Ghana again
Ghana web has a new article up, this time with some good news: "Latter Day Saints donates books to Accra City Campus."(sic) Note however, that "Mormon" is nowhere to be seen in the article. When they Mormon-bash, they "Mormon"-bash, not "Latter-day Saint"-bash. Is this a deliberate muddying of the waters? Or does it strike at the heart of the branding problem that Professor Decoo often decries? Most people have a sense as to who "Mormons" are. Only a few link Mormons with Latter-day Saints. A friend of mine talks about the Latter-day Saint church where he sometimes parks his car (very naughty). He had no idea until I told him that it was the "Mormon Church." And that is here in America. It is this reality that gave birth to www.mormon.org. Mormons should continue to reclaim their own moniker: public relations demands it. |
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Funnily, this was my experience as an investigator. I'd grown up having the occasional 'Mormon' friend, seen the 'Mormon' missionaries around (and sometimes gave them a bit of grief -- sorry 'bout that), and occasionally seen the 'Mormon' church cast in a less than flattering light on the news.
When I met this nice girl, a member of the LDS church, and started going out with her I drew no connection between her church the 'Mormons'. It wasn't until a while into our relationship, and my first contacts with the Church as an investigator, that I realized they were one and the same.
Posted by Pat Eyler
Well, Pat, that sounds pretty normal. Isn't this troubling?
Posted by Ronan
Yeah, it is. When I first mention the Chuch, I tend to state the full name, mention that it's also called the 'LDS' or 'Mormon' church, then go on to use the latter two terms for the rest of the conversation.
One thing that I like about using the full name is that it underscores the importance of Jesus Christ to us. In my experience, people seem a bit more willing to accept (or at least suspend disbelief) during our conversations. Is it a branding problem, probably. Do I have a solution, only in my own little world.
Completely unrelated note -- I've got to share a parking story. I ended up parking in an LDS chapel's parking lot in Orem the other week. I didn't realize that it wasn't part of a Park and Ride, and got stuck with a ticket. The week before, I parked (by invitation) in an institute building's parking lot (not in Utah). They too had controlled parking, but I liked their method a lot more -- they had a sign which read "Parking for Institute classes only. Violators will be proselyted."
Posted by Pate Eyler
Thanks for quoting me, Ronan!
You're right, when Ghana News has controversial things to mention, like here and here, it's about Mormons. But the problem is probably more with our own PR which continue to avoid the word "Mormon" whenever they have a positive story to tell like the one you mention. No doubt they helped "post" it. That fosters the dichotomy in the minds of people: Mormon = bad / LDS = good. But Mormon gets much much more attention and gets quoted much more often. Hence the need to tie our historic brand name all the good we represent.
Posted by Wilfried Decoo
Here today, Ghana tomorrow.
Posted by Brent