Leaving the Fold
Religious freedom is touted as one of the most valuable qualities of BYU. In a recent devotional given by Elder Rasband, he said, “No one should be forced to compromise what they believe because others may think a different way... nor should they be required to live according to another’s beliefs.” I believe this wholeheartedly. However, when he says that “freedom of religion is what allows you to attend [BYU],” I feel sad for a large group of the BYU campus community— members of the campus family that feel alienated, unloved, and forgotten. A group so demonized that this essential freedom is denied to them: people who have lost their faith in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints while at BYU.
These students have undergone a transition entirely outside their control and arrived at a place in life for which they never planned. I would know. I used to be one of them.
I won’t get into exactly why or how I lost my faith, but I want to be clear in my terminology here; I lost my faith. I didn’t leave it behind. I didn’t choose to stop believing. I lost my faith, and it was beyond my control. When it happened, I felt alone. I didn’t know who I could trust, I didn’t know what I should do, and I didn’t know what could happen to me if I told anyone. Let this sink in for a moment, and imagine being in this position yourself: As suddenly as one might gain a testimony, you have lost it. Every person in your life, including yourself, argued that this couldn’t happen. They told you that faith is a choice, that family members like you are fallen and can’t be trusted, that the school you attend and love is no longer yours to love. Every person, every talk in church, every family member has made this message clear; you don’t belong anymore.
There are students at BYU that feel lost, alone, afraid, and unloved because they suddenly became “the enemy” solely for undergoing a natural process of forming beliefs based on the evidence and reasoning available to them—the same process by which members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints form their be- liefs. In doing what they’ve been taught to do, what everyone else around them does, some of these individuals have been labeled as evil by their family and friends. Fur- ther, BYU has built discriminatory policies into the Honor Code and attendance sys- tems. The BYU Honor Code states that “former LDS students are not eligible to re- ceive an Ecclesiastical Endorsement [and will, therefore, not be eligible to attend the university].” In 2014, the university doubled-down on this position amid criticism. According to reporting by the Daily Beast, BYU spokeswoman Carri Jenkins said, “former Mormon[s]... are not eligible to attend BYU.”
While Muslims, Catholics, Christians, and others can attend BYU despite their religious views, any person within that group who used to be Mormon cannot. For- mer Mormons are treated differently purely due to their previous religious affiliations. This treatment is the epitome of religious discrimination by a school championing reli- gious freedom. You might as well say to former members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, ‘If you’re at BYU, you should be forced to compromise what you believe because we think a different way. You should be required to live according to our beliefs. Freedom of religion keeps you from attending [BYU].’