Modern society, according to Laura D. Card, with its bombardment of advertising, media presentations and conflicting political voices, faces a similar "war of words and a tumult of opinions" that were known during Joseph Smith's day.
Speaking during the 1996 Sidney B. Sperry Symposium on Oct. 19, Sister Card said the means of discerning between those voices which are right and good, from those which are wrong and evil is found in the Lord's directions in D&C 52:14-19."Satan uses every means possible to try to deceive us," she said. "He tempts us, entices us, and tries to get us to believe that false is true and that evil is good by disguising, counterfeiting, and polluting until it seems nearly impossible to discern where the Lord's plan stops and Satan's begins.
"Yet the Lord tells us in verse 14 that if we use the pattern He provides, we will not be deceived," she continued. The criteria by which an opinion or an idea should be judged is based on whether the idea is in obedience to "mine ordinances."
To illustrate, the Lord provides two examples of how to use those patterns, she said. The first example deals with those who present themselves as righteous because of their wealth, learning or even poverty. The second deals with other forms of written, spoken or visual communication.
In both cases, "the Lord tells us . . . that obedience to His ordinances is the primary yardstick by which we should measure what is spoken.
"By obeying the principles necessary to have the Spirit," Sister Card said, "we are obeying the Lord's commandments and . . . may have the Spirit with us to help us discern whether the work is also following the Lord's commandments.
"There is no Mosiac law about what we can or cannot use for entertainment," Sister Card said. "The Lord expects His people to use good judgment."