HINCKLEY WARNS CHURCH MEMBERS AGAINST DRUGS, IMMORALITY

President Gordon B. Hinckley of the Church of Jesus Christ Of Latter-day
Saints made good on a promise Saturday evening at the 170th Semi-Annual
General Conference Priesthood Session.

"You already know what I am going to talk about," Hinckley told fathers and
sons in the Conference Center and via satellite to church meetinghouses
throughout the world. "Your wives have reminded you that this will be my
subject tonight. I told them so at the Relief Society conference two weeks
ago. I may say some of the same things to you that I said to them. ... This
is a subject which I take very seriously."

For the second time in two weeks, Hinckley spoke about those children "who
have slipped and are slipping into the foggy swamp of immorality, drugs,
pornography, and failure."

Hinckley spoke out about "Rave" parties where youth stay up all hours of the
night, dancing and swaying and doing drugs. Drugs like Ecstasy, he said,
which causes dancers to "suck on babies' pacifiers" because the drug makes
them grind their teeth.

"The hot music and sultry dancing goes on until 7:30 a.m. of a Sunday
morning," he said. "What does all this lead to? Nowhere. It is a dead end."

Hinckley warned of the recent phenomenon in which boys and girls choke one
another until they pass out. "Are boys involved in such ridiculous practices
aware of the fact that their prank may lead to a charge of manslaughter?" he
asked. "If that should happen their lives would be ruined forever."

Hinckley also reiterated the church's policy on tattooing and body piercing,
just as he did with mothers two weeks ago.

"Tattoos are graffiti on the temple of the body," he said. "The First
Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve have declared that we discourage
tattoos, and also the piercing of the body for other than medical purposes.
We do not, however, take any position on the minimal piercing of the ears by
women for one pair of earrings. One pair," he said, wagging his finger.

Hinckley also asked fathers to teach their children to look forward to
marriage in the House of the Lord. On the same note, he asked men to "watch
the tides of your lives that you do not become enmeshed in situations, which
lead to sorrow, regret, and eventually divorce.

"Brigham Young once said, "When people are married, instead of trying to get
rid of each other, reflect on that you have made your choice, and strive to
honor and keep it.' ... So many men become chronic critics," Hinckley said.
"Rather, if they would look for the virtues in their wives instead of
looking for their failings, love would bloom and the home would be secure."

Calling pornography "lewd, vicious, and filthy," Hinckley cautioned fathers
and sons that technology has made porn "enticing and habit-forming." Get
away from it, he said.

Despite all these temptations, Hinckley said he believed this to be the most
marvelous age in all the history of the world. "What a glorious and
beautiful thing it is to see the child of your dreams walk and with head up,
standing tall, unafraid and with confidence, taking advantage of the
tremendous opportunities that open around him or her."