Oct. 1987 Conf.:

        "President George Q. Cannon, who served long and faithfully as a
Counselor in the First Presidency, said on one occasion:

            'Do angels take the Lord's name in vain?  The idea is so
    ridiculous that we scarcely like to ask the question...How dare
    we do that which angels dare not do?  Is it possible for us to
    argue that that which is forbidden in heaven is praiseworthy
    on earth?...
            Though we are sure no boy can tell us any advantage that
    can arise from the abuse of God's holy name, yet we can tell
    him many evils that arise therefrom.  To begin,' Bro. Cannon
    said, 'it is unnecessary and consequently foolish; it lessens
    our respect for holy things and leads us into the society of the
    wicked; it brings upon us the disrespect of the good who avoid
    us; it leads us to other sins, for he who is willing to abuse his
    Creator is not ashamed to defraud his fellow creature; and
    also by so doing we directly and knowingly break one of the
    most direct of God's commandments.'"
                    (Juvenile Instructor, 27 Sept., 1873, p. 156)

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

"True to the Faith,"  Salt Lake Valley-Wide Institute Fireside, Jan. 21, 1996:

        "Cultivate the art of conversation.  It is a tremendous asset.  For
me there is nothing more delightful than to listen in on the conversation
of a group of bright and happy young people such as you.  Their dialogue
is witty.  It is scintillating.  It sparkles and is punctuated by laughing even
when dealing with serious subjects.  But, I repeat, it is not necessary in
conversation to profane the name of Deity or to use salty and salacious
language of any kind.

        And let me add that there is plenty of humor in the world without
resorting to what we speak of as dirty jokes.  I challenge each of you to
avoid all such.  During the coming week as you talk with friends and
associates, see if you can do so without speaking any words that you
might regret having said."

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Parowan Utah Youth Fireside, Jan. 13, 1996:

        "You can't use that filthy, dirty language that's so common in the
high school and other schools--you can't do it, if you believe you're a
child of God, without betraying your birthright."

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Be Ye Clean," Ensign, May 1996, p. 48:

        "Be clean in language.  There is so much of filthy, sleazy talk these
days.  I spoke to the young women about it.  I speak to you also.  It tells
others that your vocabulary is so extremely limited that you cannot
express yourselves without reaching down into the gutter for words.
Dirty talk is unbecoming any man who holds the priesthood, be he young
or old.

        Nor can you as a priesthood holder take the name of the Lord in vain.
Said Jehovah to the children of Israel, 'Thou shall not take the name of
the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that
taketh his name in vain' (Ex. 20:7).

        That commandment, engraved by the finger of the Lord, is as binding
upon us as it was upon those to whom it was originally given.  The Lord
has said in modern revelation, 'Remember that that which cometh from
above is sacred, and must be spoken with care, and by constraint of the
Spirit' (D & C 63:64).

        A filthy mind expresses itself in filthy and profane language.  A clean
mind expresses itself in language that is positive and uplifting and in deeds
that bring happiness into the heart."

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

        In a conference talk in 1987 when he was First Counselor in the First
Presidency, President Gordon B. Hinckley reported that in our society such
profanity is becoming all too prevalent.  He read from a First Presidency
general epistle issued a hundred years earlier, dated 8 April 1887 which
stated:  "The habit..., which some young people fall into of using vulgarity
and profanity...is not only offensive to well-bred persons, but it is a gross
sin in the sight of God, and should not exist among the children of Latter-
day Saints."

        In addition President Hinckley recounted the story of the son of the
Israelitish woman who was stoned to death for blasphemy  (see Leviticus
16) and said  "While that most serious of penalties has long since ceased
to be inflicted, the gravity of the sin has not changed."

(from the book:  The Ten Commandments For Today, p. 64)

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------