In General Conference last April, President Faust said the following:
We unavoidably stand in so many unholy places and are subjected to so much that is vulgar, profane, and destructive of the Spirit of the Lord that I encourage our Saints all over the world, wherever possible, to strive to stand more often in holy places.
Can we apply this counsel to careers? There are certainly careers out there that are prone to vulgarity (e.g. oil rigs, construction). Should Latter-day Saints avoid such careers?
I don’t think your examples are necessarily vulgar by their inherent nature.
I have heard this counsel used for many members and converts here in vegas. The jobs at the casino are well paying and prevalent and secure, but some of them are more vulgar than others (see cocktail waitress, dealer) than others perhaps. I think it does make a difference in our lives and we should apply this counsel.
I think it’s the workers in those careers Kim mentions that are prone to vulgarity, not the careers themselves (as Jay points out). A Latter-day Saint can and should choose to influence the career field by a positive example of refraining from vulgarity.
At the end of the day we have to be happy. And guys, if you’re in a one paycheck house, and your wife is nagging you about money, you won’t be happy. For work I suggest a balance of following your passions and money. Women may complain if you work long hours, but less than they’ll complain about too small a paycheck. After a layoff, I took a job once selling car refinish paint and supplies and had to put up w/ a lot of distracting wall paper and dirty jokes as I went from shop to shop. If they placed a big order, I wouldn’t care what those guys said or did.
Oh, I think Pres Faust was encouraging temple attendance to clean ourselves from the world.
Is working in “Adult Entertainment” acceptable?
A lot of LDS work for 7-11, Universal Studios, Blockbuster and Google. But these same companies are the largest purveyors of questionable entertainment – videos, magazines, internet sites, etc.
This would be a good question for the Marriots … members of a group which is one of the largest purveyors of filth in the world.
The thing about that is each Marriot hotel (if I recall correctly) is a franchise and all the services each provides is up to the owner of the franchise.
No.
No it’s not.
The Marriots have a certain ‘must-have’ list and a ‘thou-shalt-not’ list for each franchise.
If they wanted it to go away, it would.
This one is close to home because my husband is a General Contractor and as one works in construction. It is true that it can be a business prone to the vulgar but it also a business that produces temples, church buildings, museums and hospitals…
Everytime President Hinckley calls for a temple to be built or a church building renovated he is also inviting men and women of varied backgrounds in construction to constribute to this cause.
Let us not forget that Christ himself was a carpenter.
Excellent points, Nikki. For the record my dad is in the construction industry as well.
Nikki is right. I think really the key is there are some situations, jobs that can’t be avoided and are needed, and there will be elements undesirable in them. However, what you can do is remain above the vulgarity. I suppose if it becomes too hard to be in that career, because of those aspects, then the choice is to try something else.
“Christ himself was a carpenter”
Much debated, but I think most scholors agree that Christ would have been a rabbi first, and a carpenter second.
Traveling rabbis often needed a secondary trade in order to earn a living.
So is it possible to be a car refinisher and not put up the distracting wall paper? I’ve been in thousands of shops and never seen a clean one. Surely some of those guys are LDS. Seems this is the case in many trades.
Rick, You’re a smart guy and I think you know you’re not being fair about Marriot and porn. It’s not in-your-face porn or something you’d get sucked into channel surfing. The customer has to knowingly select and pay for it. If you’re including soft porn on a “free†movie channel, I don’t see a practical way to censor that. It’s kind of outside mainstream LDS tradition to enforce our morality on others anyway.
“It’s kind of outside mainstream LDS tradition to enforce our morality on others anyway.”
You’re kidding, right?
If the Marriots didn’t want to allow the viewing of porn in their suites, it could go away. Sure they’d lose some business, but it’d be possible.
They *choose* to include porn as an entertainment option at their chain of hotels – implicitly profiting and supporting it.
I would have to agree with Rick that it isn’t outside of “mainstream LDS tradition” to enforce our morality on others. It is outside of what we are SUPPOSED to do. But we are raised to be an example, and in being that example many also have the idea that we are “supposed to be better than everyone else, above all that bad stuff and let everyone know it too”. Hey, I have even done it. I certainly try not to anymore. No one is better than anyone else, but we LDS do have a tendency to think we are and push it.
“It’s kind of outside mainstream LDS tradition to enforce our morality on others anyway.”
Apparently you don’t live in southern Alberta.
Consider this about the Marriott Hotel chain – I believe most of the writers have agreed that Marriot Hotels allow porn and liquor to be readliy available at their hotels. We are also taught that we should shun all evil. There is also the concept that as faithful LDS we should avoid doing business with companies that promote values that are not in harmony with the teachings of the Church. Do you agree with this? Would you avoid doing business with a company that you knew was in the porn business?
When President Hinkley comes to the city I live in – He has always stayed in the Presidential Suite at the Marriott. What was your thought when you read this?
There are many hotels here that do not allow porn to be shown on their property. Do you think the Prophet should stay at a Hotel that does not show porn?
What about other GA’s? Should there be a code of conduct about the companies they do business with while on Church business?
I worked for Astral Photo here in Canada before it merged with Black’s Corporation. Astral Media Corp is one of the biggest pornography slingers around in Canada (I am not sure about the States). When I found this out, I quit. Would I avoid doing business with a company I knew was in the porn business (including Black’s/Astral photography)…absolutely…but that is just me.
K.
I guess it depends on the person. I do not know their motives (Meaning the person who does business with the company) so I cannot judge.
I know for a while people who were dealers in nevada were not aloud to have a tenmple recomend but now they are. As they are trying the best they can to support their families.
Ay, Ray the question is: Should they be paying tithing on the salary they obtain while dealing?
Touchy stuff, that whole proceeds of gambling thing.