Why the LDS Church Rebrand is Stupid
I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (LDS Church), the members of which are often referred to as “Mormons,” after The Book of Mormon.
Recently, the Church released a statement regarding the name of the church, and how others should refer to it and its members.
To summarize that statement: the members should not be referred to as “Mormons” and the Church should not be referred to as the “Mormon Church” OR the “LDS Church.”
This seems rather silly to me, for reasons I will outline.
But first, let me address something right away.
Following the Prophet
Many members of the Church will probably say to me that I should “follow the prophet”, or that I should be obedient to what God has said because the prophet has received revelation. We, as members of the Church, are after all told to follow the prophet.
However, I don’t think that “following the prophet” means rolling over and doing everything the Prophet has said, and the Church would agree with me.
For example, the scripture that missionaries share with people investigating the church is, after all, a scripture about not taking their word for it and praying to ask God whether their message is true.
The Church, in a statement, explicitly said that “Church leaders have encouraged civil online dialogue.”
And leaders make mistakes. President Uctdorf himself has said, “there have been times when members or leaders in the Church have simply made mistakes.” And Sheri Dew also says that leaders are not infallible.
But the biggest reason I’m ok being critical of this decision is that it’s not doctrinal. It’s not like you get excommunicated for saying you’re a Mormon. This has to do with the culture of the Church, which the Church has said,
“As a Church, we’ve been looking for several years on what we can improve and change — cultural elements that are not tied to doctrine.”
Alrighty, so now that that’s out of the way, let’s get into why the Church’s recent decision was stupid.
Why the Decision was Stupid
The Church JUST did a huge campaign embracing the nickname “Mormon” in 2013.
Here is Lindsey Stirling’s “I’m a Mormon” video from that campaign. And for that campaign, they made a movie called “Meet the Mormons.”
EVERYTHING is branded as “Mormon” already
It might have been more wise to slowly rename the “Mormon” things before you released a statement saying you didn’t want to be called “Mormon.”
It undermines the credibility of the Church and past Prophets
“And if we allow nicknames to be used or adopt or even sponsor those nicknames ourselves, He is offended. To remove the Lord’s name from the Lord’s Church is a major victory for Satan.”
So, lemme get this straight, the past prophets who embraced the nickname were offending God and helping Satan get a W?
I’m no prophet, but from a recruitment standpoint, it seems pretty dumb to say to prospective members that every leader before you was an agent of Satan…
All sects are referred to by one word
What do Jews, Christians, Muslims, Atheists, Protestants, Adventists, and Catholics have in common? The sect is grouped by one word. There is something to be said about being concise. It just seems impractical for people to refer to you by such a long name.
Members of the Church already use TONS of acronyms
Here is a (small) list: MTC, PEC, PPI, JST, FHE, EFY, CTR.
You’re telling me that these same members are going to use the long name when referring to the Church? Right….
You sound presumptions saying the entire name of the Church
“If someone should ask, “Are you a Mormon?” you could reply, “If you are asking if I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, yes, I am!”
Maybe it’s just me, but that sounds like you’re being a smart ass.
Maybe there are bigger issues to address
Like I don’t know…the disintegration of the family, the importance of gender, human rights violations, loving thy neighbor, etc.
It’s simply impractical
Lastly, this is just impractical.
There’s a good reason that the name “Mormon” has come about. The name of the Church is too damn long! Not saying we shouldn’t use it, but it’s completely impractical to same the whole damn thing.
I thought the Church made a good move embracing the nickname a few years ago, and ultimately I bet that’s right back where we end up in the next several years.
