Mormon church leaders no longer want to be called 'Mormon'

[left-of-center2012]

Source: NY Daily News

Leaders of the Utah-based church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints called on people to no longer refer to their faith as Mormonism, despite the fact that one of the church’s central texts will still retain the name, “The Book of Mormon.”

An updated style guide posted online Thursday also asked that people to no longer use the name “LDS” as a shorthand way to describe the religion. Instead, it recommends using phrases like “the Church” or the “Church of Jesus Christ” in place of just the initials.

While they do hope to phase out the term “Mormonism” almost completely, they will allow for use of the word “Mormon” in proper names — as is the case with “The Book of Mormon” — or “when used as an adjective in such historical expressions as ‘Mormon Trail.’”

The move generated buzz on social media in Utah, with people pointing out the release had been disseminated from a Twitter account with “Mormon” in the handle and posted on website mormonnewsroom.org.


Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny-news-dont-call-mormons-mormon-anymore-20180817-story.html

[Aristus]

1. Can we still call them 'moralistic whackos who believe in the magical properties of underwear'?

[TheBlackAdder]

12. Perhaps all of that fetishist Mormon porn on the internet is damaging their name.

[Corvo Bianco]

19. if you paid 10% of your gross income for that underwear you'd believe in it too!

[Crutchez_CuiBono]

52. Sounds like a group just making it up as they go along?

Fine tuning the edges...re-making the mistakes of the past...etc.

[pepperbear]

57. Now we can finally call them Gladys

[Pachamama]

2. So cool - God talks to Nelson and wants a rebranding!!!

Amazing....

Sadly, it’s only going to backfire and they will definitely always be referred to as the Mormons!!!

[moreland01]

6. I sometimes forget the second "m". Ooops.

I lived in Utah for 2 years and really liked the people. But the religious things they believe in, and the traditions that they follow, are whack.

Our neighbor (who knew we weren't Mormons) said to me "As long as you live by me you will never go hungry." and then proceeded to leave baked bread on my doorstep (YUM!) and fill my kitchen with produce in the summer. He made me realize how nice they are to have as neighbors. They never once proselytized.

Just don't expect to have a beer with them and shoot-the-shit on the back porch.

[Kajun Gal]

10. Nice neighbors! I wish we had nice neighbors like that!

[Crutchez_CuiBono]

53. He wants the name of the book for now to stay the same...until they update that

to the 'book of nelsons'.

[DesertRat]

3. Not long ago they started a I'm a Mormon" campaign

And released a movie called "Meet the Mormons". And there's the world famous "Mormon Tabernacle Choir. But now they want to disassociate themselves with the name "Mormon"?

Link to tweet

[democratisphere]

4. Always trying to mask who you are. Don't get it.

More appropriate: LaDDer Day Saints.

Must be having a difficult time finding new LDS recruits.

[marylandblue]

5. Henceforth, I shall no longer be called marylandblue

But shall simply be called The Person or The Church of the Person.

[TeamPooka]

17. lol

[BigmanPigman]

7. What do they have against the word Mormon?

Have they just recently had this opinion or is this an old issue?

[Blue_Tires]

31. It's just a rebranding...

[BigmanPigman]

34. "Oh, I see", said the blind man.

Personally I have always preferred LDS. I have slight dyslexia and the first time I ever read LDS I was in my 20s and I thought it was LSD and got all happy. I was disappointed when I found out I was wrong...thought I had found a religion that I could relate to.

[Haggis for Breakfast]

43. Would that be like when

Monsanto Chemical Company just wanted to be known as Monsanto, so as to purge the image of the toxic nature of their products to something warmer and fuzzier ? Cuz, I'm already seeing a parallel here . . . .

[jmowreader]

55. They haven't ever liked being called Mormons, at least officially

This gets complex, so bear with me: Latter-Day Saints theology teaches there were several tribes - the Nephites and Lamanites being the most important to this story - that left the Middle East 600 years before the birth of Jesus and settled in the Americas. 800 years later, the Nephites fell into unbelief and wickedness, and were destroyed by the Lamanites.

One of the Nephitic generals, a fine fellow named Mormon, recorded the history of the Nephites on stone plates. Before he died, he left the plates in the care of his son Moroni - from whom we do not derive the popular insult "moron." Moroni compiled the plates into a book, the Book of Mormon, which he inscribed on new plates made of gold. In 1823. God resurrected Moroni in order to reveal the Book of Mormon to Joseph Smith. Smith translated the plates into English, then returned them to Moroni. It is said that the Church elders will kill anyone whose eyes alight on the golden plates.

The strange thing is, the Nephites pissed off the Lamanites in AD 385. Moroni died in AD 421. How does this work?

[GulfCoast66]

58. And we wonder why they believe republican bullshit

Their entire belief system is right out of fantasy fiction. They will believe anything.

Of course, the same goes for all of the literal bible believers. 25% of the population.

[jmowreader]

66. MAD Magazine had a good comment on this one

They were doing a "religion" primer that ripped on all the major religions pretty much equally. I don't remember the one about the Mormons, but this is what they said about the Catholics.

"The Catholic Church believes in miracles.
The man in the white collar is called a Priest.
Everyone brings him all their problems to solve.
They bring him their marital problems, even though he's never been married.
They bring him their business problems, even though he's never been in business.
They bring him their sexual problems, even though he's never had sex.
And now you know why the Catholic Church believes in miracles!"

[silverweb]

8. Sure. Good luck with that!

[Solly Mack]

9. Good luck with that

[TheBlackAdder]

11. Kolobites? Kolobians? Kolobans?

.

The Mormon Trail, is that what led through to where the Mountain Meadows Massacre occurred?

.

[Turbineguy]

13. Maybe it's the association.

Trump. Just one letter off.

[FiveGoodMen]

14. Will Christians stop using the word 'Christ'?

They've long ago stopped paying attention to his words.

[ProudLib72]

20. "Hypocrites" or "The Church of Hypocrites" from now on

[TeamPooka]

15. Rebranding a religion is a new idea. Maybe they could design a new Nike like Swoosh for a logo?

[d_r]

16. from now on

we will be referred to as "The only TRUE church" and our members as "the only ones who will really get into Heaven."

[They_Live]

18. They should try LSD

Later Saints Day.

[ROB-ROX]

21. THEY GOT IT WRONG AGAIN

I think the Catholic church has "THE CHURCH" locked up since they only used this for 1,000 years. I did not think they related to Jesus since they have MORNI the bugle blowing angle on their temples.......Hey they do not use the work CHURCH they use TEMPLE.............I think the CULT has gone MENTAL.......

[brush]

32. Still not clear. Do they consider themselves Christians? If not, what else are we gonna call them?

[Corvo Bianco]

35. They consider themselves Christian for appearances.

Christ is featured in their gospel, but nowhere near as prominently as Joseph Smith and the fictional characters from his Book of Mormon. Revelations from God in the 1830's are noted in another Mormon scripture called Doctrine and Covenants. The bible is there for reference, but it carries the least weight.

They've been shy of the word Mormon since I was a kid, but the word Mormon never developed taboo in the church and it clearly hasn't gone away. Just call them Mormons it's fine.

[brush]

36. Thanks for the info. So the word Mormon is a creation of Joseph Smith? If so it seems strange...

that they want to disassociate themselves from it.

[Corvo Bianco]

39. Yes Mormon is one of the prophets/war lords in the book.

It is a curious move to try to rebrand this way when we know the Book of Mormon isn't going anywhere... maybe they'll censor Mormon's name when they read their scriptures

[Haggis for Breakfast]

44. They could call themselves The Smithers.

[brush]

46. That's taken...see "The Simpsons".

[Haggis for Breakfast]

61. I was thinking

The smith-ers, not the smitherz.
(Does that make sense ?)

[Codeine]

22. Magic underwear, however, will still be required. nt

[TNNurse]

23. Quite a few years ago a friend (who is younger) told me they moved to a new town.

She met neighbors who introduced themselves as "LDS". She said she thought briefly it must have something to do with learning disabilities but kept her mouth shut. She asked someone else what it meant. She could not imagine why they would tell you about their learning disability and that the whole family had the same one.

[monmouth4]

24. If any religion should re-brand it would be Catholic, and I'm Catholic. A sad one to say..n/t

[Liberalagogo]

25. Just get rid of the second "m" and you're gold.

n/t

[brush]

33. That's hilarious. Then they can call themselves Palindromes. Oh wait. Not quite.

They'd have to change the first M to an N.

[defacto7]

26. They can desire to be called anything they want...

but they will always be identified as Mormon whether they like it or not.

[2naSalit]

29. +1

[Iggo]

27. Changing your name doesn't change who you are.

[Glorfindel]

28. The angel's name was "Moroni" - a scene from "Angels in America"

[DoctorJoJo]

30. I Think That's Where the Term "MORON" Cometh Frometh. They Could Adopt That!

[2naSalit]

37. That was good!

Funnier than Napoleon Dynamite, which I thought was a massive snore. And I had lived in a dense mormon population area, near where the movie was made even. My nonmormon friends thought it was a riot.

[Snellius]

40. Nothing against any religion but the angel Moroni story is pretty strange.

But I suppose drinking symbolic blood and eating symbolic flesh as rituals is too.
Once visited the Mormon temple lit up on the hills over Oakland, took a very gracious tour and asked to see what was in the inner sanctum back rooms. "No, I'm sorry," the guide explained. "You can't go in. We do more for the dead than the living in there." The angel is said to have brought a book to Joseph Smith. But when I asked if anyone could see it, she said that God took it back. Overdue?

[Judi Lynn]

62. The audience had a good question! Thanks. n/t

[KayF]

38. they want to be called IHOP

now that that name is free

[ForPeace]

41. They will be known as

“The church formerly known as Mormans”

[0rganism]

42. thus exposing themselves to a particularly funny typo...

of course, they had a different silly typo problem before.

[Ccarmona]

45. This Is Not New

They really haven’t liked being called “Mormon” for a long time. But nobody cares outside their cult.

[hatrack]

47. How about "The Marks"?

As in a con-man's target . . .

[ThoughtCriminal]

48. So they are having some "Branding" problems

I wonder how long it will be before conservatives don't want to be called Republicans.

[sarcasmo]

49. Imaginary sky beings.

[dflprincess]

50. Will they have to change the name of the musical too? nt

[nwduke]

51. What's the difference between LSD and LDS?

LSD is just a temporary mind fu*k!

[dchill]

54. K.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

56. They can call themselve whatever they want

So long as their missionaries quit coming round my house.

[Wolf Frankula]

59. Smithians? Smithites? Lessmons?

They can decide. "How can you follow a prophet named Joe Smith? It sounds like an alias."

Wolf

[BlueIdaho]

60. "The Cult"

It’s a fucking cult, no more, no less. I grew up in the cult. You’ll never find a bigger bunch of self deceived money driven hypocrites anywhere ever.

[jb5150]

63. Let's just call them

Romneyites ....

[dalton99a]

64. Obama kept them enslaved. Trump freed them. - Time for a name change

[GReedDiamond]

65. Prolly becuz peeples offen misspell it as "Moron"...nt