By: Mary Mostert, Analyst, Original Sources (www.originalsources.com)
October 5, 1998
Over the week-end leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints talked about the condition of the world for eight hours to millions of people over the Church's satellite network and on commercial cable networks and never once mentioned President Clinton, Monica Lewinsky, Paula Jones, Kenneth Starr or the debate in Congress over possible impeachment. Remarkable! However, the specter of the Clinton sex scandals seemed to hover over the talks and it was hard not to think about what kind of leader Bill Clinton, disgraced by his own sexual appetite, might have been had he listened to, and followed, the counsel given in those eight hours.
"Sin never was happiness," Gordon B. Hinckley said, after talking about such issues as homosexuality, abortion, broken families, spousal and child abuse, why so many people are joining the church. "Transgression never was happiness. Falsehood in word or behavior never was happiness. Happiness lies in obedience to the teachings and commandments of God, our Eternal Father, and his beloved son, the Lord Jesus Christ."
For months the nation's media have discussed at great length whether or not it matters that a leader has an unbridled sexual appetite or if he lies to the people, the Congress, his friends, his staff, his wife, the Grand Jury and Congress - if it's about sex. During those eight hours, in talk after talk, the young people were advised that, yes, what they do about moral issues DO matter, in spite of what they are hearing every day on the news.
Jeffrey Holland, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church, began his talk, "As modern winds of immorality swirl luridly around them, I, too, am concerned for any of our youth or young adults who may be confused about principles of personal purity, about obligations of total chastity before marriage, and complete fidelity after it. Against what is happening in the world they see and hear, and hoping to fortify parents as they teach their children a higher standard, I wish to speak today about moral cleanliness. Because this subject is as sacred as any I know, I earnestly pray for the Holy Spirit to guide me in remarks that are more candid than I would wish to make."
"In approaching this subject I do not document a host of social ills for which the statistics are as grim as the examples are offensive. Nor will I present a checklist of do's and don'ts about dating. What I wish to do is more personal. I wish to try to answer questions some of you may have been asking. 'Why should we be morally clean? Why is it such an important issue to God?' Does the Church HAVE to be so strict about it, when others don't seem to be? How can anything that society exploits and glamorizes so openly be very sacred OR serious?'
"May I begin with civilization's long, instructive story. Will and Ariel Durant have written, 'No man or woman, no matter how brilliant or well informed, can safely dismiss the wisdom of lessons learned in the laboratory of history. A youth boiling with hormones will wonder why he should not give full freedom to his sexual desires. But, if he is unchecked by customs or morals or laws, he may ruin his life before he understands that sex is a river of fire that must be banked and cooled by a hundred constraints if it is not to consume in chaos both the individual and the group.'
"A more important scriptural observation is offered by the writer of Proverbs: 'Can a man take fire in his bosom, and his clothes not be burned? Can one go upon hot coals and his feet not be burned? Whoso committeth adultery destroyeth his own soul. A wound and dishonor shall he get; and his reproach shall not be wiped away.' (Prov. 6:32)
"Why is the matter of sexual relationships so severe that fire is almost always the metaphor, with passion pictured vividly in flames? What is there in the potentially hurtful heat of this that leaves one's soul, or the whole world for that matter, destroyed if that flame is left unchecked and those passions unrestrained?
What is there, in all this that prompts Alma to warn his son Corianton that 'sexual transgression is an abomination is the sight of the Lord; yea, most abominable above all sins save it be the shedding of innocent blood or denying the Holy Ghost?' (Book of Mormon, Alma 39:5) "By assigning such seriousness to a physical appetite so universally bestowed, what is God trying to tell us about its place in His plan for all men and women? I submit to you He is doing precisely that, commenting about the very plan of life itself. Clearly among his greatest concerns regarding mortality are how one gets into this world, and how one gets out of it. He has set very strict limits in those matters.
"Fortunately, in the case of how life is terminated, most seem to be quite responsible. But in the significance of giving life, we sometimes find near criminal irresponsibility."
In LDS doctrine, Elder Holland explained, the body is an essential part of the soul, and explains why sexual sin is so serious. "We declare that one who uses the God-given body of another without divine sanction, abuses the very soul of that individual; abuses the central purposes and processes of life, the very key to life. In exploiting the body of another, which means exploiting his or her soul, one desecrates the Atonement of Christ which saved that soul and which makes possible the gift of eternal life.
"And when one mocks the son of righteousness, one steps into a realm of heat hotter than the noon-day sun. You cannot do so and not be burned. Please, never, never say 'who does it hurt? I can transgress now, and repent later.' Please don't be so foolish and so cruel."
The message was simple. We are not animals. We are children of God. We can control our passions and "inclinations" and be accountable for our actions. On homosexuality President Hinckley observed that those whose "inclinations" tend towards their own sex are welcome in the church, but, should they act on those "inclinations" and become sexually active with members of their own sex, they will no longer be members of the Church, the same as unrepentant adulterers and fornicators.
I thought of the fire analogy and Bill Clinton. At fifty-two he still appears to lack basic self-control and still seems somewhat oblivious to the damage he has done to himself and to a seemingly growing number of women. While in the final analysis the legal issue may be the effort to cover up the fire with lies, obstruction of justice, abuse of power, etc., the real issue is Bill Clinton's lack of self-control and his irresponsibility of which his sexual appetite is merely one example. What damage has been done to our culture and to the young people of American by electing a president who lacks morals, uses and abuses the souls of others?
Those who believe all is lost and the world is beyond hope might ponder one more comment made by Gordon B. Hinckley. In spite of these high standards of behavior, or perhaps because of them, and the loss of some members who cannot or will not adhere to them, this 10 million member church is growing at a rate of 4% a year - a very high growth rate for a church.
To comment: mmostert@originalsources.com