In a recent article I read about Brandon Davies being dismissed from the team, the author stated that BYU’ honor code was even stricter than that of the LDS church and in his words described it as the LDS church on steriods.  He goes on to allude that BYU is ruthless and that if BYU wanted to help the basketball player, they would have kept him on the team and helped him with his issue. 

Other people such as the broadcasters on Sportscenter the other day applauded BYU for upholding their standards in a time when many schools would not have, given all that was on the line.

I feel that the first author could have had a valid point since part of the honor code at BYU is “trivial” things (in my opinion) such as if you have shaved that day, cheated on a test, had a cup of Joe, or was dressing inappropriately.  If Davies would have been removed from the team for a smaller violation such as one of these, I think that could have been justified, but it would have been much too harsh. In a situation such as that, they could have taken him in and helped him, assuming that he was willing to work on it and not do it.  Perhaps suspended him for a game or something of that nature.

However, now that the word is out that he was having sexual relations the consequences are much higher and he is therefore off the team.  I agree with the team for doing that because in the long run, it helps Davies if he will allow it to.

When one is baptized into the LDS church on of the covenants they make with God is that they will be sexually pure before marriage as well as faithful to their spouses after marriage.  The consequences for violating this are similar to what happened to Davies in that an individual would most likely be excommunicated from the church and would need to go through the repentance process of purifying their lives before the Lord and then being re-baptized. 

I am assuming that Davies could be reinstated onto the basketball team if he chooses to go through the repentance process and discontinue sexual relations outside of marriage.  If he does this, and BYU doesn’t let him back onto the team for that reason, I would agree with the first author that the Honor Code is going too far.  However, I must agree with the sportscenter folks for now and applaud BYU for upholding the honor code.  In the long run it will help Davies become a better man, if he allows it.