Editing Mormons (section)

== Terminology ==
{{Main|Mormon (word)#Popular usage}}
The terminology preferred by the church itself has varied over time. At various points, the church has embraced the term ''Mormon'' and stated that other sects within the shared faith tradition should not be called Mormon.<ref>The LDS Church has taken the position that the term Mormon should only apply to the LDS Church and its members, and not other adherents who have adopted the term. (See: {{cite web |date=April 9, 2010 |title=Style Guide – The Name of the Church |url=http://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/style-guide |access-date=November 11, 2011 |publisher=LDS Newsroom |archive-date=June 13, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190613210818/https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/style-guide |url-status=live }}) The Church cites the ''[[AP Stylebook]]'', which states, "The term Mormon is not properly applied to the other Latter Day Saints churches that resulted from the split after [Joseph] Smith's death." ("Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, The", Associated Press, ''The Associated Press Stylebook and Briefing on Media Law'', 2002, {{ISBN|0-7382-0740-3}}, p.48) Despite the LDS Church's position, the term ''Mormon'' is widely used by journalists and non-journalists to refer to adherents of [[Mormon fundamentalism]].</ref>

The word [[Mormon (word)#Origin of the term|Mormon]] was initially coined to describe any person who believes in the [[Book of Mormon]] as a scripture volume. Mormonite and Mormon were originally descriptive terms used both by outsiders to the faith, church members, and occasionally church leaders.<ref name="mormonscholar.org">{{cite web |title=The Original Intention Behind the Term ''Mormon'' |url=https://mormonscholar.org/the-original-intention-behind-the-term-mormon/ |website=Mormon Scholar |date=November 22, 2018 |access-date=31 August 2019 |archive-date=November 11, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201111213009/https://mormonscholar.org/the-original-intention-behind-the-term-mormon/ |url-status=live }}</ref>{{Better source needed|reason=Appears to be a blog; insufficiently reliable ([[WP:NOTRS]]).|date=March 2023}} The term Mormon later was sometimes used [[Pejorative|derogatorily]]; such use may have developed during the [[1838 Mormon War]],<ref>{{cite news |title=From the Illinois State Register |url=http://boap.org/LDS/Nauvoo-Neighbor/1844/11-13-1844.pdf |access-date=31 August 2019 |issue=2 |publisher=The Pioneer |date=13 November 1844 |archive-date=April 14, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200414001942/http://boap.org/LDS/Nauvoo-Neighbor/1844/11-13-1844.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> although church members and leaders "embraced the term", according to church historian Matthew Bowman, and by the end of the 1800s it was broadly used.<ref name="Jacobs-2018">{{Cite news |last=Jacobs |first=Julia |date=2018-08-18 |title=Stop Saying 'Mormon,' Church Leader Says. But Is the Real Name Too Long? |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/18/us/mormon-latter-day-saints-name.html |access-date=2023-03-19 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=May 5, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200505165938/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/18/us/mormon-latter-day-saints-name.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

The LDS Church has made efforts, including in 1982, in 2001 prior to the [[2002 Winter Olympics|2002 Salt Lake City Olympics]], in 2011 after [[The Book of Mormon (musical)|''The Book of Mormon'']] appeared on Broadway, and again in 2018, to encourage the use of the church's full name, rather than the terms Mormon or LDS.<ref name="Criss-2018" /> According to Patrick Mason, chair of [[Mormon studies]] at [[Claremont Graduate University]] and Richard Bennett, a professor of church history at [[Brigham Young University]], this is because non-church members have historically been confused about whether it represents a Christian faith, which concerns church leaders, who want to emphasize that the church is a Christian church.<ref name="Criss-2018" /><ref name="Jacobs-2018" /> The term Mormon also causes concern for church leaders because it has been used to include splinter groups such as [[Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints]], who practice [[Polygamy in Christianity|polygamy]], which the LDS Church does not; Mason said "For more than 100 years, the mainstream LDS Church has gone to great pains to distance itself from those who practice polygamy. It doesn't want to have any confusion there between those two groups."<ref name="Criss-2018" />

In 2018, the LDS Church published a style guide that encourages the use of the terms "the Church", the "Church of Jesus Christ" or the "restored Church of Jesus Christ" as shortened versions after an initial use of the full name.<ref>On August 18, 2018, church president [[Russell M. Nelson]] asked followers and non-followers to characterize the denomination with the name "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints" instead of "Mormons", "Mormonism" or the shorthand of "LDS".{{cite news |title=Latter Day Saints church leader rejects 'Mormon' label |work=BBC News |date=August 18, 2018 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-45236892 |access-date=19 August 2018 |archive-date=August 19, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180819191629/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-45236892 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Jacobs-2018" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Stack |first=Peggy Fletcher |date=22 August 2018 |title=LDS Church wants everyone to stop calling it the LDS Church and drop the word 'Mormons' — but some members doubt it will happen |url=https://www.sltrib.com/news/2018/08/16/lds-church-wants-everyone/ |access-date=2023-03-19 |website=The Salt Lake Tribune |language=en-US |archive-date=April 20, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230420203816/https://www.sltrib.com/news/2018/08/16/lds-church-wants-everyone/ |url-status=live }}</ref> According to church historian Bowman, 'the term "restored" refers to the idea that the original Christian religion is obsolete, and Mormons alone are practicing true Christianity.'<ref name="Jacobs-2018" />

The 2018 style guide rejects the term Mormons along with "Mormon Church", "Mormonism", and the abbreviation LDS.<ref name="Jacobs-2018" /> The second-largest sect, the [[Community of Christ]], also rejects the term Mormon due to its association with the practice of polygamy among [[List of denominations in the Latter Day Saint movement#Apostolic succession by Brigham Young|Brighamite sects]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Shields|first=Steven L.|date=2014|title=The Early Community of Christ Mission to "Redeem" the Church in Utah|journal=Journal of Mormon History|volume=40|issue=4 |pages=158–170|doi=10.5406/jmormhist.40.4.158 |s2cid=246562695|doi-access=free}}</ref> Other sects, including several [[Mormon fundamentalism|fundamentalist branches]] of the Brighamite tradition, embrace the term ''Mormon''.