I am not angry, but righteous indignation is beginning to boil through my blood. Two Saturdays ago, our Stake President, President Messer, told the congregation that "Combating Pornography would be the handcart we are asked to pull in our lifetime." At the time I did not know that the handcart would be packed and ready to be pulled by Monday Morning.
Last week, Ally, (remember that Ally is 7, a 2nd Grader) kept coming home in a really bad mood. Each night I would try to figure out what was making her so grouchy. I finally got her to tell me that some of the boys on the bus were "saying nasty things." To her credit, she was so upset by the entire thing, that she could hardly tell me what they were talking about. I will not repeat them here, but lets just say that at a very young age, children are taught (whether on purpose or not), that the sacred is more like a cesspool.
Due to the upheaval in yesterday's afternoon, Family Home Evening quickly took a U-turn, what was planned could wait for another night. I sat the kids down and I showed them 2 pictures. One was of a landfill, the other was of the temple. I asked them how the landfill looked and smelled, and if they wanted to go there. In turn, I then asked them how the temple looked, and smelled, and if they wanted to go there. Ally quickly caught on to what was happening. "Mom, Heavenly Father says that our bodies are temples." YES!!! "So how do some people treat them like landfills?" I asked. "The clothes they wear, the things they say about their bodies, the things they "write" on their bodies...." The list went on.....
The writing on the wall is clear. This is my handcart. I will treat it like one. I would never leave a handcart behind for a day, saying, "we will get it tomorrow." I will be totally devoted to ridding our house of pornography, and never say to myself, "this situation is different, we will be okay." I would never go a day without checking my handcart and making sure that it is in good shape for the next day, repairing anything that has been compromised. When my children come home from school or any other activity, I will do damage repair as well.
And now for YOUR INPUT (I have to teach a 5th Sunday lesson on Combating Pornography, and would like your help). President Spencer W. Kimball said that Satan would use the following tools to infiltrate our lives with pornography. 1 - Use Logic to Confuse 2- Use Rationalization to Destroy 3-Shade Meanings 4 - Open Doors an Inch at a Time 5-Lead from Purest White through all the shades of gray, to the Darkest Black. Without writing anything inappropriate, could you share how you see this happening?
ok this is more on modesty than pornography, but it's got a good point:
ReplyDeletewhen i was in YW one of the girls' older sister was asked to come speak to us for one of our mutual activities. She was tall and gorgeous and had done a significant amount of modeling. She told us her story:
When she first started modeling she made it very clear to her agent where her standards were. nothing off the shoulders, no bare midriffs, etc. Slowly but surely she was talked into wearing a tank top *just this once* then into having a little belly showing *just a little bit* then having her skirt a little bit shorter than she was comfortable with *this is what all the girls are wearing* until one day she saw a picture of herself wearing a skimpy, trashy, black item of clothing very full of holes and not covering much of her skin. She talked about how satan had worked on her one outfit at a time until she was ok with wearing something like that.
it's really really scary how subtle he is. i mean really scary.
i don't knwo if that story was relevant at all but there you have it! good idea on the landfill and temple by the way. did you come up with that? i'm going to start emailing you on mondays to get my lesson plan for fhe! :)
Thanks Becky! That is exactly the kinds of things I am thinking of!
ReplyDeleteThis is from Lorri:
ReplyDeleteI really feel it is important to follow the example of "The Brethren" in the words and phrases we use. Instead of saying the worldly accepted term "gay", the brethren refer to such behavior as "homosexual". They use the terms sexual impurity, passionate kissing, arousal of sexual feelings, lustful desires, purity and intimacy, etc. in For the Strength of Youth booklet. Their teachings are never diluted or degraded with casual or crass references. I believe that when we use worldly terms in our homes and everyday conversation, it is an open invitation for "acceptable pornography". When we speak as our leaders speak, it is a constant reminder of God's regard for unholy practices as well as sacred things.
Wow! I hadn't even thought of that. Thanks :)
ReplyDeletety and i talk about how slowly it creeps into your home through the television. how something is really "funny" and "good" but only has one small bad part. or only one "gay" (i'm going to start using homosexual) moment or couple in it. and we take it. we let it in.
ReplyDeletei watched a documentary on this on byutv and they said that pornography on the movie screen today is likened to how cigarettes were portrayed in the 50's and 60's. they were EVERYWHERE but no and everyone just accepted it. until we found out they kill you. and pornography in all it's many forms is everywhere we look on tv and movies. but it doesn't just kill an individual- it kills families entirely.
ok- last thing i promise- my friend's mom would reply to their kids if they said, "but there's only 1 bad part!" with, if i made a plate of brownies, and only put one tiny piece of dog poo in it, would you still eat it?
gross- but perfect analogy.
I certainly agree that it kills entire families. Thanks Annie
ReplyDelete