Quote:
Originally Posted by Jeff Lebowski
(Post 66648)
Yes, you can.
This one really makes me laugh. The notion that BYU getting rid of the bones had anything to do with " didn't know how to acknowledge the existence of dinosaurs" is beyond absurd. These bones were collected (for the most part) by "Dinosaur Jim" ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_A._Jensen) a fairly famous paleontologist who worked at BYU for several years. Jim died in 1998 and BYU gave the bones away to a museum because they did not have the resources to house them permanently. Evolution is taught without apology at BYU.
That could be true. But after your previous zinger, I am skeptical.
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As to your first point, I know several people who have had different experiences.
As to your second, I could be wrong. What I do know is that Dallin Oaks was a huge proponent of Prof. Jensen (who, as you correctly noted, was one of the most prominent paleantologists in the world). Oaks was frustrated that the church would not do anything to put the bones on exhibit. He wrote a letter to the Board of Trustees in 1972 (as President of the university) asking for guidance on what to do with the bones. He noted in his letter that "Jensen points out . . . that the bones are there and cannot really be ignored by a major university that is almost literally sitting on top of them. . . . The interpretation of fossils should not go by default to those who are aggressively atheistic in their conclusions. Students in elementary and secondary schools in this state and throughout the country are being subjected to teachings which do not make dinosaurs compatible with the revealed word of God." (Bergera and Priddis, Brigham Young University: A House of Faith, 1985, p. 163.) The fossils were never found a home at BYU and remained under the bleachers for another 30 years.
You can say they didn't have a home and that was the reason they were stored under the bleachers, but it ignores the obvious question of why they didn't have a home at BYU. Funding? Why couldn't BYU get funding to build a world class museum? It would have paid for itself many times over (as Thanksgiving Point is now demonstrating). The answer may be one you aren't prepared to accept. As BYU religion professor Reid Bankhead noted, "Evolution is of the devil; those who work with it are, conscientious or otherwise, engaged in the devil's work." (BYU religion professor Reid Bankhead; cited in Bergera and Priddis, Brigham Young University: A House of Faith, 1985, p. 161.)
Or, as Elder Ezra Taft Benson noted, "organic evolutionary views . . . are taught and believed by many professors . . . and numerous students at the BYU. . . . the stench of apostasy is permeating many departments on campus." Elder Benson forwarded the letter to Gordon B. Hinckley, adding a cover note, "The problem seems to be increasing, not diminishing. Some of the latest complaints which have come to me have been from individual students." (Bergera and Priddis, Brigham Young University: A House of Faith, 1985, p.167.)
As to the third point, it is true- despite my "zingers." :)
FWIW, I think BYU is a fine institution with a lot to offer. I think it also has many shortcomings, however, some of which are noted in my posts here.