Another BYU part time instructor speaks out

This post is from Mormon Stories.org and is worth reading:

Margaret Young Jun 15th, 2006 at 12:59 pm
I am old enough to remember Hugh B. Brown, a courageous apostle who periodically came to BYU to calm the waters, after Ezra Taft Benson had left heavy turbulence in his outspoken support for ultra-conservatism. Brown said, “We are grateful in the Church and in this great university that the freedom, dignity and integrity of the individual is basic in Church doctrine as well as in democracy. Here we are free to think and express our opinions. Fear will not stifle thought, as is the case in some areas which have not yet emerged from the dark ages. God himself refuses to trammel man’s free agency even though its exercise sometimes teaches painful lessons. Both creative science and revealed religion find their fullest and truest expression in the climate of freedom. I hope that you will develop the questing spirit. Be unafraid of new ideas for they are the stepping stones of progress. You will of course respect the opinions of others but be unafraid to dissent - if you are informed…Seek truth in all fields, and in that search you will need at least three virtues: courage, zest, and modesty. The ancients put that thought in the form of a prayer. They said, ‘From the cowardice that shrinks from new truth, from the laziness that is content with half truth, from the arrogance that thinks it has all truth - O God of truth deliver us’.”
(Speech at BYU, March 29, 1958)

And Joseph Smith had a bold opinion on curtailing freedom of expression:
“It looks too much like the Methodists, and not like the Latter-day Saints. Methodists have a creed which a man must believe or be asked out of their church. I want the liberty of thinking and believing as I please. It feels so good not to be trammeled. It does not prove that a man is not a good man because he errs in doctrine.”

As a part-time teacher at BYU, I feel pretty nervous about Lindsay’s dismissal. From what I can tell, the dismissal was SOLELY because of a letter to the editor. I know I have some unorthodox views. Would I lose my job if I were to express them–like on this blog, for example? (I would be considered liberal in Utah on most issues.) I am very aware that some (NOT the majority) of my students are over-ready to get offended by a writer’s use of a swearword, or an author’s depiction of a sex scene. I genuinely worry about these students as they leave BYU’s borders. Have they learned to incorporate the love of God into their academic pursuits? Have they developed empathy? Are they prepared to read the BEST books (like Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, James Baldwin, Toni Morrison and the many others in fields I don’t know), or will they spend most of their time reading _Ensign_ articles–always correlated and written on a sixth grade reading level? Will they consistently seek answers to the hardest questions from the many quotes of General Authorities included in the Sunday School manuals, or will they learn to turn inward to a mature and generous heart? Will they continually seek to frame their experience within the idealized Mormon portrait, or will they be free to really grow when life pulls an inevitable surprise? Homosexuality is a surprise for thousands of people, and thousands families. How do we react to it? My reaction, as I’ve had family members, friends, and students come out to me, has changed over the years. The first time it happened, some 30 years ago, I was appalled and begged the person to repent. Now, my instant reaction is to open my arms to anyone who might feel crucified between desire and faith. I can’t remove that heavy cross, but I will certainly not participate in torment or condemnation, nor will I indicate to them that they need to feel more guilt so that my testimony can stay intact. I will never know what it’s like to be gay. And I will never pretend to know. Since I’m a woman, I will never be a Judge in Israel (thank God!). I don’t want to be a judge in Provo or even in my own home if I can help it. My children have a gay uncle. It has mattered greatly to me that they understand that we love him–and please note that I’m not including any disclaimer like “hate the sin, love the sinner.” I’m not going to label my brother-in-law as a sinner. From many indications, he’s a better person than I am. I know God loves him, and from all I can tell, he loves God. So can I keep my job at BYU?