I keep thinking about this article. Because when I check CG for new posts, it's the main one that has appeared in the feed.
It's an important question--how does BYU assume or maintain a unique religious component to its education in a country where this doesn't really exist very much?
My objection to Hancock's article is that he fails to really think about this in any kind of meaningful way, other than to dog what has perceives as his enemies. He's shallow. But he is addressing an important question.
So he's a question: what do you get at BYU (or should get) that you don't or can't get from a public or private university + institute?
BYU
1. I always thought it was weird to have church in a lecture hall. I never liked that.
2. It's easy to get "lost" at BYU. I never had a calling in four years. I gave one or two talks total during four years. And one of those was only because I mentioned I had never given a talk to my roommate, who had a calling that allowed him to ask the Bishop to give me that assignment.
3. It's easy to go through BYU and never talk to much about religion or personal beliefs. Because the assumption is that everyone has the same beliefs, there's not a lot that you really compare or contrast. I found that I was much less likely to get into a gospel conversation in Provo than I was in Texas.
4. I found most of the religion classes to be the equivalent of Sunday School or Gospel Doctrine classes. Some of them I liked, some of them I didn't. For the same reasons that I like some Gospel Doctrine teachers and I don't care for others. Dan Hone. I think that's the name of the guy who taught my freshman BoM class. He was just so sincere and honest that he made it work for me. I had others who felt gimmicky and like they were on stage performing. Didn't like that. I did find the grading to be frustrating in those classes. I didn't like the pressure of grades in a class whose purpose was to discuss religious truth.
5. Not a lot of religious discussion in my other classes. I was a science major. But I also took humanity classes. I did have one teacher in science who was from a foreign country, and he would break in with life lessons and religious experiences. Again, very sincere salt of the earth guy, I enjoyed that. Then again, I've always enjoyed stories more than dry lectures.
6. I think the obvious primary benefit of BYU is the ability to date members of your own faith. You can do it that at other places, but the dating pool among members is smaller. So there's a greater chance you will end up marrying in the faith. A lot of my friends who went to state schools married in the faith as well. But their wives aren't as good looking as mine.
7. Some might argue that if I had gone to a different university that I would have encountered ideas and philosophies that would have caused me to lose faith. Ok. Like what? That there is a huge biological component to ethical decision making (Hancock's example). I've encountered that idea. And yet I still go to church every Sunday. It's not the ideas that are the big deal. It's a lot about friends and values. But that's also a choice one can make wherever one is. Provo, or anywhere else. Most of the people I know that have left the church because of ideas left because of religious ideas. Like something from church history that didn't square right with them. They didn't learn about those things sitting in History 308 class. And they certainly didn't hear them in BYU religion classes, which as far as I can tell steer clear of controversial topics from church history. Preparing NO ONE to deal with them.