Your Compartmentalization of "Mormonism" Has Sucked the Christ Out of It, As Accused

We all do it. We lose focus. We lose clarity.

 

We lose the sense of the purpose and reality of things.

 

No one is to blame, in particular. It is human nature to fall in these paths. 

We all share the blame: I am pointing fingers at me and you and every other person who walks down the street, even the ones buried long ago.

We all compartmentalize, but we all generalize, and we mess up one hundred and a thousand ways in between.

We like to --often have to-- compartmentalize things into easier heuristics in order make life easier, saving time and breathe, space and effort. This happens in names and nomenclature.

Mormon and Mormonism works faster, cuter, more convenient, and academically more "in the know" than Latter-Day Saint or the clunkier and more faith derived full title: Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, the official name and the one that the currently appointed mouthpiece, President  Russell M. Nelson, has requested all of us to use and refer to.

The nickname and identity Mormon is not going away, despite many efforts by earnest members and others, especially from those who wish not to invoke the name of the person or personage in whom the members themselves believe is at the root and foundation of the faith. Calling it the Church of Jesus Christ is too religious or effacing for some to consider. There are secular pedants as well as Christian dogmatists who fall sway to this pattern. Ironically, some use the name of Jesus when many consider it profane or vain, as an epithet or invective, disrespectfully, while omit it when called for by those that claim God's authority, such as leadership from this particular denomination, as a sign of respect and honor for a holy person, or The Person of persons.

What's more, within the very faith there are plenty of us who do not follow the Prophet's counsel to use His name more appropriately. In short, we overuse and abuse the nickname Mormon.

There has been a large concerted effort to change it, even with the world famous former Mormon Tabernacle Choir changing its name. Now it is the Choir at the Tabernacle, or something harder for me to learn.

Anyway, anyhow, some say names and nicknames do not matter that much in the scheme of  things, yet self-definitions and identities do end up meaning things in the way that they are described and uttered, and have their impacts internally and externally. Branding and marketing, some might call it. It matters a great deal to some, especially when those assigned such appellations or nicknames and those self-identified are trying to define or redefine the narrative.

For some of it, it is taking the Christ out of the equation. Jesus Christ, the ultimate purveyor in the ultimate question of power and authority, the actual reason of whether it all matters in the end, according to Christian theology, eschatology, and teleology.

Which for many, is the whole point.

Is this faith that was restored, or founded, or assembled by Joseph Smith, Jr. in the 1820s and 1830s, simply another religious movement that has high demands and bold claims that will amount to another movement of zealotry and amounts to nothing of which it predicts and prophesies?

 

Perhaps.

 

Time will tell if it was worth all the hyperbole or not. Because no one knows at present knows if this is all true or fiction. However, those who reverence the name of Jesus of Nazareth, the point is real whether He is who He is or not. Tread with caution no matter the outcome.

 

For now, we are careful to try not to be bigoted or insensitive to those who consider their faith and the identity or name of their form or worship sacred. 

Religious people are people too, and have feelings that can be hurt. Which, the non-religious understand what it is like to be condemned or accused of being wrong or immoral, without proper values.

I guess we need to call each other as we like, in the end.

Which is hard to do a lot of the time. For many reasons. It is hard to know how to refer to people and communicate names. Even within ourselves, one to another.

Also, on a moderate note, labeling oneself or other "Mormon" does not always take away from the majesty and respect of the Savior, the Son of God, the Promised Messiah. Sometimes it may even draw fire and angst from His name. 

There are many angles to this issue; we all take part in our and others' identity.

Actions will be a large part (or largest part) of our ultimate legacy, not the words and names. But words and labels start and end much of the discussion.

Alpha and Omega.