In addition to this tweet sent out to all those on social media, here is a letter that was sent out today to the students at BYU-IDAHO. I guess Church attendance has dropped.
Actual letter being sent home to parents of BYU-I students (received this week):
"Dear Parents and home Bishop of [BYU Idaho Student],
We are writing to you concerning our church attendance policy for the YSA [XXrd] ward. In order to attend BYU-Idaho, each student signed an agreement to regularly attend church in the ward in which his or her records reside. We have been asked by our Stake Presidency to form a policy that will hold our students and us as a bishopric accountable for attending church throughout the semester. The policy we created is designed to promote spiritual strength and living in accordance with the Church Education System honor code.
We have informed each student in the ward of our policy in order to avoid misunderstanding and miscommunication. This policy is included below.
• Students may miss a maximum of 3 Sundays aside from major holiday weekends. (per semester)
• Upon missing a second Sunday, the stake presidency has asked that we send a letter informing the student’s home bishop and parents, of the student’s absences, and ask for help in encouraging the student to faithfully attend their church meetings.
• Upon a third absence, the student will be asked to meet with the bishop, and will be informed that if another absence is reached, his or her endorsement to attend BYU-Idaho will be revoked, and he or she will be sent home and unable to finish out the end of the semester.
As always, we understand that some students may be under very difficult circumstances, and may need certain exceptions. We have encouraged students to come and meet with us, and work such situations out with us ahead of time. The last thing we want is to be unfair to any circumstances that merit such attention.
We as a bishopric do not like sending students home, and would much rather enjoy their company in the XXrd ward. However, both we, and your student, have a commitment and obligation to the Lord, this university, and those who fund it, to encourage Sunday attendance and commitment to the Church Education System Honor Code. We hope you understand and are willing to support your son or daughter in their commitment to the university.
Finally, we would like to end with a thought shared by Elder L. Tom Perry in his last conference address.
“People are not better off when they are given maximum personal freedom to do what they want. They’re better off when they are enshrouded in commitments that transcend personal choice—commitments to family, God, craft and country.”
We appreciate your support.
Sincerely, The [XXrd] ward bishopric"
...
Looks like they might begin a roll call at church? If you don't have an excused absence from your parents/doctor or legal guardian for not being at church. You will be expelled.
20 comments:
"People are not better off when they are given maximum personal freedom to do what they want."
That is HILARIOUS!
Now if only investigators having the discussions were told this line in no uncertain terms instead of constantly being encouraged to use their free agency to question their former/current beliefs and religions.
Seems astonishing to me that the poor missionaries work so hard convincing their investigators to use their God given free agency to question their beliefs and read the rather beautiful (& very much true) Book of Mormon but then never prepare them for giving up that very freedom once they join the Corporate Church! Even the free agency to question their new religion, which suddenly presents strange and contradictory elements in the Temple and historical records which are in clear opposition to the very Book of Mormon which brought them to Jesus in the first place *smh*
Elder Perry is quoting an Op-Ed piece from the New York Times columnist David Brooks, dated Nov 15, 2012.
I read portions of Elder Perry's talk to try to determine why he would choose that particular quote. The quote seems inconsistent with LDS values.
Implosion.
"I teach them correct principles and they govern themselves"? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?
Since BYU-I isn't the First Presidency or Quorum of the 12 does that mean I can trust a church owned school that the First Presidency and 12 are trustworthy? How do I know if BYU-I is trustworthy about who is trustworthy when they are all owned by the same organization?
What a mess. I trust Nephi: "cursed is he who putteth his trust in man". Jeremiah said the same thing and Jeremiah was quoting the Lord.
We should not put our trust in man or men. That is the message of true prophets.
Is this what's behind all the recent harping on keeping the Sabbath Day holy? I still can't figure out the reason for it.
Perhaps someone should advise the FP and Q12 that if they would tell the truth and keep policies in line with the Book of Mormon and the (real) teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, they could stem the flow of dissidents leaving the church.
How can anyone believe this is the "true church" when the leaders are caught over and over again in lies and deceptions and manipulations and exercising unrighteous dominion?
There are save 2 churches only, the Church of the Lamb of God, and the church of the devil. Guess which one is devoid of lying and deceptions and unrighteous dominion.
James Russell Uhl
I read this letter earlier on Facebook and took it for a joke. Is it for real? Or, have we been take by a "trickster?" I sure hope so because this goes against every notion of "Agency" I have ever understood.
If it is true that students are not attending their meetings, it would be wiser to find out "WHY" rather than send out such an absurd letter. Perhaps the leadership would learn something.
Again, if it is true, and I had a student attending there, I would jerk them out of the school so fast. There is no way I would condone such irrational behavior by those who should have better sense.
If it is true... do you think it's possible that this is a "Test Run" for BYU Provo?
If it is true... things are getting creeper everyday. Heaven Help Us!
It would be better if the person who passed this letter on to you had not X'd out the name of the ward. Also, is this policy being instituted in every ward at BYU-I, or just this one?
Can anyone offer more confirmation?
Also, where can we see that talk where Elder Perry quoted David Brooks. Was Perry in agreement with those sentiments?
I don't doubt that the corporate Church and its lackeys are capable of this type of nonsense, but it would help to have something that confirms this letter.
I agree Rock. Can anyone confirm the letter. I was forwarded to me, so I don't have more information about it.
Also, Since Elder Perry is no longer with us, it would hard to confirm his sentiments. . :)
Well,
The policy seems to be real:
Lose Your Faith, Get Expelled at BYU
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/03/31/lose-your-faith-get-expelled-at-byu.html
KUTV: BYU "fundamentally violates" religious liberty, professor says after cancelling speech
http://kutv.com/news/local/byu-fundamentally-violates-religious-liberty-professor-says-after-cancelling-speech-10-06-2015
Neither of these articles mentions BYU Idaho expelling students for not going to church. I would like to know if it is true or fabricated.
From BYU-I Website:
"Attendance in your assigned ward meetings is a requirement for continued enrollment. Students who do not attend their church meetings may have their endorsements withdrawn."
http://www.byui.edu/student-honor-office/ces-honor-code/church-attendance/church-attendance-policies
This is the talk by Elder Perry:
https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2015/04/why-marriage-and-family-matter-everywhere-in-the-world?lang=eng
I'm thinking that by quoting from David Brooks' op-ed piece, Elder Perry chose those words for his sermon because he thought they were fitting. Of course I could be wrong on that assumption. Perhaps someone who helped Elder Perry prepare his conference messages is the real culprit. I doubt that we will ever know for sure.
I'm curious to know when "adults" are actually adults in the eyes of BYU or BYU-Idaho.
At what point, for example, does BYU-I quit sending letters to a student's parents? When they're 21? Married? Never? Just curious...
It's hard to have "faithful" attendance when you are just going through the motions for the purposes of complying with a rule.
“People are not better off when they are given maximum personal freedom to do what they want. They’re better off when they are enshrouded in commitments that transcend personal choice—commitments to family, God, craft and country.” This was not L. Tom Perry, but a NYT columnist. But I still have to wonder why an self-proclaimed "apostle" of Jesus Christ feels that this type of anti-Christ, anti-agency, anti-liberty language is appropriate to share with anyone? Not really in line with the ZION meme that was recently shared, is it?
Maybe the Lord took him before he got even farther off track...
People - You are all looking beyond the mark! This quote is simply stating "God gave us commandments" to live within. We make covenants with God. We are bound to live within these laws. If we had full freedom, the "natural man" would take over every time. We still have our agency, our liberty, our choice to do what the hell we want to do. I'm not exactly sure why this quote is so hard to grasp? It's a simple principle we are governed by each day for anyone that chooses to follow God.
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