This was the topic of Jana Reiss' "Flunking Sainthood" column this week. She wrote about the abrupt change in the name of the church between the 2014 "I'm a Mormon" campaign, and the 2018 "Satan wins if you call us Mormon" about face, and how languages don't change that abruptly, especially when the name "Mormon" still serves a very useful linguistic purpose.

Her column goes through a very interesting and surprising (at least to me) history of the term "shibboleth". It's worth reading the column just for that.

The point she was making is that it appears that even within Mormonism, use of the term Mormon, or refusal to use the term at all, is becoming a marker for whether you are an orthodox Mormon, or are a MINO. The True Believers get very exorcised when they hear anyone use the term. Jana said she has the hate mail to prove it, that comes streaming in whenever she uses the term in her column.

Perceived MINOs, on the other hand, continue to use the term, because there is no other reasonable way to complete the sentence "I am a ________." Using the full name of the church to fill in the blank is not reasonable. It is 11 clumsy syllables long.

Meanwhile, the rest of the world is just puzzled about why Mormon is suddenly wrong. They have cut back on using it, but they continue to do so because it meets a linguistic need, and it is comfortable.


I agree with her point that use of the word "Mormon" is becoming a separator between the very orthodox and the rest of the membership. Vaccination is another separator. Setting up more ways to define some Mormons as "not Real Mormons" is not going to be good for keeping people in the church.

https://religionnews.com/2021/10/13/the-battle-lines-around-the-word-mormon/

It is part of the ongoing attempt at complete mind control

“When I look at another human being, I want it to be the same as looking in the mirror. Only then can I be at peace!”
--Adolf Milhous Nelson

Ha! Topping just for that.

Thanks for the link. Would never see something like that otherwise. I have never been tempted to subscribe to a Utah paper for some reason.

Nothing is more telling of a failing or fading that the need to re-label and re-brand in hopes of re-invigorating your product which is what it always comes down to.

I suspect this evilizing the word Mormon will do about as much good for the Mormons as New Coke did for Coca-Cola. Of course they got the argument of which was better, new or old, and when old won out it came back stronger than ever. So, uh, is Russ really clever, or, . . .

RNS is not a Utah publication. I don't know if it has head offices somewhere, or not. It could be produced completely online.

Haha. I'm so out of it. I got it stuck in my head it was the Salt Lake Tribune and zoned right past the RNS thing. I wish I could say this was an isolated incident.

Mormons will never shed the ‘Mormon’ moniker as long as they continue to uphold the “Book of Victory For Satan” as superior to the Bible. It is the Mormon Quran and most Christians see both as equally false and heretical.

https://www.sltrib.com/religion/2020/11/02/most-americans-see-bible/

As I have said numerous times here, I think the precise reason they are backing away from the name is so they can then back away from the book. White supremacy is so intertwined in the plot that there is no way to make the BoM suitably non-racist.

They are doing this slowly so the members don't hyperventilate. I expect it will take decades.

Nelson has a long standing enmity towards being called Mormon and now that he's top dog he can "inspiration" the word away from the faithful (follow the prophet, follow the prophet, follow the prophet),
How many times has he said that The Restoration is ongoing? It may also be that as a part of his effort to be a global faith leader and mainstream the church that he'll soon be "inspired" to direct the official name be shortened to The Church of Jesus Christ.
That "of Latter-day Saints' is really provincial and awkward anyhow.

Not to mention arrogant AF!
Who identifies as a ‘Saint’?

The name

“Abusive Sex CULT
of Joseph’s Myth of
Doomsday Cucks”

Is more accurate

I am PIMO and didn't much like not being able to use the M word in polite company of Mormons any longer. I was however glad of the name change when a co-worker asked me what Mormons think of Mitt Romney.

I was able to answer in total honesty "let me put it this way, the president of the Mormon Church has asked Mitt not to call himself a Mormon any more".

When Willard was running for POTUS, the national press was all over the "Mormon Moment." Funny, I don't recall a single mormon worked up into a lather over being called a mormon at the time, or insisting it was a slur or insult or "just like the N-word!" They were thrilled as fetch at the attention and couldn't have cared less about being called mormons.

Mormons are brainless lemmings.