Latest from Mormon Land: Is it time for real repentance over those anti-LDS chants at BYU games?

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Is the solution restitution?

After those bigoted and bawdy anti-Latter-day Saint chants break out at Brigham Young University games — as they did recently at Arizona — the offending schools offer, as they should, public apologies.

That’s all well and good. After all, recognition, remorse and confession of wrongdoing — in Latter-day Saint theology — are part of repentance. But maybe it’s time to advance to the next step: restitution. Perhaps punishing the perpetrators will silence the sinners and stop the sin.

With that in mind, Lawless Republic, a Cougar fan website, offers these “creative” suggested sanctions:

• From you chant to U-Haul. Sentence student sections to help Latter-day Saint elders quorums the next three times they have to move someone in or out.

• From F-word foolishness to forced Word of Wisdom. Cut off alcohol sales at the next five home games.

• From Naughty In Lingo to a new NIL. Donate money from student ticket sales to BYU players.

• From you slur to you sing. Make the student section belt out the Primary song “Jesus Said Love Everyone” at the school’s next rivalry game.

• From Big 12 conference to General Conference. Force the offending students to read and then discuss in small groups church President Russell Nelson’s “Peacemakers Needed” sermon.

Go here to read the Lawless Republic’s full piece.

We note that the Arizona student section, dubbed the ZonaZoo, has issued its own apology for the outburst.

“While our job is to make McKale [Memorial Center] a tough place to play,” it posted on X, formerly Twitter, “our mission is to bear down with pride and provide a welcoming environment to all.”

The latest ‘Mormon Land’ podcast: The mind and musings of Joseph Fielding Smith

His grandfather Hyrum Smith was slain with church founder Joseph Smith. His father, Joseph F. Smith, rose to church president — as did he himself. But Joseph Fielding Smith will forever be remembered more for his plentiful prose and polemics than for his positions or pedigree.

Learn why scholar Matthew Bowman calls this conservative and orthodox thinker “the most important Latter-day Saint theologian of the 20th century.”

Listen to the podcast.

World travelers

• The president and first lady of Sierra Leone recently welcomed apostle D. Todd Christofferson.

“It’s good to have you here in this part of Africa,” President Julius Maada Wonie Bio said in a news release. “We’re truly happy to receive you.”

For his part, Christofferson praised the nation’s embrace of religious liberty as the church builds its first temple in Sierra Leone, in the capital of Freetown.

• The church is striving to be peacemakers and promote civility, apostle David Bednar said at a recent conference in the United Arab Emirates.

As children of God, all people are brothers and sisters, he said at the Second International Dialogue of Civilizations & Tolerance in Abu Dhabi, according to a news release. “One of the purposes for helping young people learn this principle at a very early age is to help them understand that a specific skin color, nationality, social class, religion or other factors do not make one individual better than or superior to another.”

• Amy Wright, a counselor in the Primary General Presidency, and Kristin Yee, a counselor to the Relief Society General Presidency, visited Cameroon, Ethiopia, Kenya and Tanzania last month, while Tracy Browning, another counselor in the Primary leadership, visited South Korea and Japan.

Temple square update

Crews are making monumental progress on the makeover of Temple Square in downtown Salt Lake City.

They have opened the southwest corner and visitors can now view three newly restored statues: Seagull Monument and two depicting the restoration of the Aaronic and Melchizedek priesthoods.

An addition to the iconic temple’s north side is under construction, according to a news release, and will include five additional sealing rooms and two new baptismal fonts. Work also continues inside the six-spired temple, due for completion in advance of a 2027 open house, including finishing touches in the Celestial Room.

From The Tribune

• BYU can and should promote faith, says Latter-day Saint scholar Matthew Bowman, and there are many ways to do it.

• See how Latter-day Saints’ political and social views have — and have not — shifted in the past 20 years

• A 142-year-old Latter-day Saint chapel in Salt Lake City is going to be preserved and renovated.

• Pornography addicts can kick their habit, says apostle Patrick Kearon, through professional help and Jesus’ love.