President Monson and the Mormon church launched a campaign in 2010 called “I’m A Mormon”. A website was created for members to create a profile and share about their life and what being Mormon meant to them. The idea being that everyone could show the world that Mormons are like everyone else. They work, read books, watch (some) movies, shop at grocery stores, etc. It was normalizing the Mormon lifestyle and religion for a world ignorant or uninterested or confused about Mormons. I remember being encouraged over the pulpit in church to create a profile and tell my story and share it on social media.

The website liked to feature famous Mormons like the has-been Osmond family, Thurl Bailey, David Archuleta, Bryce Harper, Gladys Knight, Brandon Flowers, and a variety of B or C list celebrities that perhaps the only interesting thing about them is that they believe in a 200 year old religion that claims the Garden of Eden was in Missouri.

Ads were taken out in a variety of media to promote this initiative. Even million dollar ads in Times Square in Manhattan. In 2012, it cost between 1 and 4 million dollars to run an ad in Times Square. When you take into consideration TV ads, radio, print media, it’s safe to say that the church spent millions of dollars promoting this campaign.

In 2014, there was a church endorsed and produced documentary called “Meet The Mormons” that was put out and played in theaters throughout Utah and possibly a few other western states. After it was released it was encouraged from the pulpit, at least in my ward, to attend it multiple times so that it could have a wider release nationwide and garner attention. It was promoted in marketing campaigns on billboards, radio, TV, Facebook ads, etc. It’s safe to say a movie production with marketing costs is in the millions of dollars to produce.

Now. Jump forward a mere four years in time to the October conference of the Mormon church. New president, new changes. President Nelson announces shortly before the conference that he doesn’t want the church to be referenced as the Mormon church anymore as it has been for nearly 200 years. Although it started out as a name given by so-called enemies of the church, it obviously had been adopted as a friendly nickname by the church leadership, or it wouldn’t have spent millions of dollars promoting it’s association to the word “Mormon”.

During the conference, Nelson dedicated an entire talk to explain the rebranding. He began by saying:

“Today I feel compelled to discuss with you a matter of great importance. Some weeks ago, I released a statement regarding a course correction for the name of the Church. I did this because the Lord impressed upon my mind the importance of the name He decreed for His Church, even The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.”

He then emphasized that “it is a correction. It is the command of the Lord. Joseph Smith did not name the Church restored through him; neither did Mormon. It was the Savior Himself who said, “For thus shall my church be called in the last days, even The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.”

He reaffirmed that the Lord commanded him to make this correction.

He further states, “He [Jesus] is serious. And if we allow nicknames to be used or adopt or even sponsor those nicknames ourselves, He is offended.”

Then, to really hammer home his point, he says, “To remove the Lord’s name from the Lord’s Church is a major victory for Satan. When we discard the Savior’s name, we are subtly disregarding all that Jesus Christ did for us—even His Atonement.”

Wow. Not only do we offend Jesus, we allow Satan to win and we disregard the savior and his atonement. What could possibly be worse?

A little context, I think, is important.

According to LDS.org, when Joseph Smith Jr., the founder, began the church in 1830 he named it “The Church of Christ”. However, the official name has changed several times:

1830: The Church of Christ

1834: “The Church of the Latter Day Saints”, omitting the reference to Christ.

1838: “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints”

1851: “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints” with a hyphen to be more grammatically correct when the church was incorporated by the legislature of the State of Deseret.

1887: the church was legally dissolved in the United States by the Edmunds–Tucker Act because of the church’s practice of polygamy, and remains unincorporated. However:

1916: Corporation of the Presiding Bishop of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a corporation sole which was organized under the laws of the state of Utah to acquire, hold, and dispose of real property (not the church, but a church entity).

1923: Corporation of the President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was established to receive and manage money and church donations (not the church but a church entity).

Unknown: I haven’t been able to find when they started capitalizing the “D” in Day, but probably sometime in the 1900’s. The logos looked better that way.

In April 1990, Nelson as an apostle gave a conference address entitled “Thus Shall My Church Be Called”. Read it. It’s basically the same talk he just gave in October 2018, but less shaming and guilt inducing and fear-mongering. In October 1990, then President Hinkley gave a talk entitled “Mormon Should Mean ‘More Good’” where he walks back on everything Nelson had said in his April 1990 talk.

Mormons believe that Jesus Christ himself is the head of his church. He calls the shots. He rules supreme and the apostles and prophets who are sustained as prophets, seers, and revelators are just his mouth piece.

I have several questions then:

Was it Jesus who couldn’t make up his mind for 57 years what the official name of the church would be and then which grammar rules were to be followed? Maybe Aramaic doesn’t translate as well to English.

If removing Jesus’ name from the church is a victory for Satan, why did Jesus allow the church to dispose of his name in 1834? He’s the head of the church. Maybe there was some miscommunication that wasn’t clarified for another four years?

If Jesus is offended when nicknames are used, wouldn’t he be offended his church didn’t have his own name in it between 1834 – 1838? Why the delay in correction?

Nelson claims he’s now correcting a nickname that has not only been tolerated for nearly 200 years, but accepted and promoted to the tune of millions of dollars in marketing money for the word “Mormon”. Why would Jesus allow his church to spend that much money and time and effort into the promotion of that word that is so offensive to him? Why hasn’t he intervened previously?

Mormonnewsroom.org, Mormonsandgay.lds.org, lds.org, and other websites have yet to make the prophetically given request of change. Why is the church continuing to offend Christ and allow Satan to win? Why haven’t those changes happened yet? Is it okay to offend Jesus?

Is a nickname really what bothers Jesus right now? With all the horrible things happening in a world so desperate for divine intervention and guidance, is a nickname really what is weighing on the creator of the universe’s mind? Is he that petty?

Is this purging of the church of the use of “Mormon” a revelation as it’s purported, or a final resolution to a 28 year old pet peeve of Nelson’s? In a recent interview with his second wife, Wendy, she stated “It is as though he’s been unleashed. He’s free to finally do what he came to earth to do… And also, he’s free to follow through with things he’s been concerned about but could never do. Now that he’s president of [the Church], he can do those things.” What other things bother him that will be changed under the guise of revelation?

What other things bother him that will be changed under the guise of revelation? In another interview, Nelson himself states “If you think the Church has been fully restored, you’re just seeing the beginning. There is much more to come. … Wait till next year. And then the next year. Eat your vitamin pills. Get your rest. It’s going to be exciting.” Why has it taken over 200 years to “fully” restore Christ’s Church? Were previous prophets not doing their job? Why hasn’t Jesus gotten it right yet? Or are these just men changing things willy nilly as they see fit, and there is no divine intervention? Can the church really be considered true if it hasn’t been fully restored?

Elder Bednar, who is sustained as a prophet, seer, and revelator said in a conference talk “When we believe or say we have been offended, we usually mean we feel insulted, mistreated, snubbed, or disrespected. And certainly clumsy, embarrassing, unprincipled, and mean-spirited things do occur in our interactions with other people that would allow us to take offense. However, it ultimately is impossible for another person to offend you or to offend me. Indeed, believing that another person offended us is fundamentally false. To be offended is a choice we make; it is not a condition inflicted or imposed upon us by someone or something else.” So why is Jesus, an all powerful, all knowing god, creator of the universe, destroyer of nations, alpha and omega, choosing to be offended?

Elder Bednar continues in his talk that “In many instances, choosing to be offended is a symptom of a much deeper and more serious spiritual malady.” What spiritual maladies does Christ possess that he must repent for so that his own atonement can cleanse him? Why can’t he be more Christ-like?

Bednar then states, “The Savior is the greatest example of how we should respond to potentially offensive events or situations.” Well, Nelson said even the savior gets offended. They can’t both be right. Did you feel the spirit during both their talks? How can you discern who is speaking as a prophet and who is speaking as a man?

Bednar finishes his sermon by saying, “As His servant, I echo the words of the Master when He declared, “These things have I spoken unto you, that ye should not be offended” (John 16:1). If only he could take his own advice when people say “Mormon”.

I know cognitive dissonance is true, and I say these things in the name of better understanding the world around me.

Brother Ghost