Editing Mormon (word) (section)

==Usage preferred by the LDS Church==

The terminology preferred by the LDS Church 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> At other times, the church has rejected the term Mormon altogether except in extremely limited uses.<ref name=":6" />

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=":0">{{Cite news |last=Criss |first=Doug |date=17 August 2018 |title=Mormons don't want you calling them Mormons anymore |publisher=[[CNN]] |url=https://www.cnn.com/2018/08/17/us/mormon-church-name-trnd/index.html |access-date=3 March 2023 |archive-date=31 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230131015335/https://www.cnn.com/2018/08/17/us/mormon-church-name-trnd/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

Around 2010, the LDS Church and its members experienced a "Mormon moment" in which they were thrust into the national spotlight by [[Mitt Romney]]'s 2008 and 2012 campaigns for [[President of the United States]] and the 2011 [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] musical titled [[The Book of Mormon (musical)|''The Book of Mormon'']].<ref>{{Cite journal | url=https://slate.com/human-interest/2014/12/mormon-moment-is-over-but-it-changed-mormon-culture-for-good.html | title=What the "Mormon Moment" Actually Accomplished | journal=Slate | date=2 December 2014 | last1=Haglund | first1=Kristine | access-date=22 March 2021 | archive-date=6 March 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210306114441/https://slate.com/human-interest/2014/12/mormon-moment-is-over-but-it-changed-mormon-culture-for-good.html | url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url = https://www.newsweek.com/mormon-moment-67951|title = The Mormon Moment|website = [[Newsweek]]|date = 5 June 2011|access-date = 22 March 2021|archive-date = 1 March 2021|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210301143203/https://www.newsweek.com/mormon-moment-67951|url-status = live}}</ref> Facing media attention and abundant negative stereotypes, the church actively fostered its "Mormon" nickname with a multinational ''[[I'm a Mormon]]'' ad campaign (2010-2018), the film ''[[Meet the Mormons]]'' (2014), and websites like mormon.org and mormonandgay.org.<ref name="membersoffendjesus">{{Cite web|url=https://www.sltrib.com/religion/2018/10/07/members-offend-jesus/|title=Members 'offend' Jesus and please the devil when they use the term 'Mormon,' President Nelson says|access-date=2021-03-22|archive-date=2018-10-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181008202631/https://www.sltrib.com/religion/2018/10/07/members-offend-jesus/|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2018, the church reversed course again after [[Russell M. Nelson]] became [[President of the Church (LDS Church)|church president]]. In August 2018, Nelson announced a renewed effort to discourage the use of the word "Mormon" in reference to itself and its members, saying that terms like "Mormon Church" offended Jesus and were a "major victory for Satan".<ref name=":0" /><ref name="nameofchurch">Russell M. Nelson, [https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/liahona/2018/11/sunday-morning-session/the-correct-name-of-the-church?lang=eng "The Correct Name of the Church"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210125203445/https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/liahona/2018/11/sunday-morning-session/the-correct-name-of-the-church?lang=eng |date=2021-01-25 }}, ''[[Liahona (magazine)|Liahona]]'', November 2018.</ref><ref name="membersoffendjesus" /> The church followed up with a major renaming, with its websites at lds.org and mormon.org merged to a new website at churchofjesuschrist.org; the [[Mormon Tabernacle Choir]] becoming the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square, and the church-affiliated publishing house [[Deseret Book]] began phasing out book titles that used the word "Mormon".<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Dias |first1=Elizabeth |date=29 June 2019 |title='Mormon' No More: Faithful Reflect on Church's Move to Scrap a Moniker |newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/29/us/mormon-church-name-change.html |access-date=22 March 2021 |archive-date=24 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210124035224/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/29/us/mormon-church-name-change.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

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 |date=August 18, 2018 |title=Latter Day Saints church leader rejects 'Mormon' label |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-45236892 |access-date=19 August 2018 |archive-date=19 August 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=":1" /><ref name=":6">{{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=2023-04-20 |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=":1" /> The 2018 style guide rejects the term Mormons along with "Mormon Church", "Mormonism", and the abbreviation LDS.<ref name=":1" />

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=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> The term Mormon also causes concern for church leaders because it has been used to include groups such as the [[Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints]] who continued to practice [[Polygamy in Christianity|polygamy]] after the [[Second Manifesto]] of 1904. 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=":0" />

In some countries, ''Mormon'' and some phrases including the term are [[registered trademark]]s owned by [[Intellectual Reserve]], a holding company for the LDS Church's [[intellectual property]].<ref>For example, ''Mormon Tabernacle Choir'' is registered as United States Federal TM Reg. No. 2766231, and ''Mormon'' is registered in the [[European Community]] serial number EC004306701, registered July 6, 2006</ref> In the United States, the LDS Church has applied for a trademark on ''Mormon'' as applied to religious services; however, the [[United States Patent and Trademark Office]] rejected the application, stating that the term ''Mormon'' was too generic, and is popularly understood as referring to a particular kind of church, similar to ''[[Presbyterian]]'' or ''[[Methodist]]'', rather than a service mark.<ref>[http://tmportal.uspto.gov/external/PA_1_0_LT/OpenServletWindow?serialNumber=78161091&scanDate=2005110155650&DocDesc=Offc+Action+Outgoing&docType=OOA&currentPage=1&rowNum=11&rowCount=33&formattedDate=01-Nov-2005 Office Action, November 1, 2005].  {{dead link|date=June 2016|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> The application was abandoned as of August 22, 2007.<ref>[http://tarr.uspto.gov/servlet/tarr?regser=serial&entry=78161091 Federal TM Ser. No. 78161091] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070904232239/http://tarr.uspto.gov/servlet/tarr?regser=serial&entry=78161091 |date=2007-09-04 }}: "Current Status: Abandoned after an ex parte appeal. Date of Status: 2007-08-22"</ref>  In all, Intellectual Reserve owns more than 60 trademarks related to the term ''Mormon''.

Despite the LDS Church's position, the terms Mormon and LDS in 2023 remain widely used both inside and outside the church to refer to members of the main church and "Fundamentalist Mormon" or "Fundamentalist LDS" to refer to members of fundamentalist splinter groups.<ref name=":6" /><ref name=":1" /><ref name=":0" />