Within every learning institution there is a variety of philosophies and institutional missions that attract students and drive their academic success.

The mission of BYU-Idaho is to build testimonies of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ, provide a quality education, prepare students for lifelong learning and maintain a wholesome academic, cultural, social and spiritual environment.

For students here, BYU-I’s religious atmosphere is a welcome retreat from the secular world. Religious views can be expressed freely and without ridicule; however, some students feel that religion is brought up too much.

In some of the classrooms at BYU-I, there is a tendency to arbitrarily link pragmatic knowledge to religion. The problem with this is that sometimes there is no clear religious explanation for every secular topic and scientific finding. When a conflict with science and religion arises, it isn’t the duty of the instructor to subjectively clarify these conflicts based solely on conjecture.

Erjola Gjini, a senior from Tirana, Albania, is afraid about the imbalance between spiritual and secular knowledge here. In an argumentative paper entitled “Too Much of a Good Thing,” she wrote, “I need to clarify that, ‘involvement of too much religion’ doesn’t mean prayer or recognizing God as the source of everything, but the unnecessary discussions based only from the church viewpoint. I see three consequences of overusing religion: ignorance, lack of secular knowledge and the negligence of the given accreditation.”

About ignorance, she said, “[it] brings chaos, confusion, corruption, darkness and narrow mindedness.” These consequences are very close to Gjini because she has witnessed the effects of ignorance in her own country and others in the form of war, disease and crime.

Often times the gospel correlation proposed by the instructor will be the one students adopt, precluding their own study of the subject and thus feeding ignorance. Students who are encouraged to study gospel correlations outside of class will gain a deeper understanding for both the gospel and the subject at hand.

Doctrine and Covenants 88:78-79 explains the importance of being instructed in all things both in heaven and on earth and abroad. We don’t need to tie our religion to every single subject taught in the classroom.

We have the gospel of Jesus Christ and the gift of the Holy Ghost. We can learn the pragmatic knowledge of the world without the religious conjecture proposed by professors and students; it often lacks doctrinal purity and contains personal viewpoints.

On the other hand, BYU-I offers an asylum against a storm of ridicule. Hollan Harper, a senior from Olympia, Wash., experienced discrimination at a community college in his hometown. “In two of my classes the subject of the ‘Mormon people’ was brought up as often as possible in order to tease them and fabricate all sorts of false stories about them,” Harper said. “Even after saying that I was a member, the teasing didn’t stop ­— it got even worse. I’m very grateful that I don’t have to worry about that kind of treatment here.”

Most students agree that this is the Lord’s university, and they desire the protection and open forum it affords. But if BYU-I is trying to prepare students for lifelong learning, students will need to learn how to use the Holy Ghost to interpret secular knowledge for themselves.

The constant association of the gospel with all practical knowledge can foster ignorance if not handled appropriately. Students should be trained in both religious and secular matters, but also be allowed to make and discuss their own conclusions about the gospel’s role in academic subjects.