As a university, BYU has much closer ties to the Church than most of my LDS yewt friends care to admit. So much so, that their irrational hatred of a Church run school makes me wonder about their cognitive reasoning skills.

In the words of John Taylor:

“My dear child, I have something of importance to tell you that I know will make you happy. I have been visited by your father. He came to me in the silence of the night clothed in brightness and with a face beaming with love and confidence told me things of great importance and among others that the school being taught by Brother [Karl G.] Maeser was accepted in the heavens and was a part of the great plan of life and salvation; . . . and there was a bright future in store for . . . preparing . . . the children of the covenant for future usefulness in the Kingdom of God, and that Christ himself was directing, and had a care over this school.” [Leonard J. Arrington, ed., The Presidents of the Church (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Company, 1986), pp. 108–109]

https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/merrill-j-bateman_brigham-young-university-new-millennium/

Any member who allows sports to color their view of an institution that exists for one reason--the betterment of its sponsoring institution--is kooky to me.

Through BYU (even its athletics) the Church gains access to areas of influence in politics, academia, religion, business and a myriad of other interests the help--in their own way--to further the work of the Lord. One example, look at the relationships forged as a member of the WCC with representatives of the Catholic faith in particular.

Does that mean the LDS people must all be BYU fans? Heavens no! But it at least means they shouldn't be haters. Not if they have any kind of understanding as to why the school and its programs exist.

My testimony does not rise and fall with each BYU win or each BYU loss. But just like I would never hate the venerated military institutions which serve our nation (even though only a small percentage of the military actually attend them), I cannot imagine a scenario where any self-respecting Latter-day Saint hates an institution with ultimately the same design: help the Kingdom.