It might seem more important to use the full name of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints if they hadn’t embraced their nickname so fervently a few years ago, Greg Hudson writes.Wong Maye-E/The Associated Press
Greg Hudson is a journalist and author based in Toronto.
When I recently unveiled the cover of my book, The Missionary: A Memoir of Superheroes, Sin and Saving Souls for the Mormon Church on social media, I received a text from my older brother asking me if it was too late to change the name. I wasn’t surprised by the question. After all, I had included a bit of a slur that applied to him in the subtitle. I told him that unfortunately it wasn’t my decision. Besides, I was pretty sure that the great majority of people looking at the cover wouldn’t even notice.
I mean, did you catch it? It’s “Mormon.”
In 2018, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints revised their style guide. The president of the Church at the time, Russell M. Nelson, argued that the “correction” was necessary: “When it comes to nicknames of the Church, such as the ‘LDS Church,’ the ‘Mormon Church,’ or the ‘Church of the Latter-day Saints,” he said in an address to members, “the most important thing in those names is the absence of the Savior’s name. To remove the Lord’s name from the Lord’s Church is a major victory for Satan. When we discard the Savior’s name, we are subtly disregarding all that Jesus Christ did for us.”
For members of the Church, Dr. Nelson is a prophet, just as Moses, Isaiah and the 12 Apostles were prophets. Thus, when he stressed the need to drop Mormon, it was as though God Himself was giving a command. “Taking the Savior’s name upon us includes declaring and witnessing to others – through our actions and our words – that Jesus is the Christ,” he said in that same address. “Have we been so afraid to offend someone who called us ‘Mormons’ that we have failed to defend the Savior Himself, to stand up for Him even in the name by which His Church is called?”
Although I’m no longer active in the Church, I watched online as members began correcting people who used the word Mormon. I saw that the Church was serious. Why then did I suggest using “Mormon Church” on the cover of my book? I’ve thought long and hard about this. Because although I no longer believe its doctrine – including that Dr. Nelson, who passed away last year, spoke for God – I have no desire to offend the Latter-day Saints still in my life. And the one who decides whether a term is or isn’t a slur is the person at whom that term is directed. I can’t decide for someone else what should and shouldn’t offend them.
And yet, I struggle to respect the Church’s wishes, like a parent refusing to call their child by their preferred name. Partly it’s because respecting their renewed request to not be called Mormon seems like accepting their narrative, their doctrine. Note the Nelson quote above said that Satan wins when we “remove the Lord’s name from the Lord’s Church.” But what if I don’t believe the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the Lord’s Church? That’s their claim, but should I accept it just to talk about them? At the same time, does not believing the church’s teachings justify offending them?
It might seem more important to use the Church’s full name exclusively if they hadn’t embraced their nickname so fervently a few years ago. Around 2012, about the time I was leaving the Church, it launched a big ad campaign with the tagline “I’m a Mormon.” It highlighted folks who had interesting jobs who also happened to be Latter-day Saints. The campaign – which you can find on YouTube, including a video starring Brandon Flowers, lead singer of The Killers – wasn’t a small investment. The Church blanketed Times Square with ads and later released a documentary, Meet the Mormons.
What changed? I don’t know. People might point to the rise in ex-Mormon culture online, and the Church not wanting to be associated with it. But to the faithful it doesn’t matter. A prophet said so. No more Mormons.
When I was Mormon, it wasn’t a slur. On the contrary, I was proud as hell of being Mormon. It was the answer to peer pressure, the reason I held myself to a higher standard (or tried to). My e-mail address growing up was goodmormonboy@hotmail.com. I knew it was a little silly that we were called by a nickname, but that nickname provided an identity. That I was Mormon was typically one of the first things people learned about me – and if you’re reading this, it still is.
From a purely branding perspective, I get why the Church might want to change how it’s known. Mormon doesn’t tell you anything. Yes, it refers to the Church’s belief in the Book of Mormon, but Mormon wasn’t the founder of the Church – he was the ancient prophet who compiled the Book of Mormon back around 400 AD. And besides, there’s so much more to the Church than the Book of Mormon. For example, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints loves building temples. These holy buildings are at the centre of a Latter-day Saints’ life, because they believe that through temples, families can be together for eternity. Temples aren’t in the Book of Mormon. Plural marriage, which the Church stopped practising in 1890, but for which it is still known, isn’t in the Book of Mormon. The Book of Mormon is but one cornerstone in Mormon edifice.
But mostly, I can’t think of another Christian sect or religion that is similarly known by a nickname. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints sounds much more professional.
As the Church is trying to distance itself from the word Mormon, it’s also still defending its ownership of the word. Recently, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints filed suit against a popular ex-Mormon podcast called Mormon Stories. The Church doesn’t want people to think it has sanctioned the podcast in any way. But it feels a little like an admission that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will always be Mormons to most people.
I know I’m not helping things. But once a Mormon, always a Mormon.