juntuned

Where are all the BYU fans????? haha.... I served my mission in oklahoma.... so kind of an interesting match up. I hope OU embarrasses byu and makes them cry all the way back to provo.

CourageOO7

+1

ace123

I got my BS from BYU, and my dad is working on a PhD from OU right now. He sent me an OU sweatshirt to give me crap.

Since I've just started working on my MS at the U part time, I can't exactly whole-heartedly root for BYU like I could a year or two ago. And while BYU was a good school for engineering, I don't miss that strange town Provo one bit.

CourageOO7

Ace, can you explain what you mean by strange?

ace123

Sorry, this is a bit long. I hope it's not offensive to anyone.

I don't know, I suppose I just went on dates with way too many cute, dumb, idealistic nail school girls who were looking for the man of their dreams to have 20 kids with.

In the engineering program I met some really sharp people and learned a lot. I really genuinely enjoyed that part of my time there.

But as for Provo, I'm LDS but a military brat from out of state, so I don't exactly see things the same way as many of the local idealists I met.

Most of it had to do with what I saw as a very heavy undertone of repressed sexual tension. Everywhere. I mean really, a few couples even went to the extreme of going to Vegas, getting married for the weekend, having sex, then getting divorced and going back to church like nothing happened. That way they didn't fornicate. WTF?? Now, they were kicked out of the church for it, and that's the extreme case, but I found a lot of locals had a similar mindset, just not to that extreme. And IMO, there's NO good reason to get married at 18-21 after dating for 3 months. Most of the time, I think that's what people do because they're horny and don't want to wait. It's just plain stupid, but it's incredibly common there. And while that's ok, watching rated R movies or (gasp!) drinking coffee are awful offenses.

The LDS church is extremely conservative. I take it with a grain of salt and look for the principles. I'd much rather screw up a few times before I "get it" than warp myself psychologically to fit within the 'rules' while violating principles completely. A lot of folks there are people of law like the stereotype I heard long ago -- any good Jew can make a lizard kosher. I really hate that mindset. It's willfully blinding oneself to justify perceived misbehavior. Honestly, it's 180 degrees from the changes implemented when Christianity sprung from Judaism back in the 100s AD.

So that's why I felt like it was a strange town. And of course, YMMV. Maybe I just met a disproportionately high percentage of the idiots when I was away from class.

juntuned

The mere principle that opposites attract has proven false in nearly every demographic example. Any time you get a high concentration of ANY organization or group together it creates in my opinion a false sense of security, enabling and provoking a detached culture from that of surrounding areas. While I agree with the principles of the church and the solid organization that the church has established its easy to get carried away with stereotypical judgement of the detached culture. The doctrine of the church really has nothing to do with the apparent morphed culture of provo. The LDS church is very conservative I will agree, and when you get a high concentration of the same opinion together it creates an attitude of RULES AND OBLIGATIONS and your level of dedication to both. It creates competition and extremism among residents which leaves little sympathy for everyday rule breakers such as myself. The town and its sudden "preppy, Im more holy than you" theology is a turn off to many people including myself. I dont wear church shoes and a button up shirt every day. I dont ask people what their major is whenever I meet somebody new. Im not a robot and refuse to be put in a box and conform to any way of thinking and then be possibly misconstrued because of my actions by my surrounding peers. Im not saying provo is a horrible place. Great people live in that town and some of the most patient and humble people are there, just as anywhere you go. However as a whole it leaves little comfort to be in, unless you for lack of better words "want to be exactly like everyone else".

There will always be extreme examples of ridiculous reasons for doing things in any sub culture. Who cares if you drive to vegas to get married and drive back and blah blah blah. They are a typical provo personality. What is sad is the church sometimes is measured by its PEOPLE instead of the truthfulness of its DOCTRINE. Entirely two different things. People will always be people which means many mistakes will be made across the board.

This I guess is why I can be LDS and also dislike provo. I agree with what ace said previously!!!

CourageOO7

I agree. Provo is for homos. Go Utes! Join the dark side and have a little more fun, gentlemen.

CourageOO7

That was a joke, by the way...

pastoli

Wow good point Ace it is funny being in the military and moving around especially out of Utah (im from south jordan- somewhat similar to provo) and see how people are. I quit going to church when I was in high school because it wasnt about the principles of why everybody was there, but to see who could be better in there mindset. One uppers. Pretty messed up, so I just stuck to the principles since I've joined and have done my own thing.

Go Oklahoma!

gomarlins3

Here's to hoping BYU beats them!!