whole dismal picture indicates a
weakening rot seeping into the very
fiber of society.
Legal
restraints against deviant moral
behavior are eroding under
legislative enactments and court
opinions. This is done in the name
of freedom of speech, freedom of the
press, freedom of choice in
so-called personal matters. But the
bitter fruit of these so-called
freedoms has been enslavement to
debauching habits and behavior that
leads only to destruction. A
prophet, speaking long ago, aptly
described the process when he said,
"And thus the devil cheateth their
souls, and leadeth them away
carefully down to hell" (2
Nephi 28:21).
On the
other hand, I am satisfied that
there are millions upon millions of
good people in this and in other
lands. For the most part, husbands
are faithful to wives, and wives to
husbands. Their children are being
reared in sobriety, industry, and
faith in God. Given the strength of
these, I am one who believes that
the situation is far from hopeless.
I am satisfied that there is no need
to stand still and let the filth and
violence overwhelm us or to run in
despair. The tide, high and menacing
as it is, can be turned back if
enough of the kind I have mentioned
will add their strength to the
strength of the few who are now
effectively working. I believe the
challenge to oppose this evil is one
from which members of The Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,
as citizens, cannot shrink.
I
should like to suggest four points
of beginning in our efforts to
oppose the tide of evil.
The first: Begin with yourself.
Reformation of the world begins with
reformation of self. It is a
fundamental article of our faith
that "we believe in being honest,
true, chaste, benevolent, [and]
virtuous" (Articles
of Faith 1:13).
We
cannot hope to influence others in
the direction of virtue unless we
live lives of virtue. The example of
our living will carry a greater
influence than will all the
preaching in which we might indulge.
We cannot expect to lift others
unless we stand on higher ground
ourselves.
Respect for self is the beginning of
virtue in men. That man who knows
that he is a child of God, created
in the image of a divine Father and
gifted with a potential for the
exercise of great and godlike
virtues, will discipline himself
against the sordid, lascivious
elements to which all are exposed.
Said Alma to his son Helaman, "Look
to God and live" (Alma
37:47).
It is
a matter of more than passing
interest that the Lord, as He spoke
to the multitude on the mount,
included this marvelous declaration:
"Blessed are the pure in heart: for
they shall see God" (Matthew
5:8).
A wise
man once said, "Make of yourself an
honest man, and there will be one
rascal fewer in the world."
And it
was Shakespeare who put into the
mouth of one of his characters this
persuasive injunction: "To thine own
self be true, And it must follow, as
the night the day, Thou canst not
then be false to any man."
1
I
should like to give to all men and
women who may read these words a
challenge to lift their thoughts
above the filth, to discipline their
acts into examples of virtue, to
control their words so that they
speak only that which is uplifting
and leads to growth.
And now my second point of
beginning: A better tomorrow begins
with the training of a better
generation.
This
places upon parents the
responsibility to do a more
effective work in the rearing of
children. The home is the cradle of
virtue, the place where character is
formed and habits are established.
Family home evening is the
opportunity to teach the ways of the
Lord.
You
know that your children will read.
They will read books, and they will
read magazines and newspapers.
Cultivate within them a taste for
the best. While they are very young,
read to them the great stories which
have become immortal because of the
virtues they teach. Expose them to
good books. Let there be a corner
somewhere in your house, be it ever
so small, where they will see at
least a few books of the kind upon
which great minds have been
nourished.
Let
there be good magazines about the
house, those which are produced by
the Church and by others, which will
stimulate their thoughts to
ennobling concepts. Let them read a
good family newspaper that they may
know what is going on in the world
without being exposed to the
debasing advertising and writing so
widely found. When there is a good
movie in town, consider going to the
theater as a family. Your very
patronage will give encouragement to
those who wish to produce this type
of entertainment. And use that most
remarkable of all tools of
communication, television, to enrich
their lives. There is so much that
is good, but it requires
selectivity. Let those who are
responsible for any efforts to put
suitable family entertainment on
television know of your appreciation
for that which is good and also of
your displeasure with that which is
bad. In large measure, we get what
we ask for. The problem is that so
many of us fail to ask and, more
frequently, fail to express
gratitude for that which is good.
Let
there be music in the home. If you
have teenagers who have their own
recordings, you will be prone to
describe the sound as something
other than music. Let them hear
something better occasionally.
Expose them to it. It will speak for
itself. More appreciation will come
than you may think. It may not be
spoken, but it will be felt, and its
influence will become increasingly
manifest as the years pass.
Now my third point of beginning: The
building of public sentiment begins
with a few earnest voices.
I am
not one to advocate shouting
defiantly or shaking fists and
issuing threats in the faces of
legislators. But I am one who
believes that we should earnestly
and sincerely and positively express
our convictions to those given the
heavy responsibility of making and
enforcing our laws. The sad fact is
that the minority who call for
greater liberalization, who peddle
and devour pornography, who
encourage and feed on licentious
display make their voices heard
until those in our legislatures may
come to believe that what they say
represents the will of the majority.
We are not likely to get that which
we do not speak up for.
Let
our voices be heard. I hope they
will not be shrill voices, but I
hope we shall speak with such
conviction that those to whom we
speak shall know of the strength of
our feeling and the sincerity of our
effort. Remarkable consequences
often flow from a well-written
letter and a postage stamp.
Remarkable results come of quiet
conversation with those who carry
heavy responsibilities.
Declared the Lord to this people:
"Wherefore, be not weary in
well-doing, for ye are laying the
foundation of a great work. And out
of small things proceedeth that
which is great.
"Behold, the Lord requireth the
heart and a willing mind" (D&C
64:33–34).
This
is the essence of the matter—"the
heart and a willing mind." Speak to
those who enact the regulations, the
statutes, and the laws—those in
government on local, state, and
national levels and those who occupy
positions of responsibility as
administrators of our schools. Of
course, there will be some who will
slam the door, some who will scoff.
Discouragement may come. It has
always been thus. Edmund Burke,
speaking on the floor of the House
of Commons in 1783, declared
concerning the advocate of an
unpopular cause:
"He
well knows what snares are spread
about his path. . . . He is traduced
and abused for his supposed motives.
He will remember that obloquy is a
necessary ingredient in the
composition of all true glory: he
will remember . . . that calumny and
abuse are essential parts of
triumph."
2
The
Apostle Paul, in his defense before
Agrippa, gave an account of his
miraculous conversion while on the
way to Damascus, declaring that the
voice of the Lord commanded him to
"rise, and stand upon thy feet" (Acts
26:16).
I
think the Lord would say to us,
"Rise, and stand upon thy feet, and
speak up for truth and goodness and
decency and virtue."
Finally, my fourth point of
beginning: Strength to do battle
begins with enlisting the strength
of God.
He is
the source of all true power.
Declared Paul to the Ephesians:
"Finally, my brethren, be strong in
the Lord, and in the power of his
might.
"Put
on the whole armour of God, that ye
may be able to stand against the
wiles of the devil.
"For
we wrestle not against flesh and
blood, but against principalities,
against powers, against the rulers
of the darkness of this world,
against spiritual wickedness in high
places.
"Wherefore take unto you the whole
armour of God, that ye may be able
to withstand in the evil day, and
having done all, to stand" (Ephesians
6:10–13).
The
tide of evil flows. Today it has
become a veritable flood. Most of
us, living somewhat sheltered lives,
have little idea of the vast
dimensions of it. Billions of
dollars are involved for those who
pour out pornography, for those who
peddle lasciviousness, for those who
deal in perversion, in sex and
violence. God give us the strength,
the wisdom, the faith, the courage
as citizens to stand in opposition
to these and to let our voices be
heard in defense of those virtues
which, when practiced in the past,
made men and nations strong, and
which, when neglected, brought them
to decay.
God
lives. He is our strength and our
helper. As we strive, we shall
discover that legions of good men
and women will join with us. Let us
begin now.
Notes
1.
Hamlet, act 1, scene 3, lines
78–80.
2. Quoted in John F. Kennedy,
Profiles in Courage (1956), vi.
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