I want to use this as a place to gather stories and examples I have found of people, particularly youth, who have taken a stand.
I love the thought- I don't know where it comes from- that says "Be someone's example and not their excuse."
Here is a quote from Pres. Monson on this very subject:
"You will need [courage] to be chaste and virtuous. You live in a world where moral values have, in great measure, been tossed aside, where sin is flagrantly on display, and where temptations to stray from the strait and narrow path surround you. Many are the voices telling you that you are far too provincial or that there is something wrong with you if you still believe there is such a thing as immoral behavior."Isaiah declared, 'Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness' (Isaiah 5:20)."Great courage will be required as you remain chaste and virtuous amid the accepted thinking of the times."
Thomas S. Monson, "May You Have Courage," Ensign, May 2009, 125
I have been looking for this talk for a long time and here it is so I won't lose it again: Elaine S. Dalton ,May 2008 Ensign
http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?hideNav=1&locale=0&sourceId=d4d4558fcc599110VgnVCM100000176f620a____&vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD
Here is the story in particular that I was trying to find:
A young man I know well was elected to be the student body president at a large university. The university sent him to a leadership seminar where student leaders from across the United States gathered in Chicago, Illinois, to be trained and educated. They participated in an initial game outdoors on the college campus so that they could become acquainted with each other. The students were presented with current issues facing today’s youth and were asked to take a position. In response to the issue presented, they were directed to run to several trees in the grassy area marked “strongly agree,” “partially agree,” “strongly disagree,” or “mildly disagree.”
Toward the end of this exercise, the leader asked, “Do you believe in premarital sex?” Without hesitation, this young man ran to the tree marked “strongly disagree.” To his amazement, he was the only one there! All the other student leaders were laughing and pointing at him and saying, “Oh, Jess, you are so funny. We all know you’re not really serious.” At that moment Jess said he knew exactly what he must do and so he loudly declared, “I’m not funny. I’m serious!” There was a stunned silence, and then the group dispersed, leaving Jess standing alone by the tree. He felt out of place and, yes, weird. But he wasn’t weird. He was right. And he was not alone. During the week, many of the student leaders came to him privately and said that they wished they had known years earlier what he knew. Jess later said, “It was easy because I knew that I represented not only the university but my family, the Church, and the Savior.”
This is a talk on Moral Discipline by Elder D. Todd Christopherson: http://lds.org/conference/talk/display/0,5232,23-1-1117-34,00.html
This is the story I was thinking of:
During World War II, President James E. Faust, then a young enlisted man in the United States Army, applied for officer candidate school. He appeared before a board of inquiry composed of what he described as “hard-bitten career soldier[s].” After a while their questions turned to matters of religion. The final questions were these:
“In times of war should not the moral code be relaxed? Does not the stress of battle justify men in doing things that they would not do when at home under normal situations?”
President Faust relates:
“I recognized that here was a chance perhaps to make some points and look broad-minded. I knew perfectly well that the men who were asking me this question did not live by the standards that I had been taught. The thought flashed through my mind that perhaps I could say that I had my own beliefs but did not wish to impose them on others. But there seemed to flash before my mind the faces of the many people to whom I had taught the law of chastity as a missionary. In the end I simply said, ‘I do not believe there is a double standard of morality.’
“I left the hearing resigned to the fact that [they] would not like the answers I had given . . . and would surely score me very low. A few days later when the scores were posted, to my astonishment I had passed. I was in the first group taken for officer’s candidate school! . . .
“This was one of the critical crossroads of my life.”How about contrast Torah Bright- the Australian snowboarder who just won gold at the Winter Olympics and who also happens to be LDS with the other Olympics stars that appeared in the swimsuit edition of Sports Illustrated?
http://www.smh.com.au/news/Sport/Questions-for-Torah-Bright/2005/05/22/1116700581606.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/25/sports/olympics/25bright.html
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010_swimsuit/winter/
Here is a story from the Ensign a few years back titled "What About Abstinence?"
http://lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?hideNav=1&locale=0&sourceId=d3968b5c1dbdb010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&vgnextoid=f318118dd536c010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD
What the prophets have said about chastity and virtue:
http://lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?hideNav=1&locale=0&sourceId=e923605ff590c010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD
Here is the story of Joseph getting away from Potiphar's wife:
Genesis 39:7–12.
Another example of standing for virtue is the experience we had with Courtney and a movie that was shown in her English class that had a totally inappropriate scene. Kevin and I felt strongly that we needed to go talk to the administration. Kevin ended going up and found out that there had been many other phone calls and visits. It is good to know that other people want to stand for virtue too.
The theme for YM/YW this year is Joshua 1:9
...Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.
I love this scripture and have read it many times this last year and it really gave me strength.
The YW presidency in my ward wants to use the theme throughout this year of "putting on the whole armour of God" and I think it is interesting that the scripture just before talking about the amour, it says, "Stand therefore,..."
Sis. Dalton, the general YW president has been calling for a return to virtue. The theme for YW Camp was VIP: Virtue is Power and we have been told that virtue will continue to be a theme.
So, in a way, "STAND" is a combination of all these things, in my opinion.
I want to use this post as a place to put all my thoughts, stories, etc. about "stand". I want to collect stories that have to do with someone taking a stand or being a good example for someone.
For example, today at church I was thinking about singing in the choir. I love to sing alto. Especially when I am just learning a part, I love to sit by someone who knows the part well. If the person next to me sings the part, then I can sing it too. This can be applied to the Gospel too. If someone is having a hard time with a certain temptation, if someone with them takes a stand and withstands the temptation, it is easier for the other person to withstand the temptation too.
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