Mormons<\/a> who love Brigham Young University and who are passionate fans of BYU sports. \u00a0I understand them.<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
I also know members of the Church who are either going to other schools or who went to other schools and who, consequently, root for the teams fielded by those schools. \u00a0Or they cheer for a local college or university near their homes. \u00a0Perfectly fine and completely understandable.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Occasionally, though, I run into devout members of the Church who hate<\/em> BYU, and who especially oppose its athletic teams. \u00a0You<\/em> know: \u00a0The kind who wear shirts saying something like \u201cMy favorite teams are [insert non-BYU school] and anybody who\u2019s playing against BYU.\u201d<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
I would understand such sentiments from non-members or from alienated nominal members of the Church, and I certainly understand them when they issue from hostile critics<\/em> of the Church.<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
But what I don\u2019t<\/em> understand \u2014 honestly, I don\u2019t \u2014 is when active, communicant members of the Church express such feelings. \u00a0And I\u2019ve heard a few do just that.<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
BYU is a major investment for the Church. \u00a0It\u2019s a major representative of<\/em> the Church. \u00a0When it does well, it brings publicity to the Church. And that\u2019s so with regard to athletics (for good or for ill) perhaps more than in another area: \u00a0Returned missionaries are interviewed in Sports Illustrated<\/em>, for example, and glowing profiles of the University (which invariably mention its sponsoring church) appear on national (and sometimes even international) television. \u00a0BYU is one of the most widely recognized affiliates of the Church, one of the most visible institutions connected with Mormonism.<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
I genuinely don\u2019t understand how a believing, faithful member of the Church can want<\/em> BYU to fail. \u00a0(Heck, I<\/em> don\u2019t want the University of Utah<\/em> to fail.) \u00a0Is there any committed Latter-day Saint who says, \u201cI want the Family History Department to be mediocre,\u201d or \u201cI hope that the Missionary Department messes things up on a massive scale\u201d? \u00a0Frankly, is there any faithful Mormon who yearns for the civil engineering program at BYU to be rated poorly, or for BYU\u2019s accounting program to lose its high national ranking, or for BYU\u2019s well-respected language programs to falter and to fail to do a good job? So why would any believing Latter-day Saint want BYU\u2019s athletic<\/em> programs to lose?<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
To me, the desire to build the Kingdom and to see it grow ever more respected and glorious means that I hope all elements<\/em> of it will flourish and prosper. \u00a0 \u00a0Even BYU\u2019s football program.<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
But I would like to hear from any committed Latter-day Saints out there who feel otherwise. \u00a0And I hope that they\u2019ll explain why.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Please note: \u00a0I can easily grasp being upset with BYU over this action or that policy. \u00a0When, say, a son or daughter was rejected for admission, or a professor (odds are good that I\u2019m the guilty party) treated you poorly, or a BYU bureaucrat wasn\u2019t responsive. \u00a0Believe me: \u00a0I know what it\u2019s like to feel mistreated, even betrayed, by all-too-human folks affiliated with BYU; my unexpected encounter\u00a0with university politics in\u00a0mid-2012 has damaged me, and has damaged things that I deeply believe in, in ways that continue to have repercussions even now. \u00a0But, although I was and am profoundly disappointed by that experience, I haven\u2019t managed to come to hate BYU. \u00a0I still love it. \u00a0I simply hope that it will become better, and then better still.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
So, if somebody could please explain the very real hostility that at least a few believing Latter-day Saints claim to feel for the University, I would deeply appreciate it.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u00a0 \u00a0 Here\u2019s a serious question for some of my fellow Latter-day Saints: \u00a0 I know many Mormons who love Brigham Young University and who are passionate fans of BYU sports. \u00a0I understand them. \u00a0 I also know members of the Church who are either going to other schools or who went to other schools […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-36754","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
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