Doctrinal Library

The Search for Happiness

Our television and movie screens are filled with not-so-subtle messages that encourage and persuade young and old alike to unbridle their passions and they will experience happiness. The results of this reckless course should be so apparent as we watch the tremendous social and psychological costs continue to mount. The increasing incidence of teenage pregnancy, abortion, rape, child molestation, sexual harassment, assault, drug addiction, disease, alcoholism, and broken homes are all influenced by this persuasion. And the alarming statistics continue to testify, but with little if any effect.

Keep the Faith

I have in mind today a blessing given to someone precious and close to me who was told by her physicians that the child she was to bear would unquestionably have Down’s syndrome; an abortion was recommended. She refused, and in the next few weeks calls from the hospital and others came encouraging that the little fetus be aborted. Finally, in desperation, she called her doctor and said, “Get those people off my back. This little child will have a right to life regardless of its condition.” She had been given a priesthood blessing by her father and had been promised that the little child would be normal and healthy. When the little child involved was born, so it was. Today she is an unusually beautiful, bright, charming child.

There Is the Light

We are in the midst of a major storm over moral values that will get worse before we arrive home. As just one example: We hear much of the so-called problem of overpopulation, of the possible future horrors it could bring. We hear claim and counterclaim, fancied fact and interpolated figures; we hear the call for so-called “planned families,” for “delayed families,” for “free” abortions, for personal aggrandizement in many ways. Now it is true that we have a sick world on our hands that needs help—but in delivering that patient to help we must not listen to the calculated plan of this or that professor, or to the pleading of some group, or to the hysterical screaming of some faction, or to any combination of manmade philosophies, but only to the calm voice of the prophet as he says, “Have your families in a normal way; accept all the spirits the Lord sees fit to send you; do not delay your families; always be considerate of one another; have nothing to do with the sin of abortion.” Therein is safety. He will guide us through this or any storm.

The Lord Offers Everyone a Way Back From Sin

Telling of a story of a young woman: “I finally met a young man, also inactive, with whom I thought I was in love. By then it was easy for me to convince myself that making love was all right as long as I truly felt that I loved the man. So I made love and desecrated the temple of my body. I became pregnant. When I realized my condition, I went to the young man and told him of my problem. He wanted nothing to do with me or my baby. He did say he would pay for an abortion, however, if I so desired. At first I rejected the very idea of abortion, but as I thought about it, I began to rationalize. It took me a couple of weeks to talk myself into making an appointment and having the abortion done.

The World’s Greatest Need

And so, this is man’s solution to the problem—birth control, sterilization, and abortion to destroy the unborn children. But you can be assured that this is not the Lord’s solution. Hear the words of a living prophet as you heard reiterated this morning: “Much is being said,” said the prophet, “in the press and in the pulpit concerning abortion. This Church of Jesus Christ opposes abortion and counsels all members not to submit to nor participate in any abortion, in any way, for convenience or to hide sins. Abortion must be considered one of the most revolting and sinful practices in this day. … To interfere with any of the processes in the procreation of offspring is to violate one of the most sacred of God’s commandments."

The Need for Love

Lack of communication coupled with the postponement of children is based on selfishness, as is the greater evil of abortion. We shudder as we read in Leviticus of the sacrifices of idol worshipers of that time who fed their children into the fiery maw of the iron god Molech. Is personal selfishness which results in abortion any less repulsive to God, as modern people through abortion offer the sacrifice of their children to their idol of selfish materialism?

Our Responsibility to the Transgressor

In the scriptures it is abundantly clear that the cases which are to be handled by the Church include, but are not limited to, fornication, adultery, homosexual acts, abortion, or other infractions of the moral code; criminal acts involving moral turpitude such as burglary, dishonesty, theft, murder, apostasy; open opposition to and deliberate disobedience to the rules and regulations of the Church; cruelty to spouse or children; advocating or practicing so-called plural marriage; or any unchristianlike conduct in violation of the law and order of the Church.

No Greater Honor: The Woman’s Role

It is of great concern to all who understand this glorious concept that Satan and his cohorts are using scientific arguments and nefarious propaganda to lure women away from their primary responsibilities as wives, mothers, and homemakers. We hear so much about emancipation, independence, sexual liberation, birth control, abortion, and other insidious propaganda belittling the role of motherhood, all of which is Satan’s way of destroying woman, the home, and the family—the basic unit of society.

Put on the Whole Armor of God

Do we fight against the evils around us—pornography, abortion, tobacco, alcohol, drugs? Do we have the courage to stand up for our convictions? Can we truly say we are not ashamed of the gospel of Christ? Do we live peaceably with our neighbors and avoid gossip and backbiting and spreading unfounded rumors? Do we truly love our neighbors as ourselves?

Priesthood Responsibilities

The cases that are to be handled by the Church include but are not limited to fornication, adultery, homosexual acts, abortion, or other infractions of the moral code; intemperance; criminal acts involving moral turpitude, such as burglary, dishonesty, theft, or murder; apostasy; open opposition to and deliberate disobedience of the rules and regulations of the Church; cruelty to spouse or children; advocating or practicing so-called plural marriage; or any un-Christianlike conduct in violation of the law and order of the Church.