ldsfaqs wrote:The "Guideline" is objectively true because first Mormons didn't create it, and second the other sects ALSO have their own designations.
Yes, they have their own designations, and
they have asked the media to call them "fundamentalist Mormons":
Principal Voices wrote:The Principle Voices Coalition has learned that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has sent a letter to media outlets asking that the term “fundamentalist Mormon” not be used. In the recent past, the Church has insisted that we instead be defined as “polygamous sects”, even though most of us are not (and do not refer to ourselves as) polygamists.
We strenuously object to any efforts to deprive us and others of the freedom to name and describe ourselves by terms of our own choosing. Fundamentalist Mormons have been referred to by that name since the 1930s, often by the Church itself. We are proud of our Mormon heritage. Plural marriage is only one of the tenets of our religion, the Gospel of Jesus Christ as restored through Joseph Smith.
Ironically, the LDS Church has been justifiably uncomfortable with repeated assertions by members of some Christian denominations that Latter-day Saints are not Christians. In many ways, we consider ourselves to be adherents to Mormonism (and Christianity) no less than were Joseph Smith, Brigham Young and John Taylor. What distinguishes us from the modern, mainstream Church is that we have endeavored to observe the original, fundamental precepts of the restored Gospel, while the Church itself has, since the early 1900s, repudiated several of them.
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The Principle Voices Coalition – contact: Anne Wilde
The Apostolic United Brethren – contact: David Dye
The Davis County Cooperative Society – contact: Carlene Cannon
The Work of Jesus Christ (Centennial Park) – contact: Marlyne Hammon
and numerous independent fundamentalist Mormons
I don't know how the Associated Press's book of guidelines came about, but its incorrect when it asks reporters not to call other LDS groups "Mormon." "Fundamentalist Mormon" is what many of those groups self-identify as and what they want to be called. Other non-polygamous groups such as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (i. e. Strangite church) also self-identify as "Mormon." If it's bigotry to refuse to grant someone a label that they self-identify as, then the LDS church should not encourage such bigotry.
Although personally, I don't think such contention involving labels is automatically bigoted. I think its fair game for one group to polemically contend that another group does not meet the label they wish to apply to themselves. That may include Mormons arguing that fundamentalist groups are not "Mormon" as well as Christian groups arguing that Mormons are not "Christians." It's
Mormon Voices that really got it wrong.