Spiritual Kryptonite

Television became available to American households in the early 1950’s. The first TV our family had looked like this.

The screen was small, and, of course, all programs were in black and white. We didn't have a color TV until I was seventeen. In my elementary school years, I don’t think there was a day that went by when, after school, we weren’t lying on the floor with our chins propped in our hands watching our favorite shows.

“Superman” was one of my favorites. It was based on the popular comic book hero, but it had real actors. There was no end to the suspenseful weekly dramas where Superman performed super-human rescues or fought off evil villains. (I do find it interesting, however, that although he could see through practically anything with his x-ray vision, blast his body thru impenetrable walls without receiving a scratch, and fly “faster than a speeding bullet” – when a bad guy would run out of ammo and throw the gun at him, Superman always ducked. Oh well.)

There was only one thing that could weaken or immobilize Superman: a crystallized material called kryptonite, from his home planet of Krypton. If Superman came into close proximity to kryptonite he would lose all of his super-powers and become weak, dizzy, and eventually lose consciousness. Not once did we ever hear our hero say, “I think I’ll see how close I can get to kryptonite without it killing me.” On the contrary—he stayed as far away as he could.

Pornography is like kryptonite, only worse. For decades, Church leaders have warned against it. It saps spiritual strength and results in the loss of the influence of the Holy Ghost. Many of those who view it will become addicted with an addiction every bit as strong as an addiction as heroin, cocaine, or meth. It can literally destroy individuals’ lives and family relationships.

Why is it, then, that in spite of all the warnings, so many among us are afflicted with this addiction? And why are some of us seemingly sticking our heads in the sand, unwilling to admit that this deadly enemy has scaled the walls and is, in reality, already inside our gates?

“Well, it may be happening in the outside world, but it can’t be happening within my ward, class, quorum . . . or family.” Think not? Think your ward/stake has a protective shield around it and that nobody is tinkering with the deadliest “spiritual kryptonite” of our day? Consider this: “A worried stake president [who prefers to remain anonymous] . . . interviewed one hundred young men regarding pornography use. Ninety-four out of one hundred young men admitted to viewing pornography occasionally or regularly.

"In a study reported to the Attorney General's Commission on Pornography by Dr. Jennings Bryant, '600 American males and females of high school age and above were interviewed about their out in real life involvement with pornography. 91% of the males and 82% of the females admitted to having been exposed to X-rated, hard-core pornography. Two-thirds of the males and 40% of the females reported wanting to try out some of the behaviors they had witnessed'" (Source: Confronting Pornography, ed. Chamberlain, Gray, Reid, 15, 68).

Studies show that fully one-third of all visits to Internet sites by adult users are to sexually oriented websites. According to Google Trends, in 2007, while Utah and/or Salt Lake City ranked tops in Internet searches by web users for words like “Jesus,” “family history,” “Harry Potter,” “Mormon,” “Lord of the Rings,” . . . “snowboarding,” “home storage,” and “Mitt Romney,” Utah and Salt lake City also ranked #1 in the nation in searches for “pornography,” “naked girls,” “striptease,” “topless,” “nude,” “strip poker,” “lingerie,” “blonde,” and “brunette.” (Source: "What Do Utahns Google?" Deseret News, Oct. 12, 2007.)

In the early 1980's, at a Regional LDS Boy Scout Encampment at Lake Pend Oreille, Idaho, I heard Elder Vaughn J. Featherstone relate the true account of a man who had held a high position in the Church but who’d been excommunicated for immoral behavior. In order to demonstrate to the Brethren how deeply the man had gotten addicted to pornography, the man’s file leader took examples of the man’s pornographic magazines to a meeting with the First Presidency. Elder Featherstone said that the leader laid the magazines on the table in front of the First Presidency, saying, “Just look at the kinds of evil to which this man has become addicted!”

But something happened which the leader did not expect. None of the Brethren let their eyes look upon the magazines or the images they contained. Each of them kept his eyes firmly locked on his. Their response?: “We don’t need to look at pornorgraphy to know how evil it is.” And in those words we find the key to safety. Follow counsel. Don't experiement, not even out of curiosity.

Joseph Smith taught that in the latter days, sexual immorality would be the source of more temptations, more buffetings, and more difficulties for the elders of Israel than any other (see Journal of Discourses 8:55).

Oh, that we could teach our men and boys that one doesn’t need to sample poison to know that it kills.

Superman never did.

Guardrails

Guardrails are a common sight in California's Yosemite Park. Anyone who would complain about them being an "eyesore" or clamor for their removal would be regarded as a crackpot.

These kids are standing behind the guardrail at the edge of one of the many waterfalls in Yosemite -- Vernal Fall.

Here is another view of Vernal Fall, 371 feet down to the massive boulders below. By now you've probably heard the tragic news of three young adults -- one young woman and two young men -- who were swept over these falls earlier this week. While we obviously feel great sympathy for their family members and friends, we cannot help but be astounded at their extremely poor judgment.

Around the falls and along the river that feeds into them are guardrails and warning signs. According to one news account, "The area is dotted with clear and multi-lingual displays warning of the dangers . . . One sign features a stick figure falling over a cliff."

Eyewitnesses reported how shocked they were upon seeing these three ignore the posted warning signs and climb over the guardrail. The young woman and one of the young men stepped onto rocks in the river which was running high and fast due to the summer snowmelt. The other young man had also climbed over the guardrail and was shooting photos of his "brave" friends.

So there they were, only a few dozen yards above the falls. It appeared that the young man was trying to make his way along the slippery rocks to the center of the swollen river. But he lost his footing and fell in. Then the young woman slipped into the fast-moving water. Their friend, the photographer, jumped into the river in a vain attempt to rescue them. One eyewitness said that just before the three were launched over the falls, one of the two young men made eye contact with him, and the look in his eyes was one of horror.

Because the river is running so high, some do not expect to find the bodies for weeks.

I once had an experience with guardrails. In the winter of 1970, I was among two busloads of BYU geology students who traveled into the mountains of eastern Utah on an overnight field trip. On the second day, the buses were traveling through the mountains along a narrow back-road. The going was slow because of large patches of ice and snow, and it was on one of those icy patches that our bus ran into trouble.

We were headed up an incline when the bus’s wheels suddenly lost traction and began spinning on the ice. At that moment, we all looked out our windows and had the frightening realization that not only were we not moving forward but the bus was sliding sideways very slightly towards the edge of the road where there was a steep drop-off. And worst of all—there was no guardrail.

Sensing the danger, our driver promptly stopped the bus and opened the door, instructing all of us to get out—fast. Fortunately, for now at least, the bus had stopped its sideways slide. Standing huddled in the cold, we watched as our driver repeatedly tried inching the bus forward. But the wheels continued to spin on the ice. Suddenly, we were speechless as the bus once again slid a few more inches toward the edge. After several more attempts to move the bus forward, the driver was finally able to advance it beyond that slippery spot and away from the dangerous drop-off.

Greatly relieved to be out of danger, we got back on the bus and continued on our way.

That trip offered many opportunities to learn about interesting geologic formations, including a visit to Dinosaur National Monument. But I only have a vague recollection of any of that. After all these years, the only clear memory of that trip is that I came home with a very strong appreciation for guardrails.

What about the spiritual guardrails in our lives? The ones placed along life's road by God's prophets. It would take too long to list them all, but you know what I'm talking about. They are standards which, if followed, offer protection from spiritual injury, addiction, and much sorrow. Some, trusting that God is truly watching out for us, stay behind the guardrail. Others, like those three young people, tell themselves "I can handle it."

Do we rationalize an occasional jump over the guardrails the Lord has put in place -- such as viewing spiritually deadly and addicting images on the Internet; accepting bloody violence as the norm in what we call "entertainment"; using the vulgar language that is becoming so commonplace in the world? many do so, telling themselves that spiritual guardrails are intended for the "weaker" ones among us, but that these "stronger souls" can hop over them any time they want to sample a little worldly excitement. "After all,: they reason, "I can jump back to the safe side any time I want."

Unfortunately, spiritual injury isn't like physical injury. There's no bleeding, no broken bones sticking through the flesh, no gaping wounds. Spiritual injury is often undetectable, even to the one who is injured. But it's there, and it has a debilitating effect on our spirit. The greatest impact is that the Holy Ghost leaves us on our own.

I suggest that we consider the spiritual guardrails in our lives and resolve to respect them and stay on the right side of them. How else can we become the sanctified souls that we were sent here to become?