If you think I will do that out of pure rebellion, you’re….right.
Now, seriously let me explain.
The Church throughout the years seems to have developed a sort of teeny-bopper crush with the word Mormon. You know, like when the girl picks a flower and says “He loves me, he love me not”?
Well, we are kind of like that. Instead we say “I want you, I want you not”. We want the word Mormon, and then we don’t want it. Then we want it again but then (after spending millions in the “I am a Mormon” campaign a few years back) we change our mind for the millionth time and we don’t want it.
Last General Conference, President Nelson gave a talk about the correct name of the Church and he was quite candid about it. He stated that the decision with regards to the name of the Church is not a whim, rebranding or cosmetics but rather a commandment from the Lord.
He also stated that if we allow these nicknames or sponsor them Jesus gets offended. Lastly, he said that if we choose to remove the name of the Savior from the Church’s name is a victory for Satan and we are disregarding everything Jesus ever did, including his atonement.
Ouch. Could it be a little too much hyperbole? I really have a hard time believing that President Nelson thinks that Joseph Smith, Brigham Young, President Hinckley and even President Monson (behind the “I am a Mormon” campaign) offended Jesus or that they disregarded the atonement. Come on.
I am more frustrated at the fact that we don’t seem to decide what we really want. Do we want to be a peculiar people or do we want to fit in with other Christian’s denominations? For how long we will keep embracing and rejecting the same nickname we have been known for since the Church was founded? We have been having this toxic love-hate relationship with the word for over 100 years, no kidding.
I’m not saying one is better than the other. Nope. What I’m saying is that at this point, the back and forth about the name is like vertigo. Making me dizzy and annoyed all at the same time.
Now, before you punch me and tell me we believe in modern revelation and things CAN change, I get that. But can we please NOT spend any more dinero in changes and advertisements campaigns until it is decided it for good? That’s all I’m asking. You know, so we don’t go back to “Mormon means more good” once again and spend even more money in bringing back what we just um…purposely discarded?
This whole I embrace you one day but hate you another day (besides sounding very toxic) it confuses people about who we really are and looks as though we don’t know exactly what we are doing. Wait…hmmmm. ?
Well, so far it seems like Mormon News Room is keeping their internet domain. So is Mormon.org. Not sure if they will renew their domains but so far they are as Mormons as ever.
Cheeky Mormon will continue being Cheeky Mormon.
I reckon CheekyMemberOfTheChurchOfJesusChristOfLatterDaySaints.com is a little too long.