Brigham Young University's Honor Code Problem

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• published: 09 Jul 2015
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Brigham Young University's Honor Code Problem Hemant Mehta (http://www.friendlyatheist.com, http://www.patreon.com/Hemant , https://www.facebook.com/friendlyatheist) http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2015/06/25/this-is-how-brigham-young-universitys-honor-code-hurts-mormons-who-may-question-their-faith/ http://www.freebyu.org/ When you think of Brigham Young University in Utah, you probably know it's the school a lot of Mormons go to. You may not know that a lot of non-Mormons also go there for a number of reasons. Everyone, though, has to abide by the school's Honor Code. That means no alcohol, no coffee, no drugs, no pre-marital sex, and definitely no being gay. Even if you're not Mormon, you have to agree to these things if you go there. And BYU, as a private religious school, has a right to do that. There are a couple of important differences, though, between how Mormons and non-Mormons are treated by the school. If you're not Mormon, you have to pay double the tuition. It's like going to an out-of-state school. And, again, that's fine. They can do that. But here's the more interesting difference: Suppose you're not Mormon and you go to BYU and you start having second thoughts about your beliefs. Suppose you're an evangelical Christian and you become an atheist. That's fine. No one cares. If you're an atheist -- who for some reason attends BYU -- and you become an evangelical Christian, okay. But if you're a Mormon at BYU and you realize you don't believe that stuff anymore, the punishment is extremely harsh. Forget getting kicked out of the Church. That's a given. BYU will expel you. They could also evict you from BYU housing. If you're employed by the school, they could fire you. And if you wanted to transfer to another school, they could put a hold on your transcript. Even if they released it, they could put notation on it that says you were not in compliance with their Honor Code. Without more details, that almost sounds like you cheated or something, even though you did nothing wrong! Basically, they will ruin your life if you're a Mormon who stops Mormoning. Now maybe you're thinking there's an easy solution to this problem: If you're a Mormon who stops believing, that's fine. You just have to pay the higher tuition and be treated like all the other non-Mormon students! That would make sense! But that's not what BYU does. They single out Mormons who change their minds and punish them more severely. It's easier to be an atheist who goes to BYU... than a Mormon who becomes an atheist at BYU. Think about this for a second. They're basically telling Mormon students: Don't become critical thinkers. Don't put your religion under scrutiny. Don't you dare change your mind. Because if you do, we are coming after you. What choice do you really have at that point, other than to lie? If you're a Mormon student there, and your parents are paying for college, you're kind of forced into the faith because the consequences for leaving are so horrible. I would add that if you talk to BYU students, they'll tell you it's not just a religious school. It's a community. So leaving the school means losing your friends and breaking ties with your networks there. It's hard enough to leave the Mormon faith you were raised with. Why are they making it even harder on these students by making them leave their school? Shouldn't college be a place where that sort of thinking is encouraged? Why should students have to fear questioning their faith? There's a group of parents, alumni, and anonymous students and faculty that are actually trying to change this. They're called FreeBYU and they're asking the school to update its Honor Code so that if Mormons decide not to stay in the Church while they're in school, they won't get kicked out of their housing, they won't be expelled, and they won't lose their jobs. FreeBYU says that Mormons who leave the faith should just have to pay the higher tuition. It's a pretty reasonable demand. But so far, the school hasn't budged. FreeBYU has also recently taken another major step. BYU is an accredited school. It meets certain high standards that makes it a legit university. Your degree actually counts for something. ... You Might Also Like ... 7 Things That Prove God is Real https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQ50omyWziE&list;=PLZGLqPtxUOKEZxzukuev1YpLUQp-CtKDq&index;=128 78 Questions for Christians https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SI-_FJuTPns&index;=138&list;=PLZGLqPtxUOKEZxzukuev1YpLUQp-CtKDq 4 Creative Ways to Deal with Preachers. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3kHcV36dak&index;=133&list;=PLZGLqPtxUOKEZxzukuev1YpLUQp-CtKDq