Yet another instance of religious hatred was directed toward Brigham Young University and its affiliated religious organization, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, as the BYU basketball team visited Providence College.
It wasn't long before the competitive nature of the event twisted into hatred and vileness, when the student section coordinated an ugly, and likewise unoriginal, derogatory chant with the intent of attacking the visitor's religious beliefs.
Language warning for the attached clip.
“F*** the Mormons” chant going strong all night @PCFriarsmbb @PCAthletics 😂 pic.twitter.com/0SDEMR2ADs
— BYU Florida 🐆⚔️ (@BYUFlorida) December 4, 2024
The ironically dubbed Friars student section's night also highlighted a student's arrest and a sea of middle fingers directed toward the visiting fan section, both of which can be found on the same X user's timeline here.
"I want to apologize to , their coaches & institution for unacceptable chants by our student body tonight," Providence's AD, Stephen Napolillo, shared on social media after the final buzzer sounded. "That does not represent who Providence College is & what we stand for. We are sorry."
Though it may not be what the institution stands for, the behavior of their fans is nothing new for BYU athletics, who face similar chants and hatred for their religious beliefs in nearly every stadium or arena they visit.
In the 2022 football season alone, BYU's football team was on the receiving end of two identical "F--- the Mormons" chants from Oregon's Autzen Stadium and USC's Colosseum, two teams that were currently hosting an LDS recruit on a visit to the campus, and whose starting quarterback was a member of the very religion they were disparaging, respectively.
This issue supersedes good-natured athletic trash talk, and instead aims to spread concentrated hatred in the direction of their opponents' religion.
It goes beyond what happens on the field of play; this is bigotry, plain and simple. From its very inception, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its members have been the victims of persecution and violence. Families forced from their homes, an extermination order from a state's government, and men being tarred and feathered, are just a few of the many atrocities committed upon a singular sect for their religious beliefs.
That's the reason Brigham Young--the University's namesake--led the Mormon Pioneers Westward to found what eventually became the state of Utah. Unified hatred for the religion has spanned centuries, and demonstrations like those of Providence last night provide further evidence of this truth.
The problem with this trend is how these events aren't unanimously scorned by observers, as they would be if they were directed toward any other religious group.
Jake Retzlaff has made headlines this season for his Jewish faith while attending BYU. While he's noted the University's exceptional acceptance of his beliefs, Retzlaff was shocked to see how religious hatred toward his teammates was casually ignored.
In an interview with McKay Coppins of the Atlantic, Retzlaff shared how he'd experienced far more anti-Mormonism than anti-Semitism during his time at BYU.
“The blatant disrespect for their faith—it’s something to think about. What if there was a Jewish university that had a Jewish football team, and they were saying that in the stands?” Jake questioned, appalled. “Like, imagine if that hit the papers. That would be a big deal.”
“There’s a lot of people who just don’t like Mormon people, for no reason,” he insisted. “That’s what happened to the Jews all throughout history.”
How many times can hate be deflected with an online apology? Why is it that hatred toward "Mormons" is so deeply rooted across the United States that horrible cheers meant to ignite hate and division between people who are otherwise so similar? How much longer can this continue without so much as an ounce of backlash?
Most fans are good people, and of the several thousand in attendance last night, the large majority of them didn't participate in this cheer. Athletic directors have made public apologies and the institutions that they serve have never condoned such actions.
As a nation, we're still coming together to heal the wounds that centuries of hatred and division have caused. If we're working to overcome anti-Semitism, racism, xenophobia, and other poisonous ideologies, may I add one more group to the list?
Sport surpasses the barriers of language, color, and culture to unify diverse groups through their love of the game. We should never propagate hatred of any kind, and we can start by focusing our cheers on the competition, not on our differences.