IDOLATRY: A REBELLION AGAINST GOD

1. IDOLATRY: A REBELLION AGAINST GOD

2. “However sincere men may be in their views, they cannot gain salvation by worshiping idols, images, or false gods of any kind. Eternal life is attained through a knowledge of "the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom" he hath sent. (John 17:3.)” Mormon Doctrine, p.374 Elder Bruce R. McConkie

3. “Carnal man has tended to transfer his trust in God to material things….. Whatever thing a man set his heart and his trust in most is his god; and if his god doesn’t also happen to be the true and living God Israel, that man is laboring in idolatry.” “The False Gods We Worship,” Ensign, June 1976, 45 Pres. Spencer W. Kimball

4. “During the days of ancient Israel, the people of the Lord were an island of the one true God, surrounded by an ocean of idolatry. The waves of that ocean crashed incessantly upon the shores of Israel. Despite the commandment to make no graven image and bow down before it, Israel seemingly could not help itself, influenced by the culture of the place and time. Over and over again—despite the prohibition of the Lord, despite what prophet and priest had said—Israel went seeking after strange gods and bowed down before them. “How could Israel have forgotten the Lord, who brought them out of Egypt? They were constantly pressured by what was popular in the ambience in which they lived.” (Italics added) Elder David R. Stone Ensign, May 2006,90

5. “In addition to their national citizenship, members of the Church are also citizens of God’s kingdom. Their commitment to it, however, may be variable…. Some allow their allegiance to God and His kingdom to slip below that of other interests in life….. “If we break God’s first commandment, we cannot escape retribution. If we allow any other person or cause to come before allegiance to Him, we will reap a bitter harvest.” Ensign, May 1996,14 Elder Russell M. Nelson

6. “A common sin is rebellion against God. This manifests itself in wilful refusal to obey God's commandments ……. in the deliberate word or act of disobedience to God's will.” Miracle of Forgiveness, 42 Spencer W. Kimball

7. “The idolatry of those days, both in Canaan and throughout the Near East, was especially pernicious because it combined immorality with religion…… “Idolatry in those centuries actually was a glorification of sexual deviations through religion. It combined a rejection of the true God, by turning to idols, with a repudiation of the laws of virtue laid down by the Lord.” Elder Mark E. Peterson Joshua: Man of Faith, p.7-8

8. “The word “adultery” and the word “idolatry” were originally one, that is, they sprang from the same root, and mean essentially the condition of being false to a solemn covenant.” James E. Talmage CR October 1930, p.71

9. : “The Lord compared himself--though in terms of rebuke--to the Israelites of old, as their husband. ‘I am married unto you,’ he said; and further, in effect: ‘O recreant Judah, backsliding Israel. I am married to you. I love you as a husband loves his wife, and yet you go after strange gods and desert me, with whom you have made covenant.’” Elder James E. Talmage CR, October 1930, 71

10. “Now, in conclusion, this leads to a related matter I wish to mention, and that is the sexual adventurism which is spreading like another plague across the world….. “To the young men who are here tonight I wish to say that the Lord has made it clear, and the experience of centuries has confirmed it, that happiness lies not in immorality, but rather in abstinence. The voice of the Church to which you belong is a voice pleading for virtue. It is a voice pleading for strength to abstain from that which is evil. It is a voice declaring that sexual transgression is sin…… Pres. Gordon B. Hinckley

11. “For your own sakes, for your happiness now and in all the years to come, and for the happiness of the generations who come after you, avoid sexual transgression as you would a plague. ‘Reverence and Morality’ Ensign, May 1986, p.45 Pres. Gordon B. Hinckley

12. “I recently read that pornography has become a $57 billion industry worldwide. Twelve billion of this is derived in the United States by evil and “conspiring men” (see D&C 89:4) who seek riches at the expense of the gullible. It is reported that it produces more revenue in the United States than the “combined revenues of all professional football, baseball and basketball franchises or the combined revenues of ABC, CBS, and NBC” (“Internet Pornography Statistics: 2003,” Internet, http://www.healthymind.com/5-port-stats.html). Pres. Gordon B. Hinckley

13. “It robs the workplace of the time and talents of employees. “20% of men admit accessing pornography at work. 13% of women [do so]. … 10% of adults admit having internet sexual addiction” (“Internet Pornography Statistics: 2003"). That is their admission, but actually the number may be much higher. “The National Coalition for the Protection of Children and Families states that “approximately 40 million people in the United States are sexually involved with the Internet. … “One in five children ages 10–17 [has] received a sexual solicitation over the Internet. … Pres. Gordon B. Hinckley

14. “Three million of the visitors to adult websites in September 2000 were age 17 or younger. … “Sex is the number 1 topic searched on the Internet” (NCPCE Online, “Current Statistics,” Internet, http://www.nationalcoalition.org/stat.html). Ensign, Nov 2004, 59 Pres. Gordon B. Hinckley

15. “I am grateful that the Lord has blessed us as a people with temporal blessings unequaled in the history of the Church. These resources have been given us to do good and to permit our work on earth to accelerate. But I fear that through prosperity many of us have been preoccupied with what Daniel called “gods of silver, and gold, of brass, iron, wood, and stone, which see not, nor hear, nor know.” These, of course, are idols…. President James E. Faust

16. “.....During most of the world’s history, mankind has labored much in idolatry, either worshiping false gods or becoming preoccupied with acquiring the material opulence of this world….. “The requirement that we should love the Lord above fish, bank accounts, automobiles, fine clothing, stocks, bonds, certificates of deposit, or any other possession is total; it is absolute.” Ensign, May 2001, p.45 President James E. Faust

17. “Modern idols or false gods can take such forms as clothes, homes, businesses, machines, automobiles, pleasure boats, and numerous other material deflectors from the path to godhood.” Miracle of Forgiveness, p.40-41 Pres. Spencer W. Kimball

18. “I would as soon see a man worshipping a little god made of brass or of wood as to see him worshipping his property.” Journal of Discourses 6:196 President Brigham Young

19. “American Mormons, and Americans generally, are threatened at a more fundamental level by the material prosperity of this country. It is a curse in disguise. Prosperity per se is not an enemy to religion, but prosperity may often lead to idolatry. The danger of all progress is idolatry, because the temptation all of the time is to set up something in the place of God. And the more tempting the progress is—and material prosperity is tempting—the more dangerous it is. Think of the idols of prosperity: the car, the camper, the boat (bane of bishops), the color TV, the football game, two weeks of hunting. These become idols when more enthusiasm and time are given to them than to the worship of God. Arthur Henry King (as quoted by Elder Dallin H. Oaks in Pure in Heart, 82)

20. “Many people spend most of their time working in the service of a self-image that includes sufficient money, stocks, bonds, investment portfolios, property, credit cards, furnishings, automobiles, and the like to guarantee carnal security throughout, it is hoped, a long and happy life. Forgotten is the fact that our assignment is to use these many resources in our families and quorums to build up the kingdom of God—to further the missionary effort and the genealogical and temple work; Pres. Spencer W. Kimball

21. “to raise our children up as fruitful servants unto the Lord; to bless others in every way, that they may also be fruitful. Instead, we expend these blessings on our own desires….” “The False Gods We Worship” Ensign, June 1976, 45 Pres. Spencer W. Kimball

22. “A few of our wonderful youth and young adults in the Church are unstretched. They have almost a free pass. Perks are provided, including cars complete with fuel and insurance—all paid for by parents who sometimes listen in vain for a few courteous and appreciative words. What is thus taken for granted … tends to underwrite selfishness and a sense of entitlement.” BYU devotional, 12 Jan. 1999 Elder Neal A. Maxwell

23. “Selfishness is actually the detonator of all the cardinal sins. It is the hammer for the breaking of the Ten Commandments, whether by neglecting parents, the Sabbath, or by inducing false witness, murder, and envy. No wonder the selfish individual is often willing to break a covenant in order to fix an appetite……. “Some of the selfish wrongly believe that there is no divine law anyway, so there is no sin (see 2 Ne. 2:13). Elder Neal A. Maxwell

24. “Situational ethics are thus made to order for the selfish. So in the management of self, one can conquer by his genius and strength, because there really is no crime whatsoever (see Alma 30:17).” Ensign, May 1999, 23 Elder Neal A. Maxwell

25. “Seduced by our culture, we often hardly recognize our idolatry, as our strings are pulled by that which is popular in the Babylonian world. Indeed, as the poet Wordsworth said: "The world is too much with us" ("The World Is Too Much with Us; Late and Soon," in The Complete Poetical Works of William Wordsworth [1924], 353).” Ensign, May 2006, 90 Elder David R. Stone