When I was a teenager, I, like so many of my cohort, had a copy of the church’s 1990 pamphlet For the Strength of Youth. The pamphlet has a section entitled “Media: Movies, Television, Radio, Videocassettes, Books, and Magazines.” It said, among other things:
Our Heavenly Father has counseled us as Latter-day Saints to “seek after anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy” . . . . Whatever you read, listen to, or watch makes an impression on you. Public entertainment and the media can provide you with much positive experience. They can uplift and inspire you, teach you good and moral principles, and bring you closer to the beauty this world offers. But they can also make what is wrong and evil look normal, exciting, and acceptable.
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Don’t attend or participate in any form of entertainment . . . that is vulgar, immoral, inappropriate, suggestive, or pornographic in any way. . . . Don’t be afraid to walk out of a movie, turn off a television set, or change a radio station if what’s being presented does not meet your Heavenly Father’s standards. And do not read books or magazines or look at pictures that are pornographic or that present immorality as acceptable.
While the pamphlet has changed over the last three decades, the current iteration has similar things to say about media:
You live in a day of marvelous technologies that give you easy access to a wide variety of media, including the Internet, mobile devices, video games, television, movies, music, books, and magazines. The information and entertainment provided through these media can increase your ability to learn, communicate, and become a force for good in the world. However, some information and entertainment can lead you away from righteous living. Choose wisely when using media, because whatever you read, listen to, or look at has an effect on you. Select only media that uplifts you.
Satan uses media to deceive you by making what is wrong and evil look normal, humorous, or exciting. He tries to mislead you into thinking that breaking God’s commandments is acceptable and has no negative consequences for you or others. Do not attend, view, or participate in anything that is vulgar, immoral, violent, or pornographic in any way. Do not participate in anything that presents immorality or violence as acceptable. Have the courage to walk out of a movie, change your music, or turn off a computer, television, or mobile device if what you see or hear drives away the Spirit.
Yesterday, a white supremacist murdered ten people and injured three others in a domestic terrorist attack in Buffalo, NY. Eleven of the victims were Black; the murderer deliberately drove to Buffalo because he wanted to murder Black people.
And why did he want to murder Black people? In part, because his self-radicalization involved the so-called “great replacement theory,” a racist and anti-Semitic conspiracy theory.
One that has been adopted and promoted–with zeal and regularity–by Tucker Carlson on his popular Fox News show. In fact, for at least the last five years, Carlson has been falling over himself to promote and normalize white supremacy.
And yes, Carlson isn’t legally liable for the murderer’s actions. But
Our church has a checkered past when it comes to race. But over the last couple decades, leaders have not minced words: racism is incompatible with the priesthood. We are to lead out in abandoning both prejudiced actions and attitudes.
Carlson’s repeated and emphatic promotion of white nationalism is precisely the thing my For the Strength of Youth warned me about: he makes what is wrong and evil look normal, acceptable, and perhaps exciting. It is vulgar, immoral, and it drives the Spirit away. There is no way to square the promotion of white nationalism with Paul’s call for pursuing the praiseworthy.
It takes courage to walk away from immorality. Even alone in our own homes, it is hard to acknowledge the evils of something that hits our buttons, that confirms our priors, something that tells us that we’re fine and it’s the world around us that is bad.
But make no mistake: even if it didn’t correspond to murder and terrorism, Tucker Carlson’s show, with its promotion of racist ideology, would not meet the church’s express standards for choosing media.
And, just to anticipate one possible response: while I have no idea how much of his show Carlson devotes to white supremacy, the New Era of my teenage years tells me it doesn’t really matter:
White supremacy is evil. It is incompatible with the church’s teachings and beliefs. And the church has consistently recommended that we abandon our consumption of media that tries to call evil good. But that’s all the church can do–after that, it’s up to us.
Photo by Ajeet Mestry on Unsplash