In prophesying some of the evils of the latter days, the apostle Paul said men would be "proud, blasphemers, … unholy, … trucebreakers, … false accusers [slanderers], incontinent [lacking self control], fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady [rash and reckless], highminded [conceited], lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God" (2 Timothy 3:2-4).

Expressions of these faults in society today are legion. In the parlance of our day, we tend to group them into one generic category we call incivility. One need not look far to find them, in entertainment, sports, politics, professions, commerce — most any arena, including the mass media.

While media professionals are themselves prone to occasional incivility, some of the more egregious instances are often attributable to readers, viewers and consumers.

Since long before the advent of the computer age, it has been common for newspapers to publish letters from readers expressing opinions on this or that issue of the day. While such letters can be and often are pointed, controversial, vigorous and spirited, good editors are selective, choosing those that are cogent, responsible and restrained. Editors typically have required contributors to their reader columns to supply their identities. Even on rare occasions when a letter has been published anonymously, the author has been obliged to disclose his name to the publication in advance. Theoretically, such a requirement serves as a check on tone and content of the letters.

Then came the advent of the Worldwide Web, where virtually anyone with computer access and an Internet service provider can publish to millions of readers around the globe. Authors can do so by means of any of a host of forums: chat rooms, message boards, blogs, etc., and they need not identify themselves. Anxious not to be left behind, print and broadcast media outlets quickly established online presences, sponsoring Web sites as companions to their publications.

Reader and viewer comments about published items soon became a common feature of such Web sites. Unlike the old letters to the editor, however, these comments can be posted instantly, and, as in other areas of the Internet, anonymity is the order of the day. Freed from the necessity of disclosing their identities, some writers use online comments as an opportunity to vent rather than enlighten. Alas, all too many comments are more characteristic of a schoolyard bully's taunts than of reasoned public discourse.

There is some cause for hope however.

For example, KSL-TV in Salt Lake City carried this announcement on its March 7 newscast: "If you visit KSL.com on Monday, you might notice something new. The comment boards, which were shut down on Friday, have been significantly renovated. The goal is to rein in uncivil behavior and to provide for healthy, open, respectful dialogue."

What followed was a mention of new guidelines and features and this on-camera comment from Clark Gilbert, president and CEO of Deseret Digital Media: "Now that you have to register and that your profile stays with you on your comments, there's actually some responsibility and accountability that sticks with you."

The Deseret News, whose online product, like that of KSL, is under the Deseret Digital Media corporate umbrella, carries a notice in its "Reader Comments" section attached to Internet versions of its articles that the comments are monitored and that comments judged to be abusive, offensive, misrepresentative or off-topic will not be posted.

The above measures, while not a perfect solution to the problem, do set an example of corporate responsibility worthy of emulation.

Meanwhile, in matters such as this, there can be no adequate substitute for integrity of character and the disposition to govern one's own behavior. As the covenant people of God, Latter-day Saints should be models to the rest of the world in this respect. It is ingrained in our doctrine.

We hold to scriptural admonitions such as these:

"A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger.

"A wholesome tongue is a tree of life: but perverseness therein is a breach in the spirit" (Proverbs 15:1, 4).

"Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man" (Matthew 15:11).

As much as anything else, our 13th Article of Faith encompasses the integral role that civility should play in all our dealings: "We believe in being … virtuous, and in doing good to all men. … If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things."

Like the scriptural "city that is set on a hill" (Matthew 5:14), may we as Latter-day Saints be an illuminating beacon to the rest of the world in civility, as in all other matters.