A Voice For Virtue

For those of you who do not use Blogger personally, I am excited to share the new announcement they have made. A banner appeared starting this week announcing that on March 23rd, Blogger will no longer allow sexually explicit material!

In a very tasteful change to their adult content policy, they state "Starting March 23, 2015, you won't be able to publicly share images and videos that are sexually explicit or show graphic nudity on Blogger. Note: We’ll still allow nudity if the content offers a substantial public benefit. For example, in artistic, educational, documentary, or scientific contexts...If your existing blog does have sexually explicit or graphic nude images or video, your blog will be made private after March 23, 2015. No content will be deleted, but private content can only be seen by the owner or admins of the blog and the people who the owner has shared the blog with...."

In recent months, with the spreading wildfire that is Fifty Shades of Grey, the epidemic of pornography and sexual abuse is starkly apparent. An addiction commonly thought to be male-based, this book and recent movie highlight that it is reaching out to an increasingly large female audience. Pornography destroys. It destroys the individuals who read and watch it, those who are involved in making it, and the families of all those affected by it (see my friend's blog for more about this). Pornography degrades respect for what should be sacred human intimacy and lowers self-esteem and self-respect.

Beyond the images and words that as graphic as they are widespread, is an attitude that is becoming harder and harder to combat-- that these choices and lifestyles are acceptable and that explicit sexuality is just an extension of self-expression. In a society that is pushing moral relativism, standing for virtue is like a stone pillar surrounded by quicksand. Elder Christofferson recently explained:

Relativism means each person is his or her own highest authority. Of course, it is not just those who deny God that subscribe to this philosophy. Some who believe in God still believe that they themselves, individually, decide what is right and wrong. One young adult expressed it this way: “I don’t think I could say that Hinduism is wrong or Catholicism is wrong or being Episcopalian is wrong—I think it just depends on what you believe. … I don’t think that there’s a right and wrong.”21 Another, asked about the basis for his religious beliefs, replied, “Myself—it really comes down to that. I mean, how could there be authority to what you believe?”22

To those who believe anything or everything could be true, the declaration of objective, fixed, and universal truth feels like coercion—“I shouldn’t be forced to believe something is true that I don’t like.” But that does not change reality. Resenting the law of gravity won’t keep a person from falling if he steps off a cliff. The same is true for eternal law and justice. Freedom comes not from resisting it but from applying it. That is fundamental to God’s own power. If it were not for the reality of fixed and immutable truths, the gift of agency would be meaningless since we would never be able to foresee and intend the consequences of our actions.

How could there be an authority on the expression of our sexuality?, some people ask. It's something that is natural and beautiful, right? Yes, it is. However, it is also a gift from God that will bring maximum happiness when used according to the guidelines He has set forth. In contrast to the world's view of Latter-day Saint or Christian women as being ashamed and embarrassed by sex, I treasure and cherish my sexuality. And part of that is respecting myself by how I dress and act, waiting until marriage to have sexual relations, and keeping my mind clean from the polluting effects of pornography. I love this excerpt from the family section on www.lds.org.

Heavenly Father created the plan of salvation so that we can experience life, return to His presence, and have joy. Central to this plan are the spiritual, emotional, and physical unity developed in marriage and family life. He gave us the capacity for physical intimacy so that we could strengthen and grow our eternal families. He intends for sex to be a beautiful, powerful, and joyful part of our lives—not something evil or corrupt. Sex enables a husband and a wife to have children, express love, and strengthen their spiritual, emotional, and physical bonds. Sexual intimacy is an important part of marriage, and when it is used in the way that God has commanded, it brings great blessings and joy. While many in the world portray sex as casual or crude, the gospel teaches that sexuality is a powerful gift from Heavenly Father and that it should be used within the bounds He has set, with wisdom and reverence. (Overcoming Pornography Through The Atonement of Jesus Christ)

So, thank you Blogger for taking the step to protect so many from that content. While everyone is entitled to their thoughts and ideas, by making that private you protect countless people from stumbling upon those words and images. Thank you, but it's not enough alone. All of us need to add our voices in defense of virtue, to take a stand for morality and purity. What in our lives needs to be eliminated or changed to do so? Please add your voice for virtue.

@kristi_girasol