Gear up this is gonna be a long post.

I feel the need to address this petition to BYU started by Hanna Seariac and Tristan Mourier. https://www.change.org/p/brigham-young-university-administration-and-the-church-of-jesus-christ-of-latter-day-saints-emphasizing-christ-centered-education-at-brigham-young-university?utm_content=cl_sharecopy_23764797_en-US%3A2&recruiter=233741696&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=copylink&utm_campaign=share_petition

It was filled with numerous racist and homophobic dog whistles, but I would like to focus on their call for BYU to “asses itself” as to following LDS religious values.

They wrote that “Brigham Young University was never meant to be like other Universities.” I 100% agree with this statement, BYU is special because of its ability to integrate religion and academia, perfectly incapsulated in the call in D&C 88:118 to...

“seek learning, even by study and also by faith.” However, they continue to say that BYU is not currently fulfilling its mission statement “to assist individuals in their quest for perfection and eternal life.”

I question why they would levy this accusation as BYU’s current actions in regard to racism on campus is an attempt fulfill this mission statement. How is BYU helping its students to reach eternal life if it does not help them to root out their implicit bias and internalized...

racism? One cannot be “perfect” if they harbor prejudice and bigotry, therefore BYU addressing this issue in its students is directly fulfilling their mission statement. Secondly, the quest for perfection and eternal life was never meant to be filled with ignorant bliss.

God expects us to ask for personal revelation about difficult Gospel topics and principles. Joseph Smith is the perfect example of this. He decided to ask God questions that were considered blasphemous in his time, to seek out his own personal revelation...

and because of it we now have the Restoration of the Gospel. If Joseph would have never questioned his faith, religion, and God, where would we be?

Next Seariac and Mourier claimed that BYU has recently been “corrected” by Church headquarters but provide no examples or evidence to this supposed correction. They also ask BYU to consider if its “courses, clubs, panels, conferences, events, and activities…

align themselves with Latter-day Saint religious values” and again they refuse to offer any specific examples. It leads me to wonder what clubs they think are “against the Church.” Is it multicultural clubs, panels on the true history of the church, events where racism...

and other forms of bigotry are discussed, etc.? I would ask that they specifically name their grievances rather than hiding behind such vague accusations.

The pair also mention that “members of the Church deserve to have confidence that they are sending their sons and daughters to BYU to have their faith strengthened, not weakened.” While I can assume they are referring to white parents, what about parents of students of color?

Don’t they deserve to send their children to a university where they won’t be hounded by religious racism and other forms of racial abuse? Or what about parents of active LGBTQ children, don’t they deserve for their children to attend a school that loves and accepts them as...

a beloved child of God? If BYU were to continue to let these students to be abused, would they not be directly weakening those students faith rather than strengthening it?

I would also like to understand what specific LDS religious values BYU has been recently disregarding. To me they are currently exemplifying multiple Christlike values. For example, they are demonstrating charity and love by seeking to understand the experiences of all of...

their students. They are exhibiting virtue by seeking to rid it’s “institutional tabernacle” from all kinds of bigotry and prejudice and asking its students to do the same.

They promote Christlike knowledge by asking its students to not be blinded by faith but to rather support their faith through academia. Lastly, they are exemplifying humility by acknowledging the sins of the institutions past and seeking to repent for its mistakes.

Seariac and Mourier also criticize the use of “modern” and “secular” academic studies at BYU. I can’t speak for all departments, but I believe BYU’s History Department’s dedication to eradicating the very whitewashed and sexist view of history many of us were taught is...

an honorable action. While this may be a “modern” movement, it is not “secular” or wrong to accurately portray all of God’s children in historical narratives, and I would ask that they refer to the churches website which calls for “all people to approach the gospel not only...

intellectually but with intellect and the spirt, a process in which reason and faith work together.” I would argue that, at least in history, telling an accurate narrative of the past is directly in line with God’s wishes and commands, not a “secular” endeavor.

They also ask for BYU to make sure “correct doctrine is consistently taught in classes,” which I agree with, however I doubt we would agree as to which doctrine is being incorrectly taught. I would argue and ask that BYU needs to focus its attention on the religious department...

to make sure professors are not teaching incorrect doctrine about interracial marriage, the Priesthood Ban, polygamy, the LGBTQ community, curses of black skin, etc.

To sum up, this petition and its aims are extremely flawed, ignorant, and in all actuality seek to keep BYU idle in terms of progression and improvement. If you really cared about BYU, you would applaud it for attempting to better itself through the power of the Atonement to...

perhaps one day truly be the school the Gospel deserves.

@HannaSeariac