The Spirit of the Law

[God] hath made us able ministers of the new [covenant]; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.  --2 Corinthians 3:6

As members of the LDS church, we have been taught that scripture from our youth.  Usually our leaders point it at us in the sense that we shouldn't make everything black and white.  The gospel is not just a checklist to pass off.  That was the problem the Corinthians were facing when Paul wrote about the Spirit of the Law versus the Letter of the Law.

Unfortunately, I think some members of the church tend to take the "Spirit of the Law" concept to the extreme.  That is, they use it as an excuse to get away with more than they would otherwise.  A prime example of this is the R-rated movie debate.  In the 70s or 80s, church leaders counseled us not to see R rated movies.  This exact guideline hasn't been repeated by more recent prophets (i.e. President Monson, President Hinckley, etc.)  The booklet For the Strength of the Youth advises "Do not attend, view, or participate in entertainment that is vulgar, immoral, violent, or pornographic in any way. Do not participate in entertainment that in any way presents immorality or violent behavior as acceptable" (pg 17).  There is no mention of specific movie ratings, just an exortation to avoid movies with unacceptable content as described in this quote.


The problem with this approach is that oftentimes individuals take advantage of its flexibility.  Over the years I've heard countless people argue that the counsel nowadays is to follow the spirit rather than movie ratings, and that it's okay to watch R rated movies if you feel okay with it.  I have noticed that often the people who argue this point are using the "spirit of the law" to rationalize how much they can get away with.  Such skewed reasoning always makes me cringe.  We've been counseled not to watch movies that are violent, immoral, pornographic, or full of profanity.  Please explain to me how a movie could be R rated and not contain violence, immorality, pornography, or profanity!  Isn't that the point of an R rating.  I've heard of movies being rated PG-13 for mature content, but not R rated.  R ratings generally mean there is something strongly objectionable in the movie.  I believe that the reason modern prophets haven't specified which ratings are "acceptable" or "unacceptable" is because they want us to be more selective about what we watch, not less selective.  Even PG and PG-13 movies often contain inappropriate content.  It's important to be educated about movie content so we can avoid inappropriate movies.  


I am sure that some of my readers will disagree with me.  You may even want to write vehement disagreements in my comments.  But, I stand by my words.  We need to seek out those things that are virtuous, lovely, of good report, and praiseworthy.  If you're feeling bothered by my strong words about media, remember:
"the issue is not earrings" (or movies or anything else).  The issue is following the prophet, and I intend to follow his advice to watch only uplifting movies.  I hope you'll find it in your heart to do the same.