Teachings of the First Presidency:
First Presidency Message
We Believe in Being Chaste
By President Marion G. Romney
Second Counselor in the First Presidency
Marion G. Romney, “We Believe in Being Chaste,” Ensign, Sept. 1981, 3
You will recall Alma’s teaching his son Corianton that unchastity is the most serious offense there is in the sight of God, save murder or denying the Holy Ghost. (See Alma 39:5.) You will remember, too, these words from Paul’s first epistle to the Corinthians:
“Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
“If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy.” (1 Cor. 3:16-17.)
Some years ago the First Presidency said to the youth of the Church that a person would be better dead clean than alive unclean.

This month, The Salt Lake Tribune has been following the story of BYU students who say they’ve been punished under the school’s honor code because they reported sexual assaults. Some of the questions these women are facing have been experienced around the country: will they be believed, shamed or blamed for being a victim? Tuesday, we’re asking how LDS culture and theology of chastity complicates this, and if there are lessons from the Mormon experience that might help challenge assumptions about rape in America.
Guests:
• Erin Alberty, Justice and Safety Reporter for The Salt Lake Tribune
• Andrea Radke-Moss is a historian at BYU Idaho and a contributor to the Mormon history blog Juvenile Instructor. She recently presented a paper in which she revealed one of the "founding mothers" of Mormonism, Eliza R. Snow, was a possible victim of rape during the Mormon-Missouri War of 1838.
• Cynthia Bailey Lee is a lecturer of Computer Science at Stanford University. She blogs for the Mormon focused By Common Consent.

Listen live on the net: 11 AM http://radiowest.kuer.org/post/sexual-assault-mormon-context Program repeats at 7 PM and then available via podcast.