So, when Kaleigh announced the assignment and the fact that we were writing to the Daily Universe, I thought of the current complaint by woman at BYU was that they were condoning their sexual feelings, attractions, etc. Also apart of their argument was that he honor code, specifically the part about the dress standards took away their sexual attraction, their femininity and took away the ability to express that to the people they interact with on a daily basis.
When I heard this argument I was stunned at the fight people were putting up about something that they willingy signed! You weren't backed into a corner to sign it, and it wasn't at the bottom of the university's application in fine print. It is published to all who consider applying and attending the university that that is the standard that is expected to be upheld as a student, faculty, or any person in affiliation with the university.
Somehow from thinking about that my mind jumped to another event that had occurred. At a friend's apartment last week on Sunday, some of us had gathered to play some games. As were we playing, someone mentioned french fries. One girl instantly voiced her idea of waiting till 12:01 to go to Wendy's to get fries and frosties. While it did sound extremely appealing, I instantly shot the idea down because of the commandment in my church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, that we are to keep the Sabbath day holy. Now, through the eyes of science and time, this girl was not wrong to go out at 12:01 to go buy something; she would still be keeping the commandment.
This is where the phrase, "letter of the law v. spirit of the law" comes into play. It was the idea that she was still awake and therefore her body and her mind still considered it Sunday. Also we need to ask ourselves, "What was the purpose of the Lord in making this law?" was it really that you, go to church, go to your meetings and then suddenly you're done? No, it was for the purpose to pay respect to The Lord for all he has done for us. The lesson of the creation is that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ took six days to create the earth and everything around us. On the seventh day however, they stopped to rest. Now, if two Gods can stop creating worlds and universes for one day, I think whatever we need to do so bad can wait for a day.
Thinking about that makes me think of another fault that we, as humans, have. We only want something when it is convenient for us. Some examples are, you only want a relationship with a guy or girl when you want it. Ya know, the whole I didn't like him when he liked me and now that I like him he doesn't like me. Yeah, I'm pretty sure we all have experienced that in some way. Another example is, lets say your sister has gone over on her monthly cell phone data plan, which have led to a higher monthly bill and her grounding. You're happy because she has finally got in trouble for hogging all the data, but, now that she's grounded and not using data you go and use all of it and a little bit more. So suddenly you're in the exact same spot, however instead of cheering your parents on as they think of more and more punishments for you; you're in your sister's shoes and you are begging them to "give you another chance"
Like I said I have no idea where this is going, but I guess that's the purpose of a free write, right?
Very interesting progression of thought. I wonder where this brainstorming process might take you. And I also wonder if, perhaps, these thoughts are tending to an honor code argument? As students at BYU you all sign them and are supposed to uphold the contract in your daily life. I imagine, that as an LDS founded/funded university, the same commandments that are required of you are to be upheld while attending BYU. Would there be an argument there? Especially for businesses that are technically located on BYU's campus (the Wendy's on the corner near Helaman Hall's for instance...)
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