In WHY? we referenced a movie that shows why you shouldn’t compare yourself to the people in magazines. We’ve linked to that video clip below and we love it!
Before you watch it, consider these two powerful quotes. “I plead with you…to please be more accepting of yourselves, including your body shape and style, with a little less longing to look like someone else. We are all different.” (Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, Ensign, Nov., 2005).
Is this game o.k.? Read Moroni 7:12-17
This week we received this question: Why can’t I play violent video games?
This week we received the following question: “Why do we need to keep ourselves physically strong?” In the days of summer when we are a little more concerned about our biceps and waist lines, we thought it might be good to answer this question that is connected to our physical fitness.
How many times today have you heard music? Think about it. Did you wake up to music from your alarm clock? Was it on during your drive to work or school this morning? Did you hear it in the hallways before class? Did you hear it in class at some point? Did you have your IPOD on and heard it when you should have been listening in class ? Or maybe your cell phone went off to the tune of a song? Did you pay attention as you walked into a store or a restaurant—because music was probably playing? What about in the background of a TV show?
Even if it is pretend, the images are still seen by our eyes and recorded in our minds. Everything we see affects our behavior. Even if the violence is computer-generated, it is still violence and will ultimately affect how we think and act. For the Strength of Youth teaches that “Whatever you . . . look at has an effect on you,” even if it is fake. Earlier in this chapter, we talked about people reading aggressive words and having it affect their actions. And remember the Laysan albatross? If you are spending your time playing video games, you may be filling your time with “empty” activities when in reality you could be putting your time to much better use.
Just because it is historical doesn’t mean it is good. Seeing any kind of violence—whether the violence is historically accurate or not—can dull our spiritual senses and affect our actions. The Church has produced some excellent historical films that, of necessity, contain images of war or bloodshed. But they do it in such a way that the images are not graphic or gruesome and the movies do not glorify the violence taking place. For the Strength of Youth says, “Do not attend, view, or participate in entertainment that is vulgar, immoral, violent, or pornographic in any way. Do not participate in entertainment that in any way presents immorality or violent behavior as acceptable.” Historical accuracy does not trump spiritual appropriateness, no matter what story is being told.
In August of 2001, President Henry B. Eyring gave a remarkable prophecy. He said that LDS youth cannot just “go with the flow” anymore and expect to remain righteous. He then prophesied of what is to come in the future: “The flow has become a flood and soon will be a torrent. It will become a torrent of sounds and sights and sensations that invite temptation and offend the Spirit of God.”
Just a few short months after President Eyring prophesied of the torrent of sounds, sights, and sensations about to hit our youth, the first iPod was introduced to the general public. Two years later, the first video iPod came out. The youth of today are the first generation to be able to carry thousands of songs, images, and videos in the palm of their hand, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.
