|
Merrill J. Bateman The following is a transcript of a live presentation given at the Cyber Secrets Conference on Pornography at Brigham Young University on February 18, 2003. As president of Brigham Young University, as an official of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and more importantly as a father and a grandfather of both sons and daughters, grandsons and granddaughters, I recognize our subject today, that of pornography, as a growing problem which needs attention. Last evening we welcomed into this world our 27th little grandchild, a beautiful little granddaughter. And as I held her in my arms for a few moments, I thought of the purity with which this young soul enters the world, and hopefully the purity with which it can leave the world. And our subject today has as its purpose the opposite, that of destroying one’s purity and one’s character. It requires careful attention, it requires frankness, but also appropriate decorum. We thank our well-respected and excellent presenters today who’ll be giving of their time as they address various subjects. They will address topics such as achieving healthy intimacy, treatment for lasting change, supporting those who struggle with compulsions, and cyber porn and Internet safety. They will discuss these timely and sensitive topics in clear and practical ways. In doing so, they will avoid sensationalistic or undue attention to the topics they address while dealing directly with pornography’s tangled webs, the compulsive cycles associated with self-indulgence, self-hatred, self-concealment, and feelings of isolation. A short time ago, President Packer, in a CES Fireside, indicated that the body was the instrument of the mind. It was meant to be the instrument of the mind and the foundation of one’s character. If one thinks about the process of pornography and the compulsive cycles associated with it, it’s interesting that it turns that statement by President Packer upside-down. No longer is the body an instrument of the mind, but the mind becomes a slave of the body. No longer is it the foundation of one’s character, but one’s character over time becomes destroyed by the processes that will be described today. By way of perspective, let me note that the issues of pornography are of a different order of magnitude for us on this campus than they are in other places. For example, we do not sponsor or give credit for a course called Porn 101. That does happen on another university, though, in this nation. It includes field trips, the course introduces young minds to pornography, it teaches them how to access materials of this nature. Can you believe it? The opposite of what one would expect a university to do in this day and age. Unfortunately there are many places across the earth that doesn’t understand the relationship between the intellect and the mind and the spirit and the body. We each have a duty to take the issues of pornography and its related concerns seriously and to protect ourselves and those for whom we have responsibility. We live in an age of increasingly open communications, an openness which can bring light or filth. It is encouraging that 92 percent of Americans under age 60 say they have used a computer, and 75 say they have used the Internet. I don’t know quite why that’s so great, unless one uses it appropriately. It is encouraging also that 74 percent of the 15- to 24-year-olds have access to the Internet at home, and 31 percent have access in their own bedrooms. It is discouraging, though, that an estimated 100,000 websites sell sex in some way, not including e-mail and chat rooms. It is discouraging that an estimated 200 new sex-related websites are added every day. Pornography thrives on anonymity, but we know and God knows what we are watching and why. Let me say the university’s vitally interested that our campus IT facilities or capabilities never be used for pornographic purposes. Such scars those involved, demeans those often otherwise innocent and offends the spirit we want on this campus. As determined as we are that pornography find no place of refuge among us, we’re even more determined to help anyone who may have fallen into pornography’s evil clutches. We help such individuals confidentially, involving campus and ecclesiastical support as useful to assist them in breaking the compulsive cycle. We rejoice when individuals through the cleansing blessings of the atonement really change. We rejoice when actions of progression, such as exercising one’s talents, restore feelings of self-esteem, bring about actions of self-disclosure, and renew healthy feelings of connection and belonging. We do know that people can access pornography on this campus if they’re really determined to do so. It is not difficult, and yet everyone has asked to live by a standard where one imposes on one’s self self-restraints in a manner that would keep that from happening. Let me close by sharing my testimony that we are truly sons and daughters of a loving Father in Heaven. One of the greatest blessings in this life is to know why we have a physical body and the eternal consequences of how we use those special, sacred powers that are inherent within the physical body. Truly how we approach the physical and the spiritual will exalt us or it will stomp our progression. During this conference I plead with you to think carefully on one of the great, grand prizes of mortality, and that is the physical body, and how one can make it an instrument of the mind and the spirit, how one can maintain it as the foundation of one’s character, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen. |