BYU’s Radicalization

Troubled Secularism

I continue to be troubled by the amount of secular learning our children are learning at elementary, junior high, high school, and especially at college. The Critical Race Theory (CRT) is happening everywhere and it is not good. It teaches the Black race of people as always victims and the White race are always aggressors and guilty of racism. There cannot be a unity if there is always racism. This is wrong. The Savior said that we should become one just as He and His Father are one. I have no white guilt and I love all people regardless of their race or creed. Let’s come together in Christ, not become divided. I do not have a degree in higher education but I have been around the block a few times and have studied hard about life and politics and religion. I am a life long and in good standing member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and I am thankful for a strong testimony in our Savior and His scriptures, especially the Book of Mormon. I have always loved BYU and especially their sports. My father graduated from BYU in 1954. I have become more and more critical of many of the secular doctrines that BYU teaches. It hasn’t affected my testimony or love of the Prophet and Apostles by any means, but my concern is, are children strong in spirit enough to withstand the many secular teachings at BYU? I am not judging the school but I am worried there are so many Professors not just teaching theory such as evolution, but teaching it as doctrine. This is easily provable. BYU Provo and Idaho are certainly fantastic institutions, but don’t expect your children to be shielded by Church doctrine at these schools. There are many wonderful professors but I believe there are are nearly an equal amount of professors that care more about their own intelligence than about sharing Christian values with our children. “I have come to believe that it is the tendency for many members of the Church who spend a great deal of time in academic research to begin to judge the Church, its doctrine, organization, and leadership, present and past, by the principles of their own profession. Ofttimes this is done unwittingly, and some of it, perhaps, is not harmful.” The Mantle Is Far, Far Greater Than the Intellect Elder Boyd K. Packer Elder Packer also said, “This problem has affected some of those who have taught and have written about the history of the Church. These professors say of themselves that religious faith has little influence on Mormon scholars. They say this because, obviously, they are not simply Latter-day Saints but are also intellectuals trained, for the most part, in secular institutions. They would that some historians who are Latter-day Saints write history as they were taught in graduate school, rather than as Mormons”. The Mantle Is Far, Far Greater Than the Intellect Elder Boyd K. Packer

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Church Leaders Gather at BYU’s Life Sciences Building for Dedication

By Marianne Holman Prescott, Church News staff writer 2015 “There is no conflict between science and religion. Conflict only arises from an incomplete knowledge of either science or religion, or both,” Elder Russell M. Nelson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles said during the dedication of the new Life Sciences Building at Brigham Young University on April 9. “This university is committed to search for truth and teach the truth,” said Elder Nelson. “All truth is part of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Whether truth comes from a scientific laboratory or by revelation from the Lord, it is compatible…” “Now I will confess a personal prejudice,” he said. “I think that a person can learn more by studying God’s creations than by studying the works of people, even by the most erudite and educated scholars.” “If the Book of Mormon is true, then America is a choice land, but if it is to remain such the inhabitants of the land must worship the God of the land, the Lord Jesus Christ. The histories of two great nations, told with warning in this sacred volume, indicate that while we must have science, while we must have education, while we must have arms, we also must have righteousness if we are to merit the protection of God.” Gordon B. Hinckley The Power of the Book of Mormon Ensign June 1988

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BYU Graduate Shocks with Pride Flag

BYU Graduate Receives Diploma Then Opens Her Robe To Show Pride Flag “Was Elder Holland Prophetic in his BYU talk last summer? “Commandeering the graduation”. Is protesting the LGBTQ policies at BYU protesting the doctrine of the Church? What does the Pride Flag mean to you?” CWIC Media

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No Judgement

Personally I don’t feel any special calling to judge any person or any ideology. I simply feel a need to make my readers aware of many challenges that we face personally and many of these challenges are also felt at the Lord’s Universities. I feel very similar to what Elder Packer said. “President Brigham Young admonished Karl G. Maeser not to teach even the times table without the Spirit of the Lord. How much more essential is that Spirit in the research, the writing, and the teaching of Church history.” The Mantle Is Far, Far Greater Than the Intellect Elder Boyd K. Packer.  I share bits and pieces of Elder Holland’s inspired talk from August of 2021 below.

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland Urges BYU to Embrace Its Uniqueness, Stay True to the Savior

Apostle speaks at BYU’s 2021 University Conference

“The Lord’s call [to those of us who serve at BYU] is a . . . call to create learning experiences of unprecedented depth, quality and impact. . . . As good as BYU is and has been, this is a call to do [better]. It is . . . a call to educate many more students, to more . . . effectively help them become true disciples of Jesus Christ, to prepare them to . . . lead in their families, in the Church, in their [professions, and] in a world filled with commotion. . . . But [answering this call] . . . cannot be [done successfully] without His . . . help…” Elder Jeffrey R. Holland BYU’s 2021 University Conference (This quote above is from nearly the end of Elder Holland’s talk that I am quoting from below, but I put it at the beginning as it sets the stage for me as I discuss Elder Holland’s words). Elder Holland continues, “…Imagine the pain that comes with a memo like this one I recently received. These are just a half-dozen lines from a two-page document: “You should know,” the writer says, “that some people in the extended community are feeling abandoned and betrayed by BYU. It seems that some professors (at least the vocal ones in the media) are supporting ideas that many of us feel are contradictory to gospel principles, making it appear to be about like any other university our sons and daughters could have attended. Several parents have said they no longer want to send their children here or donate to the school…” “Please don’t think I’m opposed to people thinking differently about policies and ideas,” the writer continues. “I’m not. But I would hope that BYU professors would be bridging those gaps between faith and intellect and would be sending out students that are ready to do the same in loving, intelligent and articulate ways. Yet, I fear that some faculty are not supportive of the Church’s doctrines and policies and choose to criticize them publicly. There are consequences to this. After having served a full-time mission and marrying her husband in the temple, a friend of mine recently left the church. In her graduation statement on a social media post, she credited [such and such a BYU program and its faculty] with the radicalizing of her attitudes and the destruction of her faith.”[6] “But it will assist everyone in providing such help if things can be kept in some proportion and balance in the process. For example, we have to be careful that love and empathy do not get interpreted as condoning and advocacy, or that orthodoxy and loyalty to principle not be interpreted as unkindness or disloyalty to people. As near as I can tell, Christ never once withheld His love from anyone, but He also never once said to anyone, ‘Because I love you, you are exempt from keeping my commandments.’ We are tasked with trying to strike that same sensitive, demanding balance in our lives… Elder Holland says, “My beloved brothers and sisters, “a house divided against itself . . . cannot stand,”[12] and I will go to my grave pleading that this institution not only stands but stands unquestionably committed to its unique academic mission and to the Church that sponsors it. We hope it isn’t a surprise to you that your Trustees are not deaf or blind to the feelings that swirl around marriage and the whole same-sex topic on campus. I and many of my Brethren have spent more time and shed more tears on this subject than we could ever adequately convey to you this morning, or any morning. We have spent hours discussing what the doctrine of the Church can and cannot provide the individuals and families struggling over this difficult issue. So, it is with scar tissue of our own that we are trying to avoid — and hope all will try to avoid — language, symbols, and situations that are more divisive than unifying at the very time we want to show love for all of God’s children… I conclude Elder Holland’s talk with this quote by him. “..We have to be careful that love and empathy do not get interpreted as condoning and advocacy, or that orthodoxy and loyalty to principle not be interpreted as unkindness or disloyalty to people. As near as I can tell, Christ never once withheld His love from anyone, but He also never once said to anyone, “Because I love you, you are exempt from keeping my commandments.” We are tasked with trying to strike that same sensitive, demanding balance in our lives.” Source: https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/elder-jeffrey-r-holland-2021-byu-university-conference

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BYU Open Letter to Faculty, Students, & Parents on Radicalization & CRT

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To the Academics, Intellectuals, Scholars and Students

Several years ago President Ezra Taft Benson spoke to you and said: “It has come to our attention that some of our teachers, particularly in our university programs, are purchasing writings from known apostates … in an effort to become informed about certain points of view or to glean from their research. You must realize that when you purchase their writings or subscribe to their periodicals, you help sustain their cause. We would hope that their writings not be on your seminary or institute or personal bookshelves. We are entrusting you to represent the Lord and the First Presidency to your students, not the views of the detractors of the Church” (The Gospel Teacher and His Message [address delivered to Church Educational System personnel, 17 Sept. 1976], p. 12.) The Mantle Is Far, Far Greater Than the Intellect Elder Boyd K. Packer Do not yield your faith in payment for an advanced degree or for the recognition and acclaim of the world. Do not turn away from the Lord nor from his Church nor from his servants. You are needed—oh, how you are needed! It may be that you will lay your scholarly reputation and the acclaim of your colleagues in the world as a sacrifice upon the altar of service. They may never understand the things of the Spirit as you have a right to do. They may not regard you as an authority or as a scholar. Just remember, when the test came to Abraham, he didn’t really have to sacrifice Isaac. He just had to be willing to. The Mantle Is Far, Far Greater Than the Intellect Elder Boyd K. Packer

To you who may have lost your way, come back! We know how that can happen; we have walked that path of research and study. Come help us!—you with your scholarship and your training, you with your bright, intelligent minds, you with your experience and with your academic degrees. The Mantle Is Far, Far Greater Than the Intellect Elder Boyd K. Packer https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/teaching-seminary-preservice-readings-religion-370-471-and-475/the-mantle-is-far-far-greater-than-the-intellect?lang=eng

Need for an Educated Citizenry

“There is no need to learn about communism in order to avoid it,” Some argue. But this counsel can help keep our people in ignorance and apparently flies in the face of the inspired counsel of President McKay who said, “I believe that only through a truly educated citizenry can the ideals that inspired the Founding Fathers of our nation be preserved and perpetuated.” (“Church News,” March 13, 1954; quoted in Newquist, op. cit., p. 178.) And then President McKay said that one of the “four fundamental elements in such an education” was the “open and forcible teaching of the facts regarding communism as an enemy to God and to individual freedom.” (“Church News,” March 13, 1954; quoted in Newquist, op. cit., p. 181.)

STEVEN PECK BIOLOGY

“I love being a part of the diversity committee in the College of Life Sciences. Helping students to become actively antiracist is one of the most important things I’ve done as a BYU faculty member. The affirmation Black Lives Matter has helped me see the importance of working towards a more inclusive BYU for all its students.” Steven Peck COLLEGE OF LIFE SCIENCES DIVERSITY COMMITEE BYU Impact Magazine page 27 This troublesome Newsweek article by Steven Peck still disturbs me after all these years. Read it below. Is Evolution Real? Christians Should Embrace Darwin’s Theories, Mormon College Professor Says BY KATE SHERIDAN ON 3/1/18 Also a very concerning article in LDS living is from an intelligent member of the church who affiliates with Bok of Mormon Central and other apologetic groups, here called 5 Answers to Difficult Questions About Noah and the Flood.

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Back to the article at COLLEGE OF LIFE SCIENCES DIVERSITY COMMITEE BYU Impact Magazine page 27 “An evolutionary biologist who teaches at a college owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints said that Mormons should feel comfortable accepting the theory of evolution, the Salt Lake City Tribune reported. Brigham Young University biologist Steven Peck gave the Eugene England Memorial Lecture at Utah Valley University, a publicly-funded school, on Thursday. At the address, he delved into the rift between science and religion.” Read the entire article here:

The Saddest Study You Will Read!

https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0205798

The Church and BYU: An evolution — of evolution

“The data shown here reveal a shift toward acceptance by LDS youth of evolutionary theory as a valid explanation for current life on earth. While human evolution is still something of an issue, there has been a dramatic decrease in conflict in comparison with the views of college students of two to three decades ago. As explanations, the data support the influence of an improved K-12 educational experience, a reduction in negative messaging from people in authority within the religious organization, and the positive effects of a strong BYU science education in a faith-friendly manner, which we suggest can be transmitted as a generational legacy. Students both previous and current have responded with approval of both the theoretical framework and empirical evidence for evolution when presented in an instructional strategy that clarifies the authoritative position of their church and encourages reconciliation of faith and science. These data are specific to those of the LDS faith, some aspects of which may be unique (i.e. close adherence of the membership to authoritative pronouncements of any current church leadership, a unity of belief and standardized religious practice in congregations world-wide, and highly effective programs of religious education for youth at both the family and ecclesiastical levels). On the other hand, a case can be made for generalization. The BYU population represents students of a Christian faith whose teachings are informed by Biblical scripture (including the precept of divine creation), with notorious cultural (but not doctrinal) barriers to evolution, a case similar to many other conservative religions. As a result, we believe our findings can be applied more broadly, used as an “ecological case study,” whose results can be replicated with students of other religious affiliations. As “nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution” [78], the fact that trends are changing among one of the most resistant populations in America should serve as a point of encouragement for life science educators from all institutions.” Bold added The Church and BYU: An evolution — of evolution “Historians seem to take great pride in publishing something new, particularly if it illustrates a weakness or mistake of a prominent historical figure. For some reason, historians and novelists seem to savor such things. If it related to a living person, it would come under the heading of gossip. History can be as misleading as gossip and much more difficult—often impossible—to verify. The writer or the teacher who has an exaggerated loyalty to the theory that everything must be told is laying a foundation for his own judgment. He should not complain if one day he himself receives as he has given. Perhaps that is what is contemplated in having one’s sins preached from the housetops.” The Mantle Is Far, Far Greater Than the Intellect Elder Boyd K. Packer I would simply say, be aware of evil being taught as good and good being taught as evil. Do your due-diligence and seek for that which is true by study and prayer.