I live in Provo, and BYU is the most attractive place there. I love to walk around campus and look at all the beauty. I love to go to the magnificent library, which is much nicer than the Provo City Library, and I like to stay there until midnight.

Most people like the college they graduated from. People like to participate in Alumni activities and contribute money to their alma mater.

How should we view BYU? Should we just reject it completely, like we reject Mormonism? BYU is financed largely by tithing, which comes from bilking gullible Mormons. BYU owes its existence to fraud, but BYU itself is not a complete fraud. Universities are a vital part of society; they make life better. Not all of BYU is paid for by tithing; tuition also pays for part of it. Not all BYU students or faculty are Mormons, although most are.

I have fond memories of BYU growing up. Not only did I go to college there; I also did a lot of things on campus as a youngster.

It is good to feel part of something larger than yourself. Since religion cannot give me that feeling, I have to get that feeling elsewhere. BYU feels like "home" to me. And I think this feeling will continue, since I don't have to pay any money to enjoy the campus and the library. If anything, I feel even more at home at BYU because I feel I lost my Church "home". I would feel guilty going to Church, but I do not feel guilty walking around BYU campus.

Maybe it's because I don't have to worry about grades anymore; I don't have to worry about studying or graduating. And I don't have to worry about being a perfect Mormon anymore, because I now know that the Church is not true. So BYU is fun because I don't have those pressures, and I can just enjoy it, but I wonder if it is okay to enjoy it when I know that the people who keep the university afloat are still under the Mormon delusion.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 08/20/2014 04:15AM by behindcurtain.

if it makes you happy, go for it.
i'd rather spend my money and energy on my self and people who need it.

idea: instead of giving your money to the institution itself, pick a random foreign student struggling to make ends meet. or a local student that's brilliant but has no money. you'll gain a friend for the rest of your life. he'll never forget you for your generosity.

I'm a UVU booster, but I also graduated from BYU.

The school is good in a number of areas. If the LDS church were to relinquish its grasp a little bit, it could potentially be great, in the same way Loma Linda or Georgetown are.

What good is BYU if we don't live around campus? We get an alumni magazine once in awhile. Big deal. I hate putting BYU on my CV or anything else that requires prior education.

I watch BYU football, but each year with their GA-coach I am getting less and less interested in them to the point of wanting them to do poorly.

I don't see any reason to support BYU.

How about starting a scholarship fund for people that have read the CES letter (or equivalent) and write a report on it. Give a small but sustainable amount... $200.

I like the idea of scholarship, which also "keeps the university afloat". You are right though. Enjoy what you make yours by your very nature. Enjoyed reading your post and thoughts. Enjoy the day

I was walking across campus one evening and noticed a little tent out in the middle of a big lawn. The sound of the sprinklers coming on, and the subsequent blast of water from nearby and under the tent, were enough to send them running out of the tent and hurriedly packing it up and dragging it to the sidewalk. I heard it well before they came out of the tent. Making out or sleeping? It was too funny- I don't remember if it was a boy-girl/boy or what.

I live in a college town with one of the big ACC schools. And I do not support that school. I do not wear their colors or logo and I do not go to the games. I am all for other people supporting their alma mater. I'm even okay with the bandwagon people -- those who didn't go to college, or that school in particular, but who support it as if they had.

I am also not a fan of telling other people what they should and should not support. If you want to support BYU, you go right on and you do you. You view that school however you want to. But please try to remember that "exmormons" is not this monolith where everyone had the exact same experience.

The reason I do not support the school that I live near, or BYU is because I DIDN'T GO TO THOSE SCHOOLS. I do, however, support the school I was graduated from.

I can't figure out why the OP would suggest that people reject a college like it's a belief system. It sounded like the OP was asking if BYU was true.

The OP did say that they attended BYU.

I think the issue is that - they attended, they loved BYU, but they no longer love TSCC. TSCC is hopelessly intertwined with BYU. So - can you still love BYU if you don't love TSCC?

If it was me, it would be tough. I don't care about college sports. I personally think colleges spend too much on that stuff, and take advantage of the players. Meaning I could care less if the Cougs win, or the Utes (except to show the Cougs they aren't the "true" team when they lose to the Utes). So... my only reason for being there would be a diploma, or ongoing study. I think there are better institutions to back for that kind of thing.

And I agree with some of the posters that I would be embarrassed to have BYU on the old resume'. Plus, some people out in the world will mark you right off of their list if you have BYU or TSCC-related stuff on your resume'.

BYU campus is a nice place. Taking advantage of it as a sort of 'tithing refund' gives me no qualms - I end up on campus a couple times a year for one reason or another. I would never support it financially with donations, however.

The bigger question I have for you is why are you compelled to spend so much time there? Do you have a bit of an "Uncle Rico complex" (from Napoleon Dynamite)?

"Yeah, if Coach woulda put me in fourth quarter, we would've been state champions. No doubt. No doubt in my mind."

"Man I wish I could go back in time... I'd take state."

Those could be BYU quotes!! ;=)

Bottom Line (harsh)
If you love Mormonism & want to perpetuate its existence, then "donate" to BYU.
If you don't want others to get sucked into the fraud that is Mormonism, then don't give them 1 red cent.

Two organizations devoted to propagating and perpetuating a fraud.

If you have funds to donate, there are lots of worthy charities that can actually do good with those funds.

I can't go to BYU because I am Gay and the second I show any level of affection towards a male I would be breaking their honor code, because hand holding is "inappropriate" if it is gay.

I dont and never will support such a stupid ass code.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/20/2014 06:12PM by nonsequiter.

Hey Nonsequiter, maybe we could both visit campus and hold hands. I'm straight, you're gay--were both fucking EXMOs! We could join hands in friendship and solidarity and then when standards asks, we say, one of us is gay the other straight. How does that break the honor code? When asked about hand-holding we could say, yeah, we're fucking EXMOs and are your worst nightmare! That would surely get us kicked off campus. But think of the fun we'd have! The Boner!

BYU's campus is rather plain compared to many of the beautiful campuses around the country. I would use a comparison of the ugly ward houses compared to other beautiful churches around the nation. It does have some nice grass and mountain views though.

I don't have any problem with anyone supporting BYU, but with what we all know about the church, I could never do that. I cannot support anything associated with the church in any way whatsoever.

It's fine to feel the way you feel, but honestly BYU and Provo are not the nicest places on the planet.

Have you ever visited Cambridge in the UK. Stanford in California, University of Michigan, University of Wisconsin, Princeton, Harvard. There are literally hundreds of Universities that offer much, much more than BYU and are in towns and cities that are centers of learning and culture.

BYU is not a center of learning, it's a center of indoctrination. Provo is not a center of culture. It's the home of conformist mediocrity.

First, feel the way you feel. No one has the right to tell you how to feel about something.

If you enjoy walking around campus and visiting the library, then do so. Those things are free. If it were me, I would continue to get whatever enjoyment and benefit I could without giving anything back. You have already contributed far more than they deserved, so anything you get back now is only fair. If only we could all derive something good from an organization that bilked us for so much.

Have they changed their mission statement since i was there?

Unequivocally no! The primary purpose is to build up and retain membership. Until the church distinguishes itself as a separate entity from the school and grants academic freedom to students and faculty, this is not worth any support. BYU has the worst academic freedom policies in the U.S.