Truth, Justice, and the American Way?

It was the fourth of July. My mother, brother and I went and saw the new movie, Superman Returns. I thought that the movie was quite well done in the portrayal of the characters and that the rivalry between Superman and his nemesis Lex Luthor. I thought that the spiritual overtone relating to Jar-El sending his son, Kel-El to the world in order to provide them with a light to guide them was very typifying of God sending his Son, Jesus Christ, to be the Light of the World.

It is now the 7^th of July and I am listening to the Dr. Laura program. In the opening segment she talked about an e-mail that she had received that lamented the fact that she had given away a part of the plot in explaining that Lois Lane and Superman illegitimately conceived a child and how Lois was now living with another man outside the covenant of marriage.

The contrast of the two premises that came to play on the screen was something that I didn’t make initially and it is somewhat disappointing to me to realize that I completely overlooked the immorality.

An inconsistency in my character has been revealed. I was so excited to see X-Men III and even had a date lined up to go and watch the film; however, that morning I was reading the paper and came across a review that mentioned the fact that there was some partial nudity. Once I discovered this I decided that we might pursue another activity so that neither my date nor myself would have to deal with the discomfort that could possibly result. However; because of the prevalence of immorality that is so rampant in our society, and through other media that I have consumed, I was so used to the idea that people conceive children outside of wedlock and cohabitate that I didn’t think that it was big enough deal to register against my sense of values.

Nephi set a wonderful example when he implored, “O Lord, with thou redeem my soul? Wilt thou deliver me out of the hands of mine enemies? Wilt though make me that I may shake at the appearance of sin?” (2 Nephi 4:31, italics added) My soul still needs some redeeming so that I may be pure enough that when such occasions arise in the future that I will shake at the appearance of sin. Through the purifying power of the Atonement of Christ, this is certainly possible.