‘Mormon’ returns as popular title

It was not many years ago when The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints curbed its use of the term “Mormon.”

With recent appearances of church-affiliated programs using the word “Mormon,” members may wonder whether referring to themselves as LDS is still the protocol.

The “Mormon Channel,” owned and operated by the LDS Church, launched in 2009 as its official radio station.

The Church also manages a channel on YouTube called “Mormon Messages,” displaying more than 40 short, inspirational videos. The Church features the website mormon.org, as the central location for online missionary efforts, while members are directed to lds.org.

“[When people ask] I definitely say I’m Mormon, because I’m from California and non-members understand ‘Mormon’ more than they do ‘LDS,’ ” said senior Christopher Patterson, from California, majoring in history. “ ‘Mormon’ has just as many good connotations as it does bad connotations in today’s world. ‘Mormon’ hasn’t always been the best name for us, but today I don’t think it makes too big of a difference.”

When searching on Google or other search engines, search results for “Mormon” number at 8.7 million, while search results come up at least 500,000 fewer hits for “LDS.”

“When I was in high school, my fellow students would ask me what religion I was, and I would say I’m from the LDS Church,” said Madeline Meng, a sophomore from Houston, majoring in statistics. “Then, they would say ‘Oh OK, that’s nice.’, but I knew they didn’t know what I was saying so I would tell them ‘We’re also known as the Mormons.’ Once I said that, it clicked and they knew what I was talking about.

Until you would express you’re Mormon, nobody understood what religion I was.”

The Deseret News, which is owned by the LDS Church, launched a print insert and website called Mormon Times in 2008.

“Calling this section ‘The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Times’ is just not reasonable because of the length of the title,” said Mormon Times editor David Schneider, in a January 2008 Deseret News article. “The church recognizes that shortened versions sometimes are necessary, such as the church’s main official websites, lds.org and mormon.org, or church-affiliated agencies such as LDS Family Services.”

Why does the church distance itself from such a strong branding to begin with? Some cite media confusion with the FLDS Church, Warren Jeffs and polygamy as substantial enough reasons. Other members simply want to be seen as Christians.

“When we use ‘Mormon’ it can look like we are less Christian and more like Joseph Smith worshipers or Book of Mormon worshipers, even though [The Book of Mormon] teaches of Christ,” Patterson said.

It is unforeseeable whether the Church will ever make the transition from “Mormon” to “LDS,” but eight years after the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake, many say there has been little progress in attempting that transition.

“I think they could try and make it so all the Church organizations use ‘LDS,’ but I don’t think they could ever change how ‘Mormon’ is used in the media, because that will be there forever,” said junior Sara Dorsey, from Virginia, majoring in public health. “That’s what it has always been.”

The Church recently posted a response on its Newsroom Blog explaining the current position.

“Bottom line: It’s OK to use the term ‘Mormons’ in referring to Church members, but we added: ‘Please don’t use ‘Mormon Church’ as a substitute for the ‘The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,’ ” said Lyman Kirkland in the post. “The Internet has brought an added dimension to this issue. Since people looking for information on the Church mostly enter ‘Mormon’ into their search engines, the Church has to accommodate that reality.”

From the article: Why does the church distance itself from such a strong branding to begin with? Some cite media confusion with the FLDS Church, Warren Jeffs and polygamy as substantial enough reasons. Other members simply want to be seen as Christians. “When we use ‘Mormon’ it can look like we are less Christian and more like Joseph Smith worshipers or Book of Mormon worshipers, even though [The Book of Mormon] teaches of Christ,” Patterson said.

Well, Christians, I'm afraid was a "brand name" already in existence when Smith came along. And he NEVER insisted on simply being treated as a "separate" but "equal" Christian denomination.

He, in fact, carte blanche, ruled out all of the Christian sects as being anything other than "apostates." To this very generation, when you flip open an Lds church manual, like the 1989 Relief Society Personal Guide, you find statements like these:

"The result of this apostasy was the complete destruction of the Church." (p. 32)

Have you ever seen WWII pictures from Iwo Jima & other locales where as part of the "clean-up" work, soldiers carrying flame-throwers had to get Japanese to come out? Well, that's what Smith felt he had to do in treating every Christian group. He took a scorched earth, flame-thrower approach in labeling all Christians as a church of complete destruction.

Remember that the next time you think of how Mormons have treated Christians for 180 years!

Mormon on the other hand says it all .... from the" angel Moroni" Gal1:8 But though we, or an angel from heaven, should preach unto you any gospel other than that which we preached unto you, let him be anathema.

I can just imagine that Satan, still smarting from righteous Job's ability to handle what Satan threw at him thousands of years earlier, chose a more unrighteous glass-looker, treasure-hunting, money-seeker, wife-thiefing, Joseph Smith, Jr. as a future target down the road.

(You remember that convo Satan had with God in Job 1, right?)

Well, you may not be aware of that convo Satan had with God just before the Book of Mormon was penned. For the first time ever, 'tis revealed in public:

Lucif: "Hey, Most High, I've got a new target."
Most High: "You keep striking out. Who now?"
Lucif: "Well, his name is Joseph Smith, Jr."
Most High: "You're picking the easiest of targets, aren't you?"
Lucif: "You bet. (If you were a gambling God, that is)."
Most High: "Well, like Job, I've got one restriction."
Lucif: "And that is?"
Most High: "There's got to be some Truth in Advertising in the up-front 'revelations' you're going to impress upon him."
Lucif: "Truth in advertising?"
Most High: "Well, you will hear about that term more as a new era unfolds."
Lucif: "Truth in advertising....Hmmm..."

Lucif (to Junior demonic implementer): "Well, how did you comply with the 'truth in advertising' standard set by you know who?"
J-DRI (Jr. Demonic 'revelation' implementer): "See, it's all right there."
Lucif: "Where?"
J-DRI (Jr. Demonic 'revelation' implementer): "Right there...Book of Mormon, 2 Nephi 9:9, Jacob's teachings about the infinite atonement...so we slipped it in there..."And our spirits must have become like unto him, and we become devils, angels to a devil, to be shut out from the presence of our God, and to remain with the father of lies, in misery, like unto himself; yea, to that being who beguiled our first parents, who transformeth himself nigh unto an angel of light, and stirreth up the children of men unto secret combinations of murder and all manner of secret works of darkness."
Lucif: "So, you had to put it all in plain sight for them to see? Isn't that too obvious? Look at that! You came right out and told them I transform into an 'angel of light!'"
J-DRI (Jr. Demonic 'revelation' implementer): "Well, not only that, just to make sure we didn't unnecessarily raise the ire of ykw, I put it in their other early 'revelation,' too. See, here Smith was speaking of himself in the 1833 Book of Commandments, "Covenants and Commandments of the Lord" section II, when he wrote: "...God ministered unto him by an holy angel whose countenance was as lightning, and who garments were pure and white above all other whiteness, and gave unto him commandments which inspired him, and gave him power from on high, by the means which were before prepared, to translate the book of Mormon..." (verse 2, p. 78)
Lucif: "Wow! You've placed it all in plain sight!"
J-DRI (Jr. Demonic 'revelator' implementer): "The perfect place to imbed a little truth is smack dab in the center, with falsehood all around it!"

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