Let’s take movies as an example. We know that “the Lord cannot look upon sin with the least degree of allowance,” but Hollywood can and does! And many good members of the Church allow themselves to “look upon sin” in movie theaters with a great degree of allowance or tolerance, justifying it in the name of “good entertainment with just a few bad parts.”

Let’s assume that the two ends of the basketball court here at the Marriott Center represent the two extremes of movies that Hollywood produces. We will have this end area at my extreme right represent G-rated movies. At the other extreme to my left is what Hollywood calls “adult entertainment.” In between the two extremes the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) gives movies ratings of PG and PG-13. We will have this pulpit represent R rated, then NC-17, and adults only. In between the two extremes, where do we draw the line over which it would be dangerous to cross?

It is risky for the Church to draw a line. If the speed on the freeway is sixty-five miles per hour, how fast will people drive? Well, they will feel free to drive as fast as the limit. If the Church were to draw a line with movies, that would be like giving permission to watch everything up to the line. President Gordon B. Hinckley never drew a line. Neither has President Thomas S. Monson. But the prophets have taught us principles found in For the Strength of the Youth, such as the following:

Do not attend, view, or participate in anything that is vulgar, immoral, violent, or pornographic in any way. Do not participate in anything that presents immorality or violence as acceptable.

President Hinckley taught, “Avoid pornography as you would a plague.” Did you notice his use of the word avoid? President Monson has said, “Avoid any semblance of pornography. It will desensitize the spirit and erode the conscience.” For the Strength of Youth states:

Avoid pornography at all costs. It is a poison that weakens your self-control, destroys your feelings of self-worth, and changes the way you see others. It causes you to lose the guidance of the Spirit and can damage your ability to have a normal relationship with others, especially your future spouse.

Did you catch that? It can damage your ability to have a normal relationship with your future spouse. That isn’t merely conjecture. Thousands of cases bear witness of its destructive impact on the marriage relationship.

In 1986 President Ezra Taft Benson warned members of the danger of anything “R rated” or beyond. The members thought he had drawn a line. I know that because I have heard many members of the Church say, “Oh, we can watch that movie. It’s only a PG-13. The prophet gave us permission.” They don’t say that last part, but that is what they are thinking, because they thought he posted a speed limit, so to speak.

But what would a movie given an R rating in 1986 be rated today? Would you agree that Hollywood has relaxed its standards? It is referred to as “ratings creep.” Hollywood has gradually allowed more vulgarity, profanity, nudity, violence, sex, etc., over the decades while maintaining the same ratings. Does the word creep remind you of “the serpent [that] was more subtle than any beast of the field,” as we read in both the book of Moses and Genesis? Well, you don’t need a study to verify the reality of ratings creep. If you are unaware of this creeping phenomenon, it is likely good evidence that you have become desensitized yourself to this dangerous trend and are in a pot of water with the temperature on the rise.

The cunning result of this creeping trend is that the 1986 R-rated movie has deceptively become a PG-13 or PG movie in 2013. The shifting or creeping of the line could be compared to the mists in Lehi’s dream that “blindeth the eyes, and hardeneth the hearts of the children of men, and leadeth them away into broad roads, that they perish and are lost.” As members justify the viewing of such movies based upon a deceptive rating, they become more and more desensitized to inappropriate material that a prophet identified as dangerous back in 1986. Those so deceived are pacified and lulled into Satan’s territory; hence this warning in For the Strength of Youth: “Take care that your use of media does not dull your sensitivity to the Spirit.”

If “virtue [is to] garnish [our] thoughts unceasingly,” then as we pray in faith to avoid temptation, we especially need to be watchful and on guard with today’s media, whether on TV or online, as it is perhaps the greatest spoiler of virtuous thinking. The movie rating or principle we should use is from the thirteenth article of faith: “We seek after”—or in this case “watch or view”—that which is “virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy.” The Holy Ghost should be our Internet, movie, and TV guide.