Agency

I want to make something clear. My religion is not superstition. I would like you to think of what “superstition” means. I think of somebody kissing a frizzy-haired doll before their bingo number is called: no grasp on cause and effect. The connection between the two events exists only in the mind. I learned cause and effect in science class. Correlation does not mean causation.

I have seen people treat their religion like a superstition and I have seen people treat religion like reality. There is a key difference between these two behaviors. The first, treating religion superstitiously, is dangerous. This is likely to result in learned helplessness. Learned helplessness is a psychological condition that happens then the person can’t detect a pattern in their actions and their consequences. That is to say, they feel they have no control over their situation, whatever they do is futile. They have learned to feel helpless.

When you realize, however, that religion is reality, and that God does in reality live, you begin a constant journey of converting faith into knowledge (Alma 32). And as you travel down this path, you gain a sense that you are truly an agent unto yourself (D&C 58:28).

Salvation By Haircut

This post is for Katie. If you get to talking to her about the BYU honor code, she will tell you exactly what she thinks about it. To save you the suspense, I'll tell you that she is against it. And this always raises a good amount of controversy, especially since a number of our extended family have strong feelings in favor of the h0nor code. Me? As is typical, I can see both sides of the argument. In this day and age, it's comforting to know that there is a place that does not relax its standards to appear in vogue with the rest of the world. However, we can never learn for ourselves until we are able to exercise free will.

This morning I was reading on Wikipedia about Hugh Nibley, a superstar LDS Scholar. Brother Nibley had been a professor at BYU from 1946 until 1975, but continued teaching there as a professor emeritus until 1994. I feel confident that he was familiar with the BYU Honor Code. Katie will be interested to know that Hugh Nibley was very critical about the some of the ways in portions the Honor Code are enforced. He notes that

The worst sinners, according to Jesus, are not the harlots and publicans, but the religious leaders with their insistence on proper dress and grooming, their careful observance of all the rules, their precious concern for status symbols, their strict legality, their pious patriotism... the haircut becomes the test of virtue in a world where Satan deceives and rules by appearances. Taken from The Lord's University: Freedom and Authority at BYU

In other words, little can be profited by an overactive focus on the dress and grooming of the students. I'm not suggesting that the relaxing of the BYU Honor Code will produce better Laatter-day Saints. I am suggesting that we all put first in our minds our relationship to Jesus Christ in our daily lives. Do we know Christ, and is His image in our countenance?