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| Utah's Canyonlands |
For almost two centuries, those faithful to the L.D.S. church have been known as Mormons. The weekend after publication of my book, an article in the New York Times titled "I'm a Mormon No More: A Divine Rebranding" reported on the renaming of the Mormon church by its 94-year-old president:
Russell M. Nelson, the church's president, has said that God had "impressed upon my mind the importance of the name he has revealed for his church." Church members should no longer call themselves Mormons, or even use the shorthand L.D.S., the church announced.
Instead, they should use the church's full name and refer to themselves as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Or, if they wanted a shorter version, Latter-day Saints was preferred. As he is revered as a living prophet, the announcement had divine weight.
It has been suggested by president Nelson that whenever the nickname 'Mormon' is used, Satan wins.
This is huge news. It impacts legal and copyright issues as well as the matter of personal identity for the 16 million people around the world who call themselves Mormons. In addition to Latter-day Saints, there are also hundreds of thousands of people in dozens of split-off religious groups that trace themselves back to the prophecies of Joseph Smith.
This is huge news. It impacts legal and copyright issues as well as the matter of personal identity for the 16 million people around the world who call themselves Mormons. In addition to Latter-day Saints, there are also hundreds of thousands of people in dozens of split-off religious groups that trace themselves back to the prophecies of Joseph Smith.
The purpose of this branding reboot, or "name correction" as the church is calling it, is ostensibly to give more validity to the religion as part of the Christian community, even though some Mormons refuse to be identified as such.
Even the famed Mormon Tabernacle Choir, in existence since 1929, has been officially renamed the 'Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square.' As one ex-Mormon commentator put it, "This is like changing the name of Coke to "The Caffeinated Soft Drink of Coca-Cola." As another currently Mormon person quipped, "Most importantly, can I still call Jell-o a "salad"?
Even the famed Mormon Tabernacle Choir, in existence since 1929, has been officially renamed the 'Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square.' As one ex-Mormon commentator put it, "This is like changing the name of Coke to "The Caffeinated Soft Drink of Coca-Cola." As another currently Mormon person quipped, "Most importantly, can I still call Jell-o a "salad"?
So, the question is . . . do we still call people who lived prior to this divine decree Mormons? Will the term 'Mormon' continue to endure despite all efforts to sway its followers and journalists otherwise? As W. Paul Reeves, president of the Mormon History Association has insisted, "You can't scrub 'Mormon' out of Mormon history."
By the way, I'm not a Mormon, or religious in the traditional sense, although I have great respect for all people and all positive world philosophies. It just happened that the characters I was writing about in my novel were of that faith, which led me to nine months of intensive research on the Mormon migration in the American southwest.
It will be fascinating to see how this all plays out . . .
It will be fascinating to see how this all plays out . . .
- Karen Mireau
P.S. The Book of Mormon will be keeping its name. And I'm not up to a major rewrite -- the main characters of All Their Yesterdays will continue to be considered of the Mormon faith.
