Pornography Position Statement

I believe that pornography is one of Satan’s deadliest weapons.  It has destroyed millions of people and families.  Once it gets inside of you, it’s there, stored in your brain, waiting to attack with its evil images and un-pure thoughts.  The best way to avoid its harmful influences is to never indulge in the first place.  It will become an addiction to you.  The Spirit will warn you once you are nearing spiritual danger and its best to heed those warnings right away.  I will treat pornography as a deadly plague and avoid it at all costs because I know that’s exactly what it is to my spirit.

Pornography #10

"As we encounter that evil carrier, the pornography beetle, let our battle standard and that of our communities be taken from that famous ensign of early America, 'Don’t tread on me' (John Bartlett, Familiar Quotations, p. 1090).

"Let us join in the fervent declaration of Joshua: 'Choose you this day whom ye will serve … but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord' (Josh. 24:15). Let our hearts be pure. Let our lives be clean. Let our voices be heard. Let our actions be felt.

"Then the beetle of pornography will be halted in its deadly course. Pernicious permissiveness will have met its match. And we, with Joshua, will safely cross over Jordan into the promised land—even to eternal life in the celestial kingdom of our God."

President Thomas S. Monson, "Pornography--the Deadly Carrier," General Conference October 1979

Pornography #9

"Then suddenly, there appears before us in this generation a sinister and diabolical enemy--pornography. Like the bark beetle it too is the carrier of a deadly disease. I shall name it 'pernicious permissiveness.'

"At first we scarcely realize we have been infected. We laugh and make light-hearted comment concerning the off-color story or the clever cartoon. With evangelical zeal we protect the so-called rights of those who would contaminate with smut and destroy all that is precious and sacred. The beetle of pornography is doing his deadly task—undercutting our will, destroying our immunity, and stifling that upward reach within each of us."

President Thomas S. Monson, "Pornography--the Deadly Carrier," General Conference October 1979

Pornography #8

“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.”
President Boyd K. Packer, "Cleansing The Inner Vessel," General Conference October 2010

Pornography #7

“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.”
President Gordon B. Hinckley, "Living Worthy of the Girl You Will Someday Marry," General Conference April 1998

Pornography #6

"Pornography is also addictive. It impairs decision-making capacities and it “hooks” its users, drawing them back obsessively for more and more. A man who had been addicted to pornography and to hard drugs wrote me this comparison: “In my eyes cocaine doesn’t hold a candle to this. I have done both. … Quitting even the hardest drugs was nothing compared to [trying to quit pornography]” (letter of Mar. 20, 2005)."
Elder Dallin H. Oakes, "Pornography," General Conference April 2005

Pornography #5

"Don’t accommodate any degree of temptation. Prevent sin and avoid having to deal with its inevitable destruction. So, turn it off! Look away! Avoid it at all costs. Direct your thoughts in wholesome paths. Remember your covenants and be faithful in temple attendance."
Elder Dallin H. Oakes, "Pornography," General Conference April 2005

Pornography #4

“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.”
Elder Dallin H. Oakes, "Pornography," General Conference April 2005

Pornography #3

"We need to bear in mind that people can change.  They can put behind them bad habits.  They can repent from transgressions. ... We can help them to overcome their shortcomings.  We must develop the capacity to see men not as they are at present but as they may become."

President Thomas S. Monson, "See Others As They May Become," General Conference October 2012

Pornography #2

“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.”

President Boyd K. Packer, "Cleansing the Inner Vessel," General Conference October 2010

Pornography #1

"Like thieves in the night, unwelcome thoughts can and do seek entrance to our minds. But we don’t have to throw open the door, serve them tea and crumpets, and then tell them where the silverware is kept! (You shouldn’t be serving tea anyway.) Throw the rascals out! Replace lewd thoughts with ^"

hopeful images and joyful memories; picture the faces of those who love you and would be shattered if you let them down. More than one man has been saved from sin or stupidity by remembering the face of his mother, his wife, or his child waiting somewhere for him at home. Whatever thoughts you have,
make sure they are welcome in your heart by invitation only. As an ancient poet once said, let will be your reason.

^{Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, April 2010 General Conference, "Place No More for the Enemy of My Soul"}