By Ashley Davis
Students, faculty, bishops and community members filled three overflow rooms in the Wilkinson Student Center as they listened to President Merrill J. Bateman sound the cry, “There is danger in the land.”
President Bateman offered the commencement address at the pornography conference Wednesday, Feb. 7, titled Cyber Secrets, sponsored by Women”s Services and Resources.
The conference came in response to increased prevalence of pornography in the lives of innocent people, President Bateman said.
The conference is a reaction to the clever attempts of Satan to introduce this salacious material into people”s minds through films, televisions and now the Internet, he said.
“President Gordon B. Hinckley said pornography will destroy your home. It will destroy your marriage.
“It will take the good and beautiful out of your family relationships and replace these with ugliness and suspicion,” President Bateman said.
One of the problems with pornography is that it advertises only one particular view of sexuality, President Bateman said.
It is never more than the physical, he said.
“Pornography fails to convey the communication aspects of love. It never conveys the expression of affection, only that of pure lust,” he said.
President Bateman warned those in attendance of the fraudulent nature of pornography.
Not only does it teach a basic lie, it is totally antithetical to the Father”s plan of salvation and happiness, he said.
“Satan understands that if he can denigrate the human body, if he can put thoughts into our hearts and minds and cause us to misunderstand and destroy the intimacy of human relations … he can keep us from achieving our destiny in the eternities,” President Bateman said.
In a following session of the conference, Wendy Ulrich, Ph.D., extended the dangers of pornography beyond individuals participating to those who maintain relationships with the individuals.
Pornography makes spouses feel unattractive, unwanted and used, she said.
It produces feelings of intensity instead of intimacy, control instead of safety and obsession instead of trust, Ulrich said.
Pornography is incapable of fulfilling individual needs for intimacy, she said.
“Intimacy cannot occur because there is no exchange of personal information,” Ulrich said.
“Pornography causes the user to hide information about themselves which hinders the development of intimate relationships.”
Kelly Johnson, a junior from Colorado majoring in nursing, attended all seven hours of the conference. She said she agrees with President Bateman”s warning of the dangers of pornography.
“Pornography is a danger because it is so readily accessible,” she said.
Addictions can start with the smallest encounter, Johnson said. Even a questionable scene from a movie can create curiosities that result in habit, she said.
The problem with pornography is the anonymity available through the technology of the Internet, said Mike Peterson, 27, an international studies major from Eugene, Ore.
“It”s horrible,” he said. “You can access it anywhere. No one is immune.”
Chelsea Smith, a junior from Sandy, Utah, majoring in human development, was surprised to discover that more than 400 new pornographic sites are added to the Web every day.
“I think the most important thing to do to combat the growth of pornography is to educate people about the things they can do to help their families or roommates to stay away from it and keep it out of their lives,” she said.
Cyber Secrets will be rebroadcast by KBYU in April. Transcripts of the conference will be available on the Internet through Women”s Services and Resources. “Cyber Secrets” Webcast Archives are available on NewsNet.
