BlueK |
04-01-2015 03:56 PM |
I think this issue has roots in the early 90s when BYU first started requiring annual renewals of the ecclesiastical endorsement and then soon after told bishops that church attendance had to be part of it. Just from my perspective of being there when this change was made makes me a little annoyed that today in these articles it's the bishops who seem to be getting the brunt of the blame for these students being worried about getting kicked out. The truth is that it was BYU who was telling the bishops to go beyond just getting a commitment from the student to live the honor code, and then to not sign it if they hadn't been going to church.
I think most bishops back then talking to a student who maybe hadn't been very active in church but was now there committing to keep the rules actually would have been happy that the kid was seemingly trying to stay on the good side rather than finding a reason not to sign the paper. The current controversy to me all comes from BYU trying too hard to tell the bishops what to do. I like the idea of a campus that largely avoids all the drinking, drugs and blatant sexuality you see at other places, but what someone is thinking in their head at the time about their spirituality and beliefs shouldn't be something we think we can force. Teach, expound, exhort -- but forcing people to believe something is not God's way according to D&C 121.
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