LDS Freedom Forum

"We realized that adding six words to our name would not be ideal for the media, but, as President Nelson foretold, “responsible media will be sympathetic in responding to our request.” Thank you for extending to us the same consideration given cultural, athletic, political, or community organizations by using our preferred name."

Kind of like preferred pronouns?


I think most members are adults and understand what the real name of the church is, and that we can charitably remind others of it. But we also understand the reality that "Mormon" is not going away any time soon.

I tried the "never use Mormon" approach on my mission and I had a lot of people bewildered. When I finally mentioned that we are sometimes nick-named "Mormons", I had more success. It was also a great conversation starter about the Book of Mormon. I really, honestly cannot understand why this is such a big deal.

Elder Anderson came across practically as a bully to me in this talk. Not to mention how strange it was that he even felt this topic merited an entire GC talk to begin with when we are facing so many other catastrophes around the world. His topic choice says a lot about him.

These men often seem completely out of touch with reality at times. Elder Holland's talk a few weeks ago at BYU also underscores the seeming cluelessness as well. This wasn't always the case, past prophets often talked a lot about the topics of the day, ie Benson against Communism, Hinckley against gay marriage, etc.

I don't think the Q12 and FP are only doing this to avoid controversy, I think it's more than that. I think they are genuinely clueless about certain things going on. Do they even know Antifa burned down half of our cities last years? Do they know about the border being wide open? Do they realize tens of thousands of Americans are being fired for refusing the vaccine? I don't know, but I certainly do not feel guided or comforted by them. They seem more cold and aloof than ever.

I saw numerous headlines on mainstream media that started off with “Mormon President says.....” “Mormon Conference held....” “Mormons hear from leaders....”.

They are not buying into the silliness.

Christ actually taught us how to deal with this in Matthew 16

"13 When Jesus came into the coasts of Cæsarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?
14 And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets.
15 He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?
16 And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.
17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.
18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
19 And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
20 Then charged he his disciples that they should tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ."

The lesson here is that those who know Christ and his disciples will know it by the power of God, through revelation. Christ gathers his sheep out of the world by invitation. He only wants those who know and accept truth and he does not want to win popularity contests.

In fact Christ hid his message and identity in parables so only the faithful would know him. He kept silent in front of the Romans and avoided worldly places. He in fact did not want the world to know him.

Elder Anderson and RMN in contrast want the church to be popular and accepted by the world instead of beckoning solely to those who are ready to believe. They want to appear before worldly organizations to be seen as one of them as generic "faith leaders". They constantly call us "global citizens" and refer to everyone as a "child of God" instead of only those who are born again in Christ.

The truth is that the Kingdom of God is not even known among the world at all. It doesn't use advertising and paywalls to access it and it is hidden and quietly finding converts among all people.

This is why I say we will be shocked at who we meet in the Millenium. Most will probably be people we've never even heard of before. The cool kids will take a back seat.

I see it as political correctness as well. It's like saying A-fri-can A-me-ri-can instead of black. Being so pedantic about minor terms like this is a form of thought control. It turns us from normal humans into automatons walking on eggshells about what the latest acceptable euphemism on a given subject is. And it teaches us to be offended for no reason.

OPMissionary wrote: ↑October 6th, 2021, 4:24 pm I see it as political correctness as well. It's like saying A-fri-can A-me-ri-can instead of black. Being so pedantic about minor terms like this is a form of thought control. It turns us from normal humans into automatons walking on eggshells about what the latest acceptable euphemism on a given subject is. And it teaches us to be offended for no reason.

There was a school shooting near me today. I’m in TX. The first article I read about it said the shooter was Black. I was pleased they were clear in the description, and also didn’t go for Af-American, as I don’t know many people who have even been to Africa.

Lizzy60 wrote: ↑October 6th, 2021, 4:32 pm

OPMissionary wrote: ↑October 6th, 2021, 4:24 pm I see it as political correctness as well. It's like saying A-fri-can A-me-ri-can instead of black. Being so pedantic about minor terms like this is a form of thought control. It turns us from normal humans into automatons walking on eggshells about what the latest acceptable euphemism on a given subject is. And it teaches us to be offended for no reason.

There was a school shooting near me today. I’m in TX. The first article I read about it said the shooter was Black. I was pleased they were clear in the description, and also didn’t go for Af-American, as I don’t know many people who have even been to Africa.

I heard about that. Given the identity of the shooter I expect it will be memory holed soon enough.

Lizzy60 wrote: ↑October 6th, 2021, 4:32 pm

OPMissionary wrote: ↑October 6th, 2021, 4:24 pm I see it as political correctness as well. It's like saying A-fri-can A-me-ri-can instead of black. Being so pedantic about minor terms like this is a form of thought control. It turns us from normal humans into automatons walking on eggshells about what the latest acceptable euphemism on a given subject is. And it teaches us to be offended for no reason.

There was a school shooting near me today. I’m in TX. The first article I read about it said the shooter was Black. I was pleased they were clear in the description, and also didn’t go for Af-American, as I don’t know many people who have even been to Africa.

Ironically, Obama is African-American, he just isn't very African American.

Niemand wrote: ↑October 7th, 2021, 10:13 am

Lizzy60 wrote: ↑October 6th, 2021, 4:32 pm

OPMissionary wrote: ↑October 6th, 2021, 4:24 pm I see it as political correctness as well. It's like saying A-fri-can A-me-ri-can instead of black. Being so pedantic about minor terms like this is a form of thought control. It turns us from normal humans into automatons walking on eggshells about what the latest acceptable euphemism on a given subject is. And it teaches us to be offended for no reason.

There was a school shooting near me today. I’m in TX. The first article I read about it said the shooter was Black. I was pleased they were clear in the description, and also didn’t go for Af-American, as I don’t know many people who have even been to Africa.

Ironically, Obama is African-American, he just isn't very African American.

He's half white; half Indonesian/black?

After serving a four-year mission in the Hawaiian Islands, from 1854 to 1857, young Joseph F. Smith began his long journey home to Utah. He boated across the Pacific Ocean to San Francisco, then slowly began his journey by foot with a small company of Latter-day Saints.

One day when the company had stopped to camp and rest, a group of troublemakers came storming through. Most of the men ran and hid, but Joseph decided he had nothing to be afraid of, so he continued the task of piling firewood in the camp. As he did so, one of the men approached him with a pistol, declaring that it was his duty to exterminate every Mormon he came in contact with. As he pointed his pistol at Joseph, he demanded, “Are you a Mormon?”

Without fear or hesitation, Joseph answered, “Yes siree; dyed in the wool; true blue, through and through.”

The man was so startled by the courage of young Joseph F. Smith that he dropped his pistol and said, “Well, you are the [expletive deleted] pleasantest man I ever met! Shake, young fellow, I am glad to see a man that stands up for his convictions.” The man rode off, with the others following behind (Joseph Fielding Smith, Life of Joseph F. Smith, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1938, 189).

I told a church member that he wasn’t Mormon back in 1998 and there is no such thing as the “Mormon church”. He didn’t realize I was LDS until I gave him time to think.

I wish the Q15 would talk about our lord and savior more then their fearless leader. I think you guys are missing the

This is really simple.

It refocuses the conversation on Jesus Christ.

so many of the next doubling of the church size will come from areas where people do not know anything about Jesus Christ. They havent had their ministers preach against the church. They have essentially zero exposure. So what should disciples of Jesus Christ be in good practice of doing? Testifying of Jesus Christ and his church.

For those that do have exposure to Jesus Christ and some preconceived notions in their mind about his church, this allows members to refocus the conversation on Jesus Christ and provides them an opportunity to boldly testify of Him.

The examples given in the talk are great.

The more we focus on Jesus Christ the better.

Bronco73idi wrote: ↑October 7th, 2021, 2:07 pm I told a church member that he wasn’t Mormon back in 1998 and there is no such thing as the “Mormon church”. He didn’t realize I was LDS until I gave him time to think.

I wish the Q15 would talk about our lord and savior more then their fearless leader. I think you guys are missing the

There is no such thing as Bronco73idi either. Just some name generated by a website. This must be a bot post.

Language is created by people who use it, not by a copyright or a lawyer or a text book.

Interesting thing about the church name. When Nelson gave the same talk in conference back in the 80s I believe. The subsequent conference Hinckley retconned it. Hinckley talked about how “mormon meant ‘more good’. I believe it stems from Joseph saying as much.

If it really is such a big deal, I thought about how Jesus said none is good but God. If you want to play with your knowledge of the scriptures you can then say well, the Mormon church must mean “God’s Church”.

At the end of the day though, there are so many more issues going on with the church the least of its worries should be it’s name or nickname. We should be more concerned about which gospel is being taught.

Anderson’s talk this conference was just a waste of time as he was parroting Nelson, and also playing the corporate game of over the top flattery to Nelson. It’s a shame, because Anderson’s April talk was probably the only one worth listening to in Aprils conference.

They're more interested in making sure the media gets our name right than calling out the corruption and censorship in the press.

The fact that they care at all what the press thinks of us is a major red flag.

If we are going to be strict with the name of the church then we need to be careful with our other terminology.

Saints instead of members.
Church instead of meeting house.
Consecrate instead of set-apart.
Prphet instead of president.

TrueFaith wrote: ↑October 7th, 2021, 4:16 pm

Bronco73idi wrote: ↑October 7th, 2021, 2:07 pm I told a church member that he wasn’t Mormon back in 1998 and there is no such thing as the “Mormon church”. He didn’t realize I was LDS until I gave him time to think.

I wish the Q15 would talk about our lord and savior more then their fearless leader. I think you guys are missing the

There is no such thing as Bronco73idi either. Just some name generated by a website. This must be a bot post.

Language is created by people who use it, not by a copyright or a lawyer or a text book.

You are correct, what did Paul say?

Thank god I did not baptize you.

That was his response to this topic.

The implication is that somethings ARE negotiable.

HeberC wrote: ↑October 7th, 2021, 6:58 pm The implication is that somethings ARE negotiable.

Like what goes on in temples.

“What’s in a name…?”

What does “Thechurchofjesuschristoflatterdaysaints” mean? About as many different things as people you ask.

Reminds me of this (or vice versa)…

• Wales is actually home to a town called Llanfairpwllgwyngyll-gogerychwyrndrobwlllllandysiliogogogoch, which translates as “St. Mary’s Church in the hollow of the white hazel near a rapid whirlpool and the Church of St. Tysilio near the cave.”

^Traditions can be healthy or not.

Well...

There was CERTAINLY negotiation with the United Nations. If you look at the 2018 "Annual Report of the United Nations Inter-Agency Task Force on Engaging Faith-Based Actors for Sustainable Development", where the church is a FULL BLOWN member of the "Advisory Council", the name of the church appears as:

Church of Latter Day Saints/LDS

Can't be talking that Jesus stuff with the globalist UN...

The Red Pill wrote: ↑February 25th, 2022, 11:37 am Well...

There was CERTAINLY negotiation with the United Nations. If you look at the 2018 "Annual Report of the United Nations Inter-Agency Task Force on Engaging Faith-Based Actors for Sustainable Development", where the church is a FULL BLOWN member of the "Advisory Council", the name of the church appears as:

Church of Latter Day Saints/LDS

Can't be talking that Jesus stuff with the globalist UN...

That’s fine to them. Just don’t say or write Mormon. Maybe they’ll change the name of the Book of Mormon next. The book of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

Dave62 wrote: ↑October 7th, 2021, 5:34 pm If we are going to be strict with the name of the church then we need to be careful with our other terminology.

Saints instead of members.
Church instead of meeting house.
Consecrate instead of set-apart.
Prphet instead of president.

Is not a seer, greater than a prophet.

Where do they fit in the big picture?

Thinker wrote: ↑February 25th, 2022, 10:59 am “What’s in a name…?”

What does “Thechurchofjesuschristoflatterdaysaints” mean? About as many different things as people you ask.

Reminds me of this (or vice versa)…

• Wales is actually home to a town called Llanfairpwllgwyngyll-gogerychwyrndrobwlllllandysiliogogogoch, which translates as “St. Mary’s Church in the hollow of the white hazel near a rapid whirlpool and the Church of St. Tysilio near the cave.”

^Traditions can be healthy or not.

I would like to point out the locals call it variously Llanfair P.G., Llanfairpwll and more occasionally Llanfairpwllgwyngyll without the rest... The long form is just for the tourists and the local soccer club (which only has it to get in the Guinness Book of Records). I was there last October visiting some one. I have one or two acquaintances who live there. It's a genuinely nice wee village. (I was taught how to say the long version by Welsh people - it's my party trick.)

New Zealand has Taumatawhakatangi­hangakoauauotamatea­turipukakapikimaunga­horonukupokaiwhen­uakitanatahu, which is a small hill and puts Llanfair PG in the shade a bit. No, I don't have that one memorised.

Llanfair (in English phonetics approx. "Hlanvire") just means "Mary's Church", or maybe "St. Mary's" in more idiomatic English, and is one of the most common names in Wales. I suppose that's a bit like like "Church of Christ", "Church of Jesus Christ" etc being some of the most common names for denominations- it's the other bit the "LDS", which distinguishes it from them, just like the rest of that Welsh name whether it's PG or the long form which distinguishes it from dozens of other Llanfairs.

Agree about traditions. I think some are good and makes us who we are, despite globalism trying to destroy them.

Well... I'm a Mormon and am quite happy to remain so.

Niemand wrote: ↑February 26th, 2022, 3:36 am

Thinker wrote: ↑February 25th, 2022, 10:59 am“What’s in a name…?”

What does “Thechurchofjesuschristoflatterdaysaints” mean? About as many different things as people you ask.

Reminds me of this (or vice versa)…

• Wales is actually home to a town called Llanfairpwllgwyngyll-gogerychwyrndrobwlllllandysiliogogogoch, which translates as “St. Mary’s Church in the hollow of the white hazel near a rapid whirlpool and the Church of St. Tysilio near the cave.”

^Traditions can be healthy or not.

I would like to point out the locals call it variously Llanfair P.G., Llanfairpwll and more occasionally Llanfairpwllgwyngyll without the rest... The long form is just for the tourists and the local soccer club (which only has it to get in the Guinness Book of Records). I was there last October visiting some one. I have one or two acquaintances who live there. It's a genuinely nice wee village. (I was taught how to say the long version by Welsh people - it's my party trick.)

New Zealand has Taumatawhakatangi­hangakoauauotamatea­turipukakapikimaunga­horonukupokaiwhen­uakitanatahu, which is a small hill and puts Llanfair PG in the shade a bit. No, I don't have that one memorised.

Llanfair (in English phonetics approx. "Hlanvire") just means "Mary's Church", or maybe "St. Mary's" in more idiomatic English, and is one of the most common names in Wales. I suppose that's a bit like like "Church of Christ", "Church of Jesus Christ" etc being some of the most common names for denominations- it's the other bit the "LDS", which distinguishes it from them, just like the rest of that Welsh name whether it's PG or the long form which distinguishes it from dozens of other Llanfairs.

Agree about traditions. I think some are good and makes us who we are, despite globalism trying to destroy them.

Nice party trick!
Cool that you’ve been there. I looked it up - looks relatively close to Liverpool which I visited. The countryside looked beautiful.