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Show (2EDITORIALCW PAGE Is Chastity Outdated? San Francisco Chronicle recently a special column in which it published interviews with seven people THE on the street. The same question was put to all of them: Is chastity outdated? All answered yes. A merchant seaman said, Morals have changed; virginity is on the way out. Love is in. - - A furniture dealer said: Virtue can hurt you. Virgins are really weird. Ah engineer commented: Virginity became outdated long ago. I have nothing against virginity, but in the 60s things just changed. Yes, A psychology student answered, morals have changed. A hair stylist said that virtue passed out five years ago. Another barber agreed, and said there are very few people these days who are virtuous. These were all men. One lone girl was also asked the question, and she (pity her) agreed with the men, saying that chastity is outdated because in these enlightened days people are freer. NO ONE CAN SAY whether this is a fair cross section of the thinking of all San Francisco citizens, nor if it is representative of the thinking of people elsewhere. That it is to some extent, at least, is proven by the vast increase in the prevalence of venereal disease, which is a fairly accurate barometer of the morals of the general public. V.D., as it is called, is now considered as an epidemic out of hand. This is true in America as well as in other nations. In the United States 1,500 teenagers catch this dread disease every day, and 1,300 adults do likewise. It is spreading fastest among teens because, as the girl explained, we are freer. That matter of being freer simply means to let down the bars, to throw away ideals, good character and good health. It means freer to deny God and the Ten Commandments. But is this kind of freedom desirable ? This question also may be answered in terms of V.D. . . . Excerpts from an address by Elder Harold B. Lee at General Conference October 1968. If we would be free from the pitfalls of . . . evil forces we must understand the Masters words. Satan and his hordes are ever present in the midst of us. We must make certain when he comes, as the Master warned, he will have nothing on us and will go away and leave us alone. As long as we walk in the light of the revealed truths of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, we need never walk in darkness but may always be sure of our course and know whither (we) goeth. One of our pioneer leaders foresaw this battle with invisible forces which could come to us in Id CHURCH WEEK TIIE CHICAGO TRIBUNE reported recently that the increasing number of gonorrhea cases has reached a point where it is now damnified as an alarming epidemic. It quoted the Illinois public health office. The newspaper went on to say that in this country ONE OUT OF EVERY 30 PERSONS IN THE BRACKET NOW HAS A VENEREAL DISEASE. Dr. Norman J. Rose, head of epidemiology for the Illinois Department of Public Health, said that the situation in regard to gonorrhea is extremely bad and getting worse at a frightening rate. In Illinois the cases have doubled in ten years. Dr. Rose pointed out that the problem is worse than official figures would indicate because he said that for every case reported to doctors by infected people, there are two that go unreported. Dr. Jack Sloan, associated with Dr. Rose, said that contrary to the popular notion that venereal disease is no longer a menace, the U.S. Public Health Service reports V.D. IS THE NATIONS LEADING COMMUNI- Samuel The Lamanite CABLE DISEASE. Chicago is first among all cities in the nation in the number of syphilis cases, and third in gonorrhea. FIGURES SOME TIMES do not portray the real picture. The report says that one in every 30 Americans 20 to 24 years of age has V.D. Think of that in terms of small pox or polio. What if one in every 30 such persons in America had polio? What if that number had small pox? What if that many had to be operated on for cancer? Wouldnt we be shaken by the very thought of it? Yet that is the condition in regard to V.D. Syphilis is a killer; it also maims, causes heart trouble, insanity and blindness. It is the price of being freer. Latter-da- y Saints at least should know the true meaning of virtue. Gods word is never passe. It is never outdated. No matter what the philosophies of men may be, Gods must prefor Latter-da- y word Saints vail. No man on earth can ever cancel out the divine injunction : THOU SHALT NOT COMMIT ADULT ERY. In Light Of Gospel Truths these supposedly sheltered valleys. It was as though this prophet-leade- r saw the very conditions existing in 19G8 where some would be relaxing in fancied security thinking that they were well isolated from the outride world. from an address by Excerpts Elder Alma Sonne at General Conference October 1968. I have always regarded the Articles of Faith submitted by the Prophet Joseph Smith as a great document. They cover in a brief way the fundamental beliefs of the Church. They do not antagonize. The style and wording are full of appeal, especially to those who are familiar with Bible ENDING JANUARY 4, 1969 BOOK OF MORMON PROFILES teaching. The language is simple and direct and is readily understood by the ordinary reader. The reader is not confused in his investigation, nor led away from the doctrinal teaching of the apostles in the meridian of time. They bring to light the doctrines and standards sc forth so plainly in the holy scriptures. There is a tone of authority and certainty in each one which is most impressive. The prophets, ancient and modern, drank deeply from the fountainhead. By doing so they were refreshed and satisfied. Ralph Waldo Emerson is reported to have said, We ought to have a religion of revelation to use, and not the history of one." . He was a stranger in their midst, accusing them of evil, warning that unless they turned to God and kept His commandments, they would surely perish. Such intemperate words by a Lamanite angered the Nephites, and they drove the preacher, w hose name was Samuel, from their city, Zarahemla. Feeling that he had failed In his mission, Samuel decided t t return to his own people the Lamanites, who were living obediently because of the teachings of Nephi and Lehi, sons of Helaman. The voice of the Lord came to Samuel, however, and told him to go again to Zarahemla and prophesy to the people the feelings of his heart. Upon returning, Samuel was denied entrance at the city gate, so he climbed upon the wall and from there, In a loud voice, began preaching to the people. Among the extraordinary things he predicted were that within five years the Savior would be bom into the world that a great light would appear at his birth, and at his death, darkness would engulf the and that within 400 years, except they earth repented, the entire Nephite nation would perish. And now If they will not repent, and observe to do my will, I will utterly destroy them, saith the Lord, because of their unbelief notwithstanding the many mighty works which I have done among ... them ... The people were enraged and tried to stone Samuel, but to no effect. They shot arrows at him but the protecting power of God was around him and he could not be harmed. ' Now the people became alarmed, and cried to their captains, Take this fellow and bind him, for behold, - he hath a devil; and because of the power of the devil which is in him we cannot hit him with our stones and our arrows; therefore; take him and bind him, and away with him. But Samuel jumped down from the wall and fled into his own land and was heard no more by the Nephites. The things Samuel prophesied came to pass. A few believed his words, and sought out Nephi, and were baptized. More believed later when the signs he forecast came to pass at the time of the Saviors birth. The greater part of the people of Zarahemla would not repent, however, and eventually perished. When Jesus' appeared to the Nephites as the resurrected Christ, He asked why the prophecies of Samuel the Lamanite were not written on the records. How be it that ye have not written this thing . . And it came to pass that Jesus commanded that it should be written. Samuel, courageous, obedient, faithful, and compassionate, spent the remainder of hie life teaching his own people, the Lamanites. Illustration adapted from "The Book of Mormon Story, (C) Desaral Book Co., Ronald Crosby, artist |