Maybe this kind of nonsense is best ignored, but the fact that it exists at all is a testament to how lost some BYU fans — uptight Latter-day Saints in particular — get in the fog of their mix of religion and sports.

BYU’s nationally ranked women’s and men’s cross country teams recently posted some pictures of athletes training on a hot day, the women in sports bras and spandex shorts, the men shirtless. All of it regular, routine running gear. And what happened?

A number of complaints arose on social media about a lack of modesty on the part of the teams, teams that are supposed to be representing a faith and a university that have standards for proper dress. One church member posted a message — a gripe that reportedly garnered over 2 million views — along with a picture of Cougar cross country runners in the aforementioned garb that questioned the need for the athletes to go so brief and breezy with their attire.

“I know it’s not cool to bring up modesty, but is this really necessary for BYU students to wear this for running?” the post read.

A subsequent post by the same individual offered a photo of the male runners in shorts: “Now to be fair I found a picture of the men practicing and I also don’t think this is modest. It’s one thing to run without a shirt on, it’s another to post pictures of it on social media.”

I, too, have a question: What the hell’s the matter with some folks?

How anyone could perceive these athletes training as immodest or inappropriate is mind-boggling. They are freaking distance runners pushing their bodies to the limit every day to improve, to compete at their top level, to master their sport.

Both of these BYU teams have won national championships in the recent past. They are elite athletes who train in weather of all kinds, sometimes in the cold, sometimes in the heat, sometimes indoors. They dress accordingly.

How anyone could see what they wear as anything but appropriate for training and competition calls for a review of how standards of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have become so messed over, so convoluted in some people’s twisted minds, that this kind of athletic attire can be considered “immodest.”

Ironic it is that those who bark about these images being somehow untoward or improper are the ones with the problem, the ones whose reaction is sexualizing them, and the ones who would be better off re-examining the way they view women and men, particularly when it comes to the bodies of athletes.

Comments on the posts ranged from people agreeing with the original thought to those ridiculing how stupid it was.

I throw in with the second group. When religious people shame women into hiding their bodies, that sexualizes them. What exactly is immodest about a female athlete or any woman showing her stomach? What negative message does that send to Latter-day Saint women about how they should view their own bodies? Should they cover them up while they sweat, while they work, while they run for ever-faster speeds, while they run for BYU?

These complaints are rigid and prudish and impractical. Worse, they add to the propensity of some men and some women to teach girls, especially, to view themselves and their physical attributes as dirty, as primarily sexual things, not physical structures to be strong and healthy and able and useful in so many ways.

If some Latter-day Saints feel more comfortable covering their own bodies, head to toe, based on what some church leaders of the past have said, then that’s fine for them. But judging others in the here and now for doing otherwise is counterproductive and not infrequently harmful.

A well-adjusted person could view the pictures of the BYU cross country teams as admirable, something to respect and emulate.

If some BYU fans and Latter-day Saints want to completely immerse themselves in their religion, have at it.

But they’d be better off concentrating more on love and charity and kindness and forgiveness and service to and understanding of their fellow travelers in this earthly existence. And leave runners, women and men, who bust their humps to increase their speed, to reach their personal bests and to compete at their highest level alone.

Here’s to betting that their God at the highest level is doing exactly that.