The young men and women at Brigham Young University are among the smartest, hardest-working and most pleasant college kids you will find anywhere. (For better or worse, I have visited dozens of college campuses.) The student body lives by the Mormon principle: “The glory of God is intelligence.” Most reside off campus without adult supervision, yet they adhere strictly to curfews, rules about contact with the opposite sex and every other church directive. They are purposeful but seem to enjoy themselves, spending their free time hiking in the sprawling desert. And BYU has America’s largest ROTC program outside of our military schools.
This last fact is one I had occasion to think about on my trip. I left for BYU on Sept. 7, 2001, and returned home a week later. On 9/11, the students gathered for a campuswide devotional. The university president tried to comfort the students with “the eternal perspective.” My eternal perspective is not the same as theirs, of course. But hearing more than 20,000 young people around me reciting the Pledge of Allegiance made me realize that our temporal perspective is the same. I’m sure Sam Adams would have agreed.
I met some of the most patriotic Americans (Mormons) while I was there.
I have also lived, stationed, in South Carolina. While there, I met some of the most patriotic Americans.
I have no problem with Mormons or Southern Baptists.
I find that good people are usually deeply religiously committed.
But, I found it ironic the amount of folks traveling to Nevada to gamble and more.
I like to gamble and I like to drink some beer. I found many Mormons and many Southern Baptists that like the same.
Thank you!