What I Actually Liked About BYU

It’s no surprise that I have a lot of issues with my undergrad alma mater, Brigham Young University. Recent newsworthy topics are glaringly appalling to me, like the preponderance of rape culture and the violations of religious freedom against students who want to leave the Church. 

When I was a student there, it was more often the little things that revealed to me how the glove never fit quite right. One crisp autumn evening with my best friends, an overeager Honor Code official wouldn’t let me participate in our play-off intramural soccer game because of a dress and grooming violation- that is, because some of my curly hair touched my ears.

My hair was clearly an affront to all things holy.

I recognize that I would be falling back into the trap of black-and-white thinking were I to focus only on the unfortunate aspects of the institution. It would be psychologically healthy for me to discuss how I feel BYU excelled, and that is in the quality of my education. 

Unlike what many would assume about a religious school, the integrity of my pre-med journey through the physics, chemistry, biology, and physiology departments never felt jeopardized by the LDS influence. Sure, some of the classes would start with an innocuous prayer, which felt a little weird even as a true believer. More often than not, though, professors only brought up religion in discussing the spiritual connection they experienced by understanding scientific principles. They reinforced within me a continually developing awe for the universe as portrayed through observable data, whether on the microscopic or macroscopic scale.

Perhaps my favorite class was Evolutionary Biology. Dr. Byron Adams focused the course on fostering the invaluable skill of thinking critically and dialectically. We even spent a good chunk of the class on how to talk to overzealous family members about the theory of evolution, as many refuse to accept it despite the LDS Church having no official position on the matter.  Dr. Adams led me to understand the importance of juggling seemingly conflicting paradigms.  I allowed myself to put aside the ideas from the Church’s worldview and focus on what the evidence says about existence. I didn’t let conflicting religious narratives impede scientific understanding, and as a result ended up looking to these biblical stories for their symbolic value as opposed to as a source of history. I allowed my mind to play- maybe Adam was the first creature to become self-aware, representing the entrance of a human spirit into a body for the first time?

Unfortunately, the Church as a whole is not up to speed with the BYU science departments. Despite their tolerance for the theory of evolution, they doctrinally still believe in a literal global flood and Garden of Eden. As a result of this strict interpretation of the Bible, there is a looming sentiment within the Church that danger comes from diving too far into intellectual matters. In 1993 LDS apostle Boyd K Packer had this to say:

“The dangers I speak of come from the gay-lesbian movement, the feminist movement (both of which are relatively new), and the ever-present challenge from the so-called scholars or intellectuals. Our local leaders must deal with all three of them with ever-increasing frequency.”

Yikes. Enemies clearly identified. But perhaps rightly so; all these philosophies inherently call into question the binary thinking necessary to maintain the leaders’ absolute authority.

In the Book of Mormon, 2 Nephi 2 reveals a doctrinal basis for absolute belief in both the Garden of Eden and black-and-white thinking. Amid quite a bit of circular reasoning, Lehi recognizes the apparent existence of opposites, believing that a greater Oneness would imply that all things “must remain as dead.” In fact, while the linguistic process of explanation through negation allows us to identify opposites, these seemingly mutual exclusions imply a higher unity. This crown jewel of critical thought is known as polar thinking or dual-aspect monism. Just as one cannot have a positive magnetic pole without an accompanying negative pole, so are all our apparent paradoxes inseparable. 

The objective and subjective realms of science and spirituality are two fundamentally different epistemologies that describe approaches to the same universal experience. Allowing scriptural references to supersede geological evidence in the ability to describe the past is to cheapen both science and spirituality. Let's use scientific principles to acquire general knowledge of the universe, and spiritual experiences to aid in personal growth and development of a healthy self.

I’m extremely grateful for the excellent education I received from the BYU science departments. As I believe the goal should be for all university-level education, I learned how to suspend disbelief and think critically. They might have done too good a job, by our late friend Boyd and his buddies' standards.