Disagree with a lot of what he said. I am under 40 as well.
The LGBT issue is picking up momentum and getting a lot of traction … I am observing articles not even posted here from home sites on the national news and olympics.
Publicity forecoming should be positive at best … negative for whatever reason cannot be good and only plants within the minds of the readers DOUBTS that may not have existed before.
BYU can also blame the bears on how the Big12 presidents will react. They are saddled with the cubbies like those wedding vows … for good and bad times … here they have a chance to prevent even taking those vows and avoid a possible future bad union.
Interesting that the writer also mentioned that should this issue balloon even further that BYU could very well not be included if 4 were added.
“To be clear: BYU should be free to practice religion and set its code of conduct however it sees fit in accordance with Mormon principles.”
You don’t have a right to discriminate and not face consequences for it. If someone doesn’t want to do business with you because of it tough tiddy.
Over 40 for reference.
I don’t think anyone can disagree with the fact the BigXII can reject BYU, but I think BYU should stick to their guns. It is a church school, and their beliefs fall in line with many Christians that homosexuality is a sin. The honor code being discriminatory is a matter of opinion, or in this case a matter or values, principles, and beliefs. In fact, the honor code applies to everyone equally, how the honor code effects the behavior of a homosexual compared to a heterosexual is different, but it’s not discriminatory.
i essentially agree completely worth the article. just as BYU is free to have whatever honor code they want, the BIG 12 is free not to associate themselves with BYU. Freedom, gotta love it.
The Mandell,
Actually, there isn’t much that the government can do about BYU’s discrimination, as private religious groups can get away with a lot of stuff, including various forms of discrimination, that other sorts of organizations cannot, within the framework of First Amendment religious freedom.
At the most, the government can possibly withhold federal research funding and financial aid eligibility, but given that BYU gets plenty of money from its Mother Church and other organizations, I don’t see that affecting them much.
Given that this Honor Code is nothing new, it apparently doesn’t affect BYU’s academic reputation either, as its US News rankings remain high in areas like business and law.
All that said, the Big 12, as a private association, can come up with its own membership criteria, one of which could be that schools with policies like BYU’s are prohibited.
Time will tell whether or not they use that as a basis for keeping BYU out.
Its 100% discriminatory. They’re just using religion to justify it and you’re ok with that. And the big problem is its not just BYU, is the LDS itself calling the shot. The local police, LDS members, were alerting the honor code BYU group that girls had filed rape charges so BYU could investigate them. That’s sickening.
This is nothing new for the LDS. They know they need to change and don’t be surprised when they do. After all it wasn’t until 1978 that they allowed black people to be LDS priests. Was that not discriminatory in your mind?
Mr Adams,
I’m not saying the government should do anything but there are still consequences and the B12 not inviting them is one possible consequence. Individuals and businesses don’t have to accept their discriminatory policies and are free to do business elsewhere.
I agree, except that thus far, BYU hasn’t suffered many negative consequences for its policies.
Time will tell whether a denial of Big12 admission will be the first major negative consequence that BYU experiences as a result.
Well, it did get rejected by the PAC and Utah taken instead as a direct result of their policies. And I think not just for their LGBT stance but likely for academic issues as well. The LDS/BYU have basically been spinning and putting out false information on DNA, completely motivated by how it relates to their religion(or disproves a major aspect of it) for decades. That crap doesn’t sit well in academic circles.
That’s false, and not even close. Girl was investigated by BYU because she violated the honor code by having a male in her room after hours. BYU has since rescinded that a sexual assault victim be investigated for honor code violations. Additionally, her housing was off-campus, but part of the BYU housing system which is why the police had to share the report with the school. If your going to make crap up, at least get close to the facts.
Mandell,
Their academic reputation remains strong though. Just look at their US NEWS rankings in areas such as business and law.
As for your other point, that’s not quite true. At the time, BYU sought independence in football, hoping to become the Notre Dame of the West. Having failed in that quest, they now seek Big 12 membership.
They never seriously pursued Pac 12 membership, and were never passed over in favor of Utah as such. That part is wrong.
So no. They haven’t suffered any major negative consequences for their policies.
Time will tell whether denial of Big 12 admission will be the first.
It might.
Utah accepted Pac12 invite June 2010. BYU announced they were leaving the MW Sept 2010. I don’t by that they weren’t passed over.
They never seriously pursued Pac 12 membership.
Because it was made very clear they were never getting in. This was just after Prop 8. BYU was not happening.
Not true. They had considered going independent as early as 2007, LONG before the Pac 12 took Utah.
They never pursued Pac 12 membership, and for that reason, the fact that they are not in the Pac 12 cannot be described as a consequence of their policies. That would be like trying to argue that someone who had never applied to a university faced negative consequences compared to someone that had applied and been accepted. That makes no sense whatsoever.
See the link below.
Granted, if they ever try to join the Pac 12 in the future, that would probably keep them out. But until then, it’s false to claim that these policies kept them out in the past. The TRUTH is that BYU never, at any point, seriously sought Pac 12 membership, and as such, their not being in the Pac 12, and Utah’s being there, cannot be claimed as a negative consequence of BYU’s policies.
If the Big 12 denies them for that reason after their recent serious pursuit, THEN you’ll have something, but not so far.
As I said, time will tell.
The can of worms that get opened here would be if BYU is getting discriminated against for their religious beliefs. If it is determined that the only reason BYU does not get invited to the Big 12 is because of this, then they will have a right to sue.
Mump,
I am sure that if the Big 12 rejects them, they’ll come up with some non-religious public reason, such as location outside a major media market, travel costs, sceduling, etc., to explain the rejection and help protect themselves from any potential legal liability on that basis.
They are coming after us Now??!