But they are NOT providing education to the general public. They provide education to those they allow to attend - those who agree to abide by the Honor Code. A school or university can be a private organization just as much as a business can - simply by limiting membership according to a specific rule that all follow. An employer enters into an employment contract with the employees, who then - by virtue of their employment contract - become part of the private institution: the business. There is no legal difference here. Even "public" schools have entrance requirements: live within a certain geographical region, pay certain taxes/fees, etc.

Uhm so are you suggesting that people are entitled to force a university to provide them education against their (the University's) wishes?

I wonder if we're missing something here. Are these scholarship students? Is the church, through the school, paying their way?
I'm not in favor of LDS teachings, but every LDS I've met are very forthright, so I can't help but wonder if we're not being told the entire story.

If you make that argument, you effectively destroy the First Amendment entirely because you destroy the right to assembly and the right of associations to restrict membership, do you not? You can't allow someone to make rules on who they allow into their club or religion - regardless of how stupid you think they are - without fundamentally violating that right.

They can do whatever they want to. They can tell you if you're Mormon then you have to wear pink underwear and prance around on the roof of the dorms, but non-Mormons don't have to... it's THEIR freaking university.

That's not to say I think that it's a good rule, but it's just their rule, and every Mormon that enrolled there knew it when they enrolled.

Right. If you read the article, you will see that people of OTHER religions at BYU are held to a different Honor Code. For LDS, the Honor Code INCLUDES provisions about leaving the church.

I take the intention of the post. As a private school, they can do what they want, true enough. "Brigham Young University is sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and is part of the Church Educational System, which serves more than ..."
(From History under About at yfacts.byu.edu) The view that I take, though, from an Objectivist vantage is that, while you have a political right to be an idiot, doing so remains morally wrong. This is the essential distinguishing characteristic between an objectivist and libertarian. Libertarians say (correctly) that you have the political right to any behavior that does not harm others. True enough, you do. But Objectivism is at root a personal philosophy, a morality for the individual: harming yourself is irrational and therefore immoral. A private institution has a right to do "whatever it wants" but what it wants is not arbitrary or equivalent. If an organization or an individual wants the irrational, then a self-interested person cannot sanction that.

A more basic question might be why anyone who is not LDS would even want to attend BYU.

I note that by contrast, getting kicked out of Fordham or Notre Dame for changing your religion would be egregious. While they, too, are run by a church, that church is more open to intellectual pursuits, and the general search for truth.

I add, also, that the Catholic church apparently has more faith that a sheep who strays will eventually return to the fold. The other thesis is that the Catholic church is more secure in the truth of its beliefs. They can tolerate questions. BYU is less willing to take those risks.

I liked Jefferson's idea of letting states, cities, and even neighborhoods set their own rules. Mike Marotta says BYU is a private school. It certainly should be allowed to make its own rules. People should be free to create LDS-only clubs.

Oh..I thought it was exclusive to Mormons... are you sure about that? I'm sure they're trying to recruit if that's the case. Defecting is another thing. Excommunication still happens. I don't know the ins and outs and don't really care. They can do what they want. I'm surprised they're as big as they are, but they can believe what they want...provided they don't want me dead because I have free thought...like another religion.