A few years ago in Fast and Testimony meeting we had a young man go to the podium. He was dressed in basketball shorts and a wife beater undershirt. He had several tattoos. He was getting the normal looks from some of the more uptight members. He said that he had seen people heading into Church and decided to come in. He talked about feeling the spirit and was motivated to come up (as he had seen others do) and express what he was feeling.

About a month later I saw that same young man. He was wearing a white shirt and tie (because we need to conform) and was walking with some others in the singles ward that met in our building. He had joined the Church and was trying to rectify any issues he had on his life.

I was at BYU in the 1960s when beards were permitted. The ban, in my opinion, was instituted by President Wilkinson as a reaction to what he perceived as the wrong element in society. I have never understood why this ban exists today. This from someone that has never had a beard and never intends to have one. But I would venture that at least 50% of the young fathers in my ward have some form of facial hair. I am a strong believer in BYU being a special school but I also believe it falls somewhere below the Temple in the order of things. If you can attend the Temple then you should be able to attend BYU.

Some of the rules of the HC seem to shout out that we don't trust our students to prudently exercise their free agency. Therefore we will make them all conform and everything will be easy. There will be no temptations allowed. Where have I heard this kind of talk.