Why I Detest The Honor Code

[Y 4 Ever]

This post is likely going to upset some of the "holier than though" types on this board. But...I don't care. This is how I feel, so deal with it.

I HATE the honor code. Always have. Always will. I believe that, in its current incarnation and enforcement, the honor code is a hypocritical scourge on BYU athletics and on the University as a whole, and that it does much more harm than good - both to the current student body, and to the image of the University and the Church.

The "Honor Code" was created (in its current incarnation) by a faceless horde of acne-infested pencil-necked geeks who couldn't get a date on a Friday Night to save their lives (let alone find someone on campus willing to...uh...help them VIOLATE the honor code). These people were miserable, wretched human beings, and wanted the REST of us loyal BYU fans and/or alumni/students, to be miserable as well. And thus, the current Honor Code was born.

The tyranny that is today's "Honor Code Committee" continues this tradition of pencil-necked-geeks who wish they could get kicked out of school for gross honor code violations...but try as they might, they can't. And so they perpetuate the scourge that is the Honor Code - reigning with iron-fisted horror over students and (especially) athletes, doling out grossly exaggerated punishments to "offenders" who broke no laws and caused no physical or emotional harm to anyone but themselves.

Think the honor code isn't hypocritical? Consider this: What do the Holy Scriptures teach? Do they teach that sinners should be cast out? Do they suggest that infractions should result in the most severe punishment possible under the power wielded by "judges"?

The last I checked, my Church is one of love, respect, tolerance, forgiveness, and in actually reaching out to those who are in need of help - NOT forcing them out. NOT turning our backs on them.

When someone is straying, its time to put your arm around their shoulders, and guide them back into the fold! If I remember the story correctly, when Christ went after the sheep that had strayed, it wasn't so he could chase it away with a stick!

Any sins by BYU students (athletes included) that do NOT involve the breaking of laws should be handled by that person's bishop or Ecclesiastical leader ONLY - there should be ZERO INVOLVEMENT from a group of cretins and imbeciles using the "power" they've procured through their membership on the "Honor Code Committee" to push their own domineering agendas (which were forged in the fires of many long and hard years being shoved in lockers and having their cousins turn down their Senior Prom invitations).

AND...since when should the Honor Code have ANYTHING to do with playing football? Don't give me this crap that playing Football at BYU is a "privilege", and is a righteous justification for the Honor Code.

Guess what - playing football at Notre Dame is also a "privilege" - as is playing for USC, or Florida, or Michigan, or Ohio State, or even Utah Bloody State!

And also don't try to pretend that the "punishments are just" and fit the "crimes". Please - since when is getting booted from school and off of the Team just punishment for getting lucky in the back seat of your Tahoe, or drinking a beer or two?

I'm fed up with watching BYU athletes kicked out of school (or leaving voluntarily to avoid being kicked out), having their promising athletic careers derailed, facing public ridicule and humiliation, for personal transgressions that should be resolved between them, their Bishop or other church leader, and THE LORD.

Frankly, its none of yours, mine, the Media's, coach Mendenhall's, the University President's, and especially the "Honor Code Committee's" damn business what went on between Harvey and his girlfriend!

Out there in the "real world", there is this widely believed notion that Mormons are "holier than though", intolerant, and shun the "gentiles". This idea is perpetuated by the Honor Code, and by the Committee who gleefully dole out punishments that rarely fit the crime.

Every time a story like Unga's hits the news, there's this sense across the Sports Nation of "Well, there go the Mormons again - intolerant as ever. Glad I'm not one!" If you don't believe it, maybe you should step outside of Provo and look around.

And that perception will embed this idea of religious and social intolerance firmly in the minds of the non-members - the very group who (it is claimed) the athletics programs are supposed to be exposing the Church to in a positive light.

With or without the honor code, BYU will always be a "peculiar place" where the majority of students are a "peculiar people". Parents (even non-LDS) will still want their kids to attend, because it will always be a safe place, a clean place (relatively speaking), and a happy place - a place where I hope my kids will attend when they grow up.

We don't NEED the honor code to make the above statements true. We don't need a stern mistress standing their with a wooden paddle in hand, ready to smite the rear ends of the offenders in order to keep BYU students in line. We don't NEED the honor code to keep the overwhelming majority of the 30,000+ ADULTS who are attending BYU on the "straight and narrow".

We don't NEED the honor code to keep the image of BYU as a "different" place alive. We don't NEED the honor code for the athletics programs to continue to be excellent ambassadors for the Church.

And we sure as "HELL IS HOT AND IS LOCATED ON CAPITAL HILL IN SLC" don't need the Honor Code for myself and 65,000 of my closest friends to enjoy about 6 little get-togethers every fall.

I'm a realist - I know the Honor Code isn't going anywhere. And it's not likely to change, either. But that doesn't mean I can't stand against it. And it definitely doesn't mean that I HAVE to like it!

Last I checked, there's no question in the Temple Recommend Interview that says: "Do you fully support the BYU honor code, and all that it represents, and submit yourself to the will of the Honor Code Committee?".

And for those of you who I just pissed off - who will BLINDLY support ANYTHING that comes out of BYU Headquarters regardless of rationale or reason...Riddle Me This:

When a BYU student "transgresses" and violates the honor code, why is it easier and faster to get their temple recommend back than it is to get back into school and back on the football team?

[jbluesuu]

Whoa... calm down there. Athletics would go long before the honor code would.

[CougarClaw]

i think I"ll come back when he stops foaming at the mouth...

[Lawboy]

Standing ovation!!!!!!!

I think BYU can be a special and different place without the Honor Code. It is the teachings of the LDS Church that makes BYU a special place, and the fact most students at BYU subscribe to those teachings that makes it great. Just as it is the way that members of this church lives their lives on a day-to-day basis--free of any Honor Code--that says what the gospel is really about. I get agency and consequences, but I also get that is what your bishop is for. The Honor Code is not what BYU is about, nor should it be. BYU is about individuals making choices and using their agency properly, then dealing with their ecclesiastical leader when they do not.

[kiwibacon]

I wonder how many of us will someday stand before God and say, "...I don't care. This is how I feel, so deal with it..."

I kid, I kid. - I am not equating HC with God, etc.

[Y 4 Ever]

I wonder how many of us will someday stand before God and say, "...I don't care. This is how I feel, so deal with it..."

I kid, I kid.

So.....if i read that correctly - you're suggesting that the Honor Code is Religious Doctrine that is the result of Divine revelation?

(j/k - I know you were kidding)

[kiwibacon]

I wonder how many of us will someday stand before God and say, "...I don't care. This is how I feel, so deal with it..."

I kid, I kid.

So.....if i read that correctly - you're suggesting that the Honor Code is Religious Doctrine that is the result of Divine revelation?

(j/k - I know you were kidding)

...I am suggesting that and that God sent Angel Moroni to help Collie out on 4th and 18.

[hawkwing]

I have yet to see anyone who is against the honor code make a valid or sane argument against it.

Yes, I've seen all of the straw-man arguments and preemptive attacks against people who will disagree with them, as well as a blatant and terrible misunderstanding of the scriptures and the history of the Church in some cases.

BYU makes many, many mistakes. It is run by imperfect people, making imperfect decisions. I've ranted and railed against many of the policies they've created and rules they've enforced. The Honor Code however is not one of them, I fully support it and understand that it's an important part of what makes BYU BYU.

The Honor Code is not a list of rules by which people are looking to catch others breaking so they can kick them out. It's an ensign to the world saying, look, we're different, we are going to put together something here that not only works, but excels, and we're going to do it in a way that the rest of the world thinks is impossible. Including mandating things like dress and appearance we'll also tell our students they can't drink, smoke, do drugs or have sex, and they will be chomping at the bit to come here. In short it's our declaration that we are a peculiar people.

Some people will hate BYU for it (see the liberal elite/PAC10, some people will admire and respect them (read the CBS article), but in the end BYU will push on and succeed for it.

I've also moved this to the Lounge, because it's not about football.

[hawkwing]

I wonder how many of us will someday stand before God and say, "...I don't care. This is how I feel, so deal with it..."

I kid, I kid.

So.....if i read that correctly - you're suggesting that the Honor Code is Religious Doctrine that is the result of Divine revelation?

(j/k - I know you were kidding)

...I am suggesting that and that God sent Angel Moroni to help Collie out on 4th and 18.

I don't know why it is difficult to believe, that in a school where the onsite administrator is a General Authority, and the presiding board are Apostles, that something as important and encompassing as the Honor Code is not at least in some way inspired.

Why wouldn't it be?

[Yndian]

While we're on the subject, what's the deal with prisons? When someone breaks the law, does it really help to put them in a place with other criminals? We need to keep all of them out in society so we can show them how to behave. And what's with Jesus casting the money changers out of the temple? Isn't the influence of the temple what those people needed most at the time?!

And another thing, what's with not being able to have a beard if you're in the Army? I can have a beard and go to the temple, but not have a beard and defend my country?!?! Why does the Army think they're more important than the temple?!?! What makes them thinks they can have rules that aren't found in the scriptures?!?