During a time long ago, "the wickedness of man was great," — so great in fact that "every imagination of the thoughts of [man] was only evil continually" (Genesis 6:5).

The Lord, grieved by this wickedness, said, "I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth" (Genesis 6:7) for the Earth is "filled with violence" (Genesis 6:13).

But one man, Noah, and his family were different. They "walked with God" (Genesis 6:9).

So the Lord warned Noah that flood waters would rise around him and gave him specific instructions to protect himself and his family. "And Noah did according unto all that the Lord commanded him" (Genesis 7:5).

Like Noah, we live in a time of wickedness, when the thoughts of many men are only "evil continually." Flood waters of iniquity are rising around us.

"We live in a day when Lucifer's influence is greater than we ever have known in our lifetimes," said Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin of the Quorum of the Twelve during his October 1993 general conference address. "In terms of the sin, evil, and wickedness upon the earth, we could liken our time to the days of Noah before the flood."

One of the greatest evils of our day is pornography. Like the rising flood waters of Noah's time, it is filling the earth and seeping into places we have always assumed were safe from disaster: our homes.

On Oct. 30, Morality in Media kicked off the 24th annual White Ribbon Against Pornography Week. Anti-pornography experts from LDS Family Services were enlisted as some of the event's primary collaborators.

Good people working together to fight pornography has never been more needed.

Today, 47 percent of families in the United States report that pornography is a problem in their homes, according to the National Coalition for the Protection of Children & Families, an Ohio-based nonprofit organization working to promote Christian values.

It is no surprise, considering the breadth and reach of pornography; according to Enough is Enough — a Virginia-based nonprofit organization formed in 1994 with aims to make the Internet safer for children and families — worldwide pornography revenue is estimated to be more than $97 billion dollars with $13 billion of that spent in the United States.

The porn industry in the U.S. rakes in more money than ABC, NBC and CBS television networks combined. Every second, 28,258 viewers are watching pornography and 372 Internet users are typing adult search terms into search engines. And every 39 minutes, a new pornographic video is made in the United States, according to Enough is Enough.

Worse yet is that pornography today is far more violent than ever before. With the touch of a button, any sexual fantasy, however deviant or cruel, can be obtained rapidly over the Internet.

A growing body of research suggests that the habitual use of pornography — especially Internet pornography — can damage people of all ages and both sexes, negatively impacting their relationships, productivity, happiness and their ability to function in society, according to the Witherspoon Institute at Princeton University.

Church leaders have also warned against this rising tide of evil.

"We abhor pornography that seems to be flooding the land," said President Spencer W. Kimball in his April 1975 general conference address. "The best way to stop it is to have men and women, with their families, build barriers against it."

And like the times of the Biblical flood — when people mocked Noah and his family for fortifying themselves against the rising waters — people today mock those who recognize and fight the evils of pornography.

President Thomas S. Monson notes, "Some publishers and printers prostitute their presses by printing millions of pieces of pornography each day. No expense is spared to produce a product certain to be viewed, then viewed again. One of the most accessible sources of pornography today is the Internet, where people can turn on a computer and instantly have at their fingertips countless sites featuring pornography. … Tainted as well is the movie producer, the television programmer, or the entertainer who promotes pornography. Long gone are the restraints of yesteryear. So-called realism is the quest, with the result that today we are surrounded by this filth.

"Avoid any semblance of pornography. It will desensitize the spirit and erode the conscience. We are told in the Doctrine and Covenants: 'That which doth not edify is not of God, and is darkness.' Such is pornography" (Teachings of Thomas S. Monson, pp. 222-223).

The flood in Noah's time was sent to cleanse the Earth because of the wickedness of the people. The source of today's symbolic flood waters is also wickedness. And the answer is the same as it was in biblical times: Noah and his family were saved because they were righteous (Genesis 6:9).

Elder Wirthlin said, in his October 1993 general conference address, that as the flood waters of pornography threaten our families the "only way to find peace, happiness, and security and overcome the evils of the world and temptations of this generation is in the gospel of Jesus Christ."

President Monson put it another way.

"Noah had the unwavering faith to follow God's commandments," he said during his October 2002 general conference address. "May we ever do likewise. May we remember that the wisdom of God ofttimes appears as foolishness to men; but the greatest lesson we can learn in mortality is that when God speaks and we obey, we will always be right."