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.
Immediately after President Nelson explained the importance of avoiding the nickname ‘Mormon,’ many recognized the irony of the Associated Press’s headline. The nickname is supposedly a “victory for Satan” yet the Associated Press calls President Nelson a “Mormon” within that very same headline. The implication is that President Nelson is a victory for Satan. Yeah, very funny.
As I raise awareness of this kind of media malice, I find that I am receiving pushback from church members who contradict and reprove me for suggesting that the media’s use of ‘Mormon’ demeans the church. Should we consider ‘Mormon’ an insult now? Well, I think all you have to do is look at this kind of immediate media response. And look at the sinister photo that Associated Press put in their article. Associated Press’s smear article has spread throughout the media circuit, to ABC News, Fox News, Breitbart News, Yahoo News, etc. This is exactly the kind of reaction that President Russell M. Nelson implied we should expect, and it is why it is so important that we speak out.
How can we expect the media to quickly change their terminology when we were calling ourselves Mormon until a few months ago?
Well, that’s a fair question. President Nelson told us to be “courteous and patient in our efforts to correct these errors.” After all, we’ve all been using the term ‘Mormon’ ourselves. But listening to President Nelson, I didn’t get a sense that this means we should let it slip uncorrected. Rather, he made it clear we each individually have a responsibility to hold the media accountable and to call them out on it every time.
How can do this in a Christlike way?
Recognize ‘Mormon’ Is An Insult
“In the early days of the restored church, terms such as “Mormon church” and “Mormons” were often used as epithets, as cruel terms–abusive terms–designed to obliterate God’s hand in restoring the Church of Jesus Christ in these latter days. (President Russell M. Nelson, Oct. 7. 18)
The nickname “Mormon” was created by bullies to belittle members of the church, and more importantly to separate them from the divine origins of the church, and this is still the crux of the issue today. Cruel nicknames don’t just go away. I saw one insightful church member compare it to a kid he knew growing up who was being mercilessly bullied. At first the kid laughed it off, but that didn’t work, so then he asked the bully to stop. Finally, he stood up to his bully because he couldn’t take it anymore. We are in the second stage: telling them to stop. We tried being good natured about it and adopting the name, or as President Nelson put it “make the best of it,” but now the malice has gone too far and now it is time to tell them to stop it.
Psychologists say the best way to deal with a bully is to be confident. Confident people let insults roll off their back, and this is what we have been doing for a long time. But then if bullies persist, psychologists say you should use “simple ,unemotional language,” you should “set limits,” and you should “act quickly and consistently.” That’s what this name policy does. It is simple language, sets a clear limit, and acts quickly.
I was never a fan of the “I’m a Mormon” campaign, but I’m not going to talk bad about it. I think the public relations people were just trying to react the best they could with the way the church was being treated. It was a campaign of confidence. It came at a time when the church was receiving a lot of exposure and the media bias against us started slowly accelerating in the negative direction. Oh I know, they didn’t portray us that bad back around 2008 when this all started, but it is apparent to me that the bias keeps getting worse and worse. At first, it was reality TV shows about ‘Mormons’ who weren’t in the church but were in related so-called Mormon sects. Then it was Tom Hank’s dramatic portrayals of polygamous ‘Mormons.’ Then we got a musical making fun of missionaries. Then it was what we saw in the first episode of Quantico. It just keeps getting more demeaning and more negative.
But the media isn’t all bad. Some actually listen and respect us. Yesterday, I noticed Drudge Report link to the Salt Lake Tribune article about the name policy, and after negative reactions from me and others, they took it down. Like President Nelson said, responsible media will correct themselves, and Drudge Report is a good responsible news site. They didn’t create the nickname and they don’t know anything about it. Most people just need to be politely informed.
President Nelson said: “It is not a name change. It is not rebranding. It is not cosmetic. It is not a whim. And it is not inconsequential. Instead, it is a correction. It is the command of the Lord.”
Provide Access To The Atonement
President Nelson spoke of two different kinds of consequences to this issue: personal access to Christ’s atonement and giving others access to the blessings of the gospel. “When it comes to nicknames of the church such as “LDS church,” “the Mormon church,” or “the church of the Latter-Day Saints,” the most glaring omission is the absense 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, even his atonement.” (President Russell M. Nelson, Oct. 7. 18)
President Nelson did not say the name “Mormon” is of Satan. What he said was omitting the Savior’s name leads us to disregard for the acts of the Savior. Don’t we always perform ordinances in the name of Christ? Don’t we pray in the name of Christ? Don’t we covenant to take upon ourselves the name of Christ? The message I get from President Nelson is that the persecution is not as damaging as the effect of separating us from the acts of the Savior. That is the main issue. “When we omit His name from His church we are inadvertently removing him as the central focus of our lives. “
It reminds me of the early Christian text Hymn of the Pearl, a story about a young man who is sent to slay a dragon and forgets about his homeland and quest. Then he remembers: “I remembered that I was a son of royal parents, and my noble birth asserted itself. I remembered the pearl, for which I had been sent to Egypt, and I began to charm him, the terrible loud breathing serpent. I hushed him asleep and lulled him into slumber, for my father’s name I named over him.” (translation by G.R.S. Mead)
Removing The Church From Christianity – The other issue is giving others in the world access to the church. This does not happen when the label ‘Mormon’ takes the place of ‘Christian.’ Some mainstream Christian sects fight tooth and nail to deny us the label “Christian,” and they happily give us the label Mormon instead. This has led to the profoundly unfortunate tendency for scholars to use “Mormon” as a category all on its own, with the “LDS church” listed alonside splinter-sects such as the RLDS. This is how Wikipedia categorizes us.
This is a profoundly flawed way to categories ourselves. When we call ourselves “Mormon” and use the term “Mormon” to refer to apostate splinter-sects, not only do we incorrectly associate ourselves with crazy cults, we also place ourselves outside of the realm of Christianity on a parallel category. It is very unfortunate that so many “scholars” insist on this kind of categorization, and it is time to loudly demand it stop. Some members of the church have fallen into this trap. President Nelson said: “After all He had endured, and after all He had done for humankind, I realize with profound regret that we have unwittingly acquiesced in the Lord’s restored church being called by other names, each of which expunges the sacred name of Jesus Christ.” (President Russell M. Nelson, Oct. 7. 18)
Missionary Service – Something I didn’t consider before, but which is very important, is President Nelson’s point that the term ‘Mormon’ hinders missionary service. Not only does it hinder our personal access to the atonement, but it disguises us as something other than a Christian church, so people who search for access to Christ will not give it a try. “If we as a people as and individuals are to have access to the power of the atonement of Jesus Christ, to cleanse and heal us, to strengthen and magnify us, and ultimately to exalt us, we must clearly acknowledge Him as the source of that power. We can begin by calling His church by the name He decreed. For much of the world, the Lord’s church is presently disguised as “the Mormon church.” (President Russell M. Nelson, Oct. 7. 18)
How do we remove that disguise? Let’s look at what is involved with why that disguise is there and find solutions:
- We need to confront the mainstream Christians who insist on excluding us as if they had power and authority to do so. We are not “mainstream” but we are very Christian.
- We need to persistently correct their relentless strawman portrayal of us as denying the grace of Jesus. This does not mean we equate our gospel with their apostate teachings of grace as universal salvation, but rather that we focus on the atonement of Christ as the merit and power that lifts us in all ways, and we do not get sidetracked.
- We need to correct the entire diagram of where our church fits in the categories of religions. This is something I did every day during my mission in Europe. Our church was known as a “sect.” I patiently corrected every person who said this. No, we are not a sect. We did not splinter from any other church. We are a church restored as the original church set forth by Christ to his disciples in the bible.
- We patiently avoid “Mormon” except as it relates to the Book of Mormon or if we are quoting other people. This means we do not make an exception for anything. I see “historians” and “apologists” for the church saying we should make exceptions for when we are talking about the history of the church. Or maybe when we are talking about the culture of our church, kinda like Oriental vs. Asian. Or maybe we should use the term “restorationist” to replace “Mormon.” Don’t get lulled into this trap. Be adamant. “If we will be patient and if we will do our part well the Lord will lead us through this important task.”
- We need to confidently take ownership of our whole frame. Along with the name, this means confronting persistent falsehoods that are frequently passed around by skeptics and the media. I could list a hundred right now: seer stones, divining rods, pioneer violence, oppressing women, oppressing gays, etc. Don’t stand for it.
Encourage Other Church Members To Help
President Nelson indicated it is the individual responsibility of us all to correct the media, skeptics, and general public. The very least that members need to do is use the right name. “We will want to be courteous and patient in our efforts to correct these errors. Responsible media will be sympathetic in responding to our request… One by one, our best efforts as individuals will be required to correct errors that have crept in through the years. The rest of the world may or may not follow our lead in calling us by the correct name, but it is disingenuous for us to be frustrated that most of the world calls the church and its members by the wrong names if we do the same.” (President Russell M. Nelson, Oct. 7. 18)
Already I see resistance to this. A skeptic blog insists that holding fellow church members to this is being judgemental:
“What I can’t support, however, is anyone using this new policy as a reason to judge other members of the Church as less faithful. Like Peter when the Savior was arrested, too many of us respond to what we see as an attack on the Church by injuring our fellow children of God. It’s notable that the Savior responded by telling Peter to put his sword back in its sheath…. Let me tell you some of what I’ve seen: I’ve seen members publicly call friends and acquaintances to repentance for complaining about the change in policy. I’ve seen members tattle to leaders after seeing a fellow member say they’ll be sticking with “Mormon.” I’ve seen members brag that they’ve never called themselves “Mormon” because it was always wrong to do so, without acknowledging that the previous president of the Church embraced the nickname. I don’t know about you, but when someone polices my language that way, it never feels like love.”
(Patheos.com)
Are church members running around bragging and tattling to the bishop? No. I doubt there is a single person on earth who tattled to his bishop about someone saying the word Mormon. This is just another case of skeptics shaming church members for having a standard and encouraging others to enjoy the blessings of that standard. We should be patient and courteous, and not push away those less active, absolutely true. But I don’t think less active members are going to be offended if you politely inform them about the name policy and invite them to follow the Lord’s command. Why would they? The only people I see acting offended by it are Antimormons and Socialist agitators.
We do not want to push political correctness, I get it. We do not want to act like victims that need a safe space and special treatment. We do not want to act like we are being persecuted like our forefathers were in the 19th century. We are not being persecuted like the church was back then, but I think we are blind to the huge level of persecution that does exist today and how it perpetuates from all the way back to the atrocities that our pioneer ancestors endured. How do we deal with that? We can’t ignore it. By ignoring it all this time and adopting the nickname to show we are good sports, we have only ended up distancing ourselves from the Lord. Watching the video of President Nelson again, I noticed that when he talked about those who think “we should make the best of it,” his face got fierce and he looked down as if scolding a teenager, perhaps unconsciously. I felt like he was truly and deeply troubled by those who want to keep playing the good sport and trying to acquiesce to the bullies instead of dealing with it.
To members of the church who for whatever reason put up resistance, I think this is the way to approach it. Encourage them to stand up to the bullies and gain the confidence to stand before the word as an emissary for Christ. Just as a bullied teenager sometimes will try to please his aggressor and resist a helpful adult who tries to encourage him, those who have been pressured and persecuted into caring about the opinions of the world will call us judgemental. That’s fine, I don’t mind it if I’m a lone voice speaking about this, if every single blog and website by church members opposes me, and I don’t mind if I even have to speak out against the behavior of fellow members of the church and receive this awful reproach of “judgemental.” I will do everything I can to open up access to members of the church to the atonement of Christ by encouraging them to use the name of Christ, and I will do everything I can to open up access to the church to billions of people around the world who are not aware of it because they do not know it is Christian. And I will follow the command of the Lord through the words of His prophet.
The most obvious example of overcoming bullies from the scripture is David and Goliath, right? We teach it to our kids in primary. Goliath sought to make Israel slaves. What was David’s response? “Who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?” David’s brother was angry at him for saying this and called him prideful. What did David tell Goliath to his face? “Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied. This day will the Lord deliver thee into mine hand… that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.” Likewise, we face the pernicious media in the name of the Lord of hosts.
So when is the time to pressure the media to correctly refer to the church’s name? Is there some kind of waiting period? Should we wait a couple months and then maybe leave a timid comment at the bottom of the page? If you want to receive the blessings of the atonement in some future date and spread the gospel of Jesus Christ to the world in some future date, then go ahead and wait for Peggy Fletcher Stack to change her mind about her terminology. If you want to receive the blessings of the atonement and spread this joy to those around the world suffering in sin right now, I think it is wise to immediately follow the prophet’s guidance and do so boldly, though patiently and politely.