Too much Honor?

Anyone who is anyone in Utah has heard about the current controversy over the basketball team. Brandon Davies, one of the top three players on our team, broke the Honor Code. He was dismissed from the team right at the end of the regular season, just when BYU was doing so well and was looking forward to a bright future in the playoffs, which diminished, if not destroyed, their chances at the success they had been anticipating.

Some have said this was a stupid, foolish move. BYU stood to gain national fame, not to mention money and reputation, in the playoffs this year. This was a chance that the team members would never have again. Why, then, would they do something like this, right at the end of the season? People have said that they should have waited - delayed the punishment, let him play until the end of the season, keep it quiet for now, wait until the pressure was off.

How is this any different from the view in the scriptures that God will "beat us with a few stripes" and then quickly forgive us? The scriptures clearly indicate that this is wrong. The Lord doesn't tolerate sin, and it doesn't matter the circumstances, not even if there's a national championship riding on it.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that Brandon Davies can't be forgiven. I feel immensely sorry for him, and I imagine that he's suffering huge amounts of embarrassment and regret over his actions, especially considering the way it's affected so many people, including his teammates. I don't even pretend to call judgment on him or in any way condemn or pardon him - that is not my place. I simply wonder why people seem to think that avoiding, postponing, or evading the established consequences of breaking the Honor Code at BYU should happen in this situation. Essentially, they think an "exception" should have been made in his case. Why should there be an exception to honor; an exception to integrity? Does that not diminish the very integrity that the Honor Code exists to encourage?

I have never been quite as proud of BYU as I have been the last week. We have showed the world that there are more important things in life than winning, money, and fame. I support Coach Rose's decision, and am proud to be ridiculed for having "too much Honor."

President Hinckley summed it up in a talk here on campus a number of years ago:

"In all this world there is no substitute for personal integrity. It includes honor. It includes performance. It includes keeping one's word. It includes doing what is right regardless of the circumstances."