more thoughts on my perception of the media and habits maybe?

SOOO I wrote a paper the other day and thought I would post it on here. It is another form of perception I guess.. It is mine and also the perception of some aposteles and prophets on the media!

Heeding the Warning

“The choices we make in the media can be symbolic of the choices we make in life. Choosing the trendy, the titillating, the tawdry in the TV programs or movies we watch can cause us to end up, if we’re not careful, choosing the same things in the lives we live.” (Elder M. Russell Ballard, Let Our Voices be Heard.) As a member of today’s society it is almost impossible to avoid the overbearing presence of the media. Each of us, in one way or another, is affected by different presentations of media each day. It is up to us to decide how we use these influences and how we allow them to enter into our lives.
There are so many different forms of media, some we wouldn’t even recognize as being a source. The internet, as a college student, is so easily accessed, and also the most harmful. This type of media has spread itself to the masses. It is available to all who breathe, eat, and walk this earth. We have WI-FI so you can bring the internet with you in your pocket, cables so it is available in remote areas, and wireless internet so that it can be reached anywhere your computer can grasp a signal. Because this is right at the touch of a button for everyone, those good and evil, their every thought can, and usually is published on the internet. Nothing is private. And although some of us try to lie low and stay out of trouble, the evil seeks us out, and more often than not finds us in our most vulnerable state. The internet has such a power because we have allowed it to do so.
Another form of mass media is the movies we consume so eagerly. Christina Skousken talks in the New Era about just wanting a break after a long week of work. To her, nothing sounds better then a movie and a huge bowl of popcorn. (I would have to add a serious pillow fight!) We are prone to choose a movie based on genre and fail to really read what it is we are thrusting into our minds. This form of media is so easy to mask as something good, making the horrid things that occur seem not as bad. These things are so easily accepted and eventually embraced when we seek them over time. Yet another force that we have allowed to take precedence over what used to be an enriching form of entertainment.
The final form of media I will mention is one that has lasted century after century, and tugs deep at my heart strings, music. Music has so many faces, it possess its own type of individual beauty and passion. Beethoven wrote and composed beautiful pieces of love and power, such devoted expression. And yet, when music looks the other way, it has a large capacity to destroy, disrupt and halt any form of progression. It can send signals we can’t see with our eyes, which is unlike movies and the internet. We must be really tuned in to discover what it is we are being taught. We have to learn to recognize each face in order to properly discern what is good and what is not. People like Eminem and Jay-Z use music to exploit their dirty laundry, perverse passion and seemingly evil acts. This is the face of media we must have the courage to turn our own heads and learn to disregard.
The word that first comes to mind when discovering what our modern day prophets are teaching us about each of these forms of media is WARNING! They tend to accept its goodness but are quick to remind us to shun the horrid, the ugly, and the demeaning things that are so readily available when we grasp hands with the media. “Opposite from its harmful and permissive side, media offers much that is positive and productive. Television offers history channels, discovery channels, education channels. One can still find movies and TV comedies and dramas that entertain and uplift and accurately depict the consequences of right and wrong. The internet can be a fabulous tool of information and communication, and there is an unlimited supply of good music in the world.” (Elder M. Russell Ballard, Let Our Voices be Heard.) Thus our biggest challenge is to choose wisely what we listen to and what we watch. There is so much evil, masked as something that is outwardly ok and unfortunately embraced. The main example that we have of this is pornography, an earthly evil that has not only set its painful grasp on some of our men, but recently women as well.
“Pornography is not a victimless crime. Pornography degrades and exploits men, and women, and children in a most ugly and corrupt fashion.” (David B. Haight, Nov. 1984) We read here that it is not just some bad thing to avoid, but it is something evil and degrading. President Hinckley stated, “The computer is a wonderful instrument when it is used properly.” But evil is something that does not have a place in this church nor in this gospel, thus meaning we should shun the powers of pornography or anything like unto it. Pornography is a billion dollar corporation, completely corrupt, containing no good, but our mass media allows it to continue.
The Lord has declared, “Purge ye out the iniquity which is among you; sanctify yourselves before me.” (D&C 43:11) When the Lord says this He is giving us the opportunity to ignore these forms of media, to search, not only that but also to demand something better from the things with which we spend our time.
When I was a young girl I grew up on a street containing several families with children the same age as my brother and I. We often would play games and have okay dates with those other kids. My brother and I particularly liked the kids at the end of the street, they were the most fun and always knew where the best hiding places were for hide and seek. There were, however, kids at the top of the street, kids that Steven and I chose to play with very rarely. Some days we would notice that they had a cool new toy or the sprinkler on so we would invite them to participate in that day’s activities. One morning we decided to do just that.
The oldest girl, bigger than me in every aspect was predominantly cruel but I decided that I would give her one last chance to be kind. She told me she had a joke to tell me and that I first had to ask her how the weather was up there. So I did. I looked up at her and said, “Kristen, how is the weather up there?” She quickly reported that it was raining and proceeded to spit in my face. Let’s just say that I never played with that girl again. I decided to purge that person out of my life. Even though at times it was fun to play with the bigger kids, in the end, I gained nothing but a wet face. I learned quickly that when things weren’t right in my life, or things didn’t belong there, I must rid myself of the,/ Such is the way with media, when we gain no goodness, no good feeling, it is our obligation as people who carry the Holy Ghost, to shun evil, to demand better things from it.
The thirteenth Article of Faith reads, ”…If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things.” These are things in the media that are strong solid pieces we can add to our already powerful foundation. This is not something to stand on solely, but adds to our substance as members of this gospel. We have the inherent duty to seek these things, things that are new, things that add to our intelligence. In Doctrine and Covenants, section 130 it teaches us, “…Whatever principle we attain unto this life, it will rise with us in the resurrection…And if a person gains more knowledge and intelligence in this life through his diligence and obedience in than another, he will have so much the advantage in the world to come.” We are taught that we need to be ahead in every aspect of our lives, we need to learn and to grow. One way we can do this is by seeking the best in the media. It is a belief that the media is a gift from God, though some have abused it, we can use our own skills to bandage its wounds and make it what it was intended to be. We have the potential to change and morph what it is into something with power, something with substance.
Unfortunately evil is something that will be available and evident in each day of our lives, for the rest o our lives. It is something that we will have to rub shoulders with but never something with which we should mingle. The prophets today encourage us to live up to what we believe in and to demand the best out of what we are given. We know what the Lord requires of us and are prepared with His armor, it’s up to us to get on our feet and make use of the power we possess.