LDS Church wrestling 'Mormon' with polygamist groups

The LDS Church is responding to criticism from a coalition of polygamist groups that aren't happy about information the church published to distance itself from the FLDS sect in Texas.

The coalition, called Principle Voices, complains its members want to use the moniker "fundamentalist Mormon" to describe themselves and their religious heritage. It believes the LDS Church is trying to deprive it of the freedom to choose its own name.

The LDS Church's response, published in the newsroom section of its Web site, LDS.org, follows:

 On 26 June, Newsroom published a package of information featuring profiles

of ordinary Latter-day Saints in Texas. With no other intention but to define

themselves, these members provided a tangible depiction of what their faith is

all about. They serve as the best distinction between the lifestyles and values

of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and a Texas-based polygamous

group that has recently attracted media attention.

In an apparent misunderstanding of the

aim of this Newsroom package, a coalition of polygamous groups expressed its

opposition in a press release to what it described as the Salt Lake City-based

Church’s "efforts to deprive us and others of the freedom to name and describe

ourselves by terms of our own choosing." The general term they prefer to be

known by is "Mormon fundamentalist."

This is perfectly understandable from

the standpoint of seeking the religious legitimacy that the word "Mormon"

grants. But from the organizational, doctrinal, historical and cultural

standpoint of the mainstream Church, that term has long resided, in the public's

mind, within The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, headquartered in

Salt Lake City, Utah. Distinctions matter, especially when a term like Mormon

has come to mean a very specific thing to the public. Mormon is commonly used to