This is an archived copy of a post written by Conflict Of Justice (conflictofjustice.com). Used with permission: Conflict Of Justice may not agree with any alterations made.
After President Nelson firmly announced that the church is no longer to be known by the nickname ‘Mormon,’ even I was surprised by the blow-back from Antimormons and fringe ‘Mormon’ blogs. Their outrage was as if holy water had been splashed on the faces of unholy beings, the level of vitriol. They made fun of us. They called us stupid. Many news media carried on using ‘Mormon’ as if nothing had changed. The reason they got so emotional about a group simply deciding what it wanted to be called was that it meant they could no longer define us. Ever since hateful Antimormons invented the slur so many years ago, they have used it to shape our public image and put us in a defensive mindset. No longer.
Media Continues To Attack Us With Slur
Then, the Associated Press decided to respect our wishes (kinda sorta), and for a while it seemed like the infernal complaining from the media died down. But then over the weekend I noticed a nasty article from the New York Times. The title called the church’s policy “a divine rebranding,” despite President Nelson explicitly saying it wasn’t about rebranding. It was about us taking upon ourselves the name of Jesus Christ. The New York Times glossed over the history of the label “Mormon” and gave voice to those outraged by the name policy. I was disappointed to see a member of the so-called “scholar” community of the church, W. Paul Reeves, undermine President Nelson’s directive in the article: “You can’t scrub ‘Mormon’ out of Mormon history.” Reeves has been published by FairMormon as well as others, and here he is countering the prophet. I find the scholarship community is being poisoned by bad apples, unfortunately, and this makes it easier for Antimormon corporations and media to control and define us. The media is refusing the give up this label “Mormon,” and this proves that they were always using it as a slur.
If tomorrow every member of the church would follow the prophet’s direction and stop using the labels ‘Mormon’ and ‘LDS’ (and use ‘Latter-day Saint’ only in referring to the people in the church), it would be glaringly obvious to the world what is going on. People would immediately recognize us as Christians and recognize Antimormons like the New York Times and Salt Lake Tribune for the hateful rhetoric they produce. More importantly, we would recognize it ourselves in a way that we really haven’t felt as a community or as individuals, many of us. We would see what it truly means that we are disciples of Christ in the world. We are the church of Jesus Christ, not some marginal sect from the salt drifts of Utah. The power and responsibility of our calling is not to be contained by a term coined by some crackpot Antimormon redneck two centuries ago.
Our Name Has Always Been ‘Church Of Jesus Christ’
As a missionary, my mission President told us to avoid calling the church ‘Mormon.’ At first I thought this direction was incongruent with his other instruction to focus on what makes us different from the other churches: the Book of Mormon, modern prophets, etc. Doesn’t “Mormon” signify everything that sets us apart? But I followed my mission President’s advice anyway, and guess what? I found greater success. It turned out just being a “Christian” missionary brings people more effectively to Christ.
In high school, a friend of mine asked me: “Are you Christian?”
“Yes. Well, I am Mormon,” I replied.
“Oh. What’s the difference?”
Until this moment, I thought our church was isolated from the rest of Christianity. “Yeah, that’s what I say, what’s the difference? We are Christian.”
“But why didn’t you just say ‘Yes, I’m Christian’? Why did you have to call yourself by a different name?” she insisted.
In the months before the church made its name policy announcement, I had coincidentally been pondering our nickname “Mormon.” I was researching a part of the Antimormon CES Letter pamphlet dedicated to attacking how we treat the name of our church. I recognized that the nickname was a problem because it was confusing us with crazy polygamist cults with which we have nothing to do. I saw that ‘Mormon’ was painting a picture of us that was not true, and that it was even seeping into how we see ourselves. I thought the answer was to hold the media to greater account about how they apply the term ‘Mormon’ to groups other than our church. I investigated the origins of our church’s name and found that it has always been The Church of Jesus Christ Of Latter-day Saints. In April 1830, Joseph Smith ordained Oliver Cowdery “an elder of the ‘Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.'” Skeptics often point to an 1834 volume of the church newspaper Star which calls the church: “The Church of Christ, recently styled the Church of the Latter-day Saints, contumeliously called ‘Mormons.’” But they don’t mention that this record is itself titled “the elders of the church of Christ.” Christ was still in the title, so obviously the church still considered itself the “church of Christ.” Skeptics also leave out the last part of that quote: “contumeliously called Mormons.” As in, opponents of the church coined ‘Mormons’ as a slur.
When the church made the policy announcement, I immediately knew that it wasn’t coincidental that I had been studying this. I knew this was an answer to my efforts and prayers. Instead of circling the wagons around the label, as I had thought to do, we were to reject it and demand our true label be recognized. I could see the wisdom in this. When President Nelson clarified the reasons for it in his landmark General Conference address, the truth of this was confirmed to me. I felt compelled to stress to others the importance of this directive, and that is what I have done.
How To Deal With Media Insults
When bullies demean you at school with a hurtful nickname, the first thing to do is let it roll off your back. Laugh it off and go along with it playfully. ‘Mormon’ isn’t so bad, after all. Bullies usually pick a name that alienates you and illustrates what makes you different from normal people. For us this was the Book of Mormon. “Fine, go ahead and define us by the Book of Mormon,” we replied. “People will be curious, read the Book of Mormon, and find out that we are the true church.” That was all well and good until about a decade ago when Satan in the mainstream media took Antimormon rhetoric no a new unprecedented level of hatred. Hollywood, bitter after the church defended traditional marriage in California, produced a blockbuster musical titled “The Book of Mormon,” but instead of having anything to do with the holy book, the musical was a big mockery session telling people why they should avoid the church. They effectively subverted “Book of Mormon.” TV shows sprang up about ‘Mormon’ families, portraying them as crazy polygamist cultists. Suddenly, the entire reason why we would want to be called ‘Mormon’ can swept from under our feet, as the “Book of Mormon” became a disgusting Broadway hate show and “Mormon” became a TV gimmick about inbred cultist freaks.
So, remind me why we want to be called “Mormons” again? When bullying gets too serious, it is time to admit what is happening, stand up for yourself, and demand the nicknames stop. Demand the attacks stop. Of course, when the RLDS splinter sect decided to change its name–actually change its name–to “Community of Christ” the media’s reaction was completely different. You didn’t see any ridicule or vitriol in the New York Times, did you? We are clearly being singled out because their ideology opposes our gospel of Christ.
An early Christian text discovered by archaeologists illustrates the importance of affirming our true name. The Hymn of the Pearl tells of a prince who is sent on a quest to a strange land to find a precious pearl and return home. But along the way, he gets so caught up with partying and living a licentious lifestyle that he forgets the reason he is there. He disguises himself as one of the locals to fit in to this strange land, but when he is discovered they flatter him, and flattery is what makes him forget about the pearl. As servants of Christ, we might likewise get embarrassed about some of our unusual customs and try to fit in to the crowd, and it is when we find the crowd welcoming and pressuring us to be their “friends”, offering all sorts of great rewards to become part of them–that’s when we forget that our unique identity is what makes us royalty. In the Hymn of the Pearl, the prince receives a letter from his parents: “Remember that thou art a King’s son; see whom thou hast served in they slaverdom. Bethink thyself of the Pearl for which thou didst journey to Egypt.” The prince resumes his quest and finds the pearl guarded by a dragon. He puts the dragon to sleep by “chanting o’er him the Name of my Father, The Name of our second [my Brother].” The name of Christ is what defeats the enemy in our earthly quest, and that is why opponents of the church are so upset when we go by it. They can’t stand it.
When we forget the name of Christ, dress ourselves to fit in to the popular culture, and get lulled in to join their mindless partying, we become slaves. A very poignant part of the Disney cartoon Pinocchio is when he goes on his own and meets some kids who eagerly convince him to be their friends. He goes with them, happy to finally have some friends, and he takes part in their merry drinking and partying. But then they all transform into jackasses and become caged by the evil men behind the scenes who set up the party shack as a trap to acquire work slaves. This is who it goes if we renege our divine identity as disciples of Christ and join the crowd–it’s all a temporary illusion. This is the danger if we assume their nicknames for us instead of going by our rightful identity.
It is tremendously important, because a person’s name is the first indicator of who they are. It’s why missionaries all wear name tags with their names alongside the name of Jesus Christ. How would it look if instead of nametags they wore hoodies with “Mormon” scrawled diagonally across in graffiti letters. That would be goofy and not taken seriously. It is unfortunate that some groups associated with the church still haven’t changed to comply with the prophet’s direction and avoid the label ‘Mormon.’ They thing the label benefits them while really it is holding them back. It is incredible that some fringe activists and church bloggers still resist the prophet’s direction. It indicates that they have been lulled by the world’s popular culture and do not seriously pursue the quest of disciples of Christ.