User:BenMcLean/naming

=User:BenMcLean/naming=
 * This is an old proposal that has since been mostly adopted by Wikipedia in most of it's essentials. See: Naming conventions (Latter Day Saints)

These are my proposed modificaitons to Naming conventions (Mormonism).

=Reasons for changes=

Ancient Mormonism
For believers in the Book of Mormon, the term "ancient Mormonism" would apply to anyone who followed the teachings of Mormon (prophet) during his lifetime.

Historical Mormonism
Historical Mormonism is simply the belief that the Book of Mormon is true. From the publication of the Book of Mormon until the death of Joseph Smith Jr. in 1844, the term "Historical Mormon" could be correctly applied to all members of the Latter Day Saint movement, and "Historical Mormonism" to their beliefs.

Contemporary Mormonism
After the death of Joseph Smith Jr., a major schism or series of schisms occured in the Latter Day Saint movement, seperating it into Mormonist and non-Mormonist camps. The term "Brighamite" may be accurate but is offensive to some Mormons and the term "Mormon" is not accurate in describing and has become very offensive to some Josephites).

Since the late 1840s, the terms "Mormon" and "Mormonism" came to refer only to those groups of Latter Day Saints that followed Brigham Young's leadership as a prophet. This includes the LDS and the FLDS churches, but does not include many other Latter Day Saint denomionations.

Particularly, members of the Community of Christ and the Restoration Branches object very strongly to being called "Mormons" because of the new meaning of the term. Many people consider themselves to be Latter Day Saints but not to be Mormons - thus, their beliefs cannot be correctly described as "Mormonism". The term "Mormonism" implies belief in some of the essential doctrines of the Mormon church, which are rejected by many Latter Day Saints outside that church.

Thus, it is possible to believe in the Book of Mormon without being a Mormon or believing in Mormonism.

Wikipedia's definition
Wikipedia's coverage of Latter Day Saint issues tends to confuse ancient, historical and contemporary Mormonism, mostly because contributors from the Mormon church tend to outnumber contributors from the other groups, and often do not recognize (or in some cases, even know about) issues relating to the schism(s).

Wikipedia ought to organize Latter Day Saint groups according to this hiearchy:


 * Christianity
 * Restorationism (a doctrinal group within Christianity)
 * Latter Day Saintism / Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (historical) / Mormons (historical) (referring to the church from 1830 to 1844)
 * Mormonism / Mormons (a doctrinal group within Latter Day Saintism)
 * LDS / The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (a church reorganized by Brigham Young that believes in Mormonism)
 * FLDS
 * Other Brighamite / Utah Mormon groups
 * RLDS / Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (ought to distinguish between the historical/traditional RLDS and the current Community of Christ)
 * Community of Christ
 * Restoration Branches
 * Remnant Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
 * Restoration Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
 * Other RLDS groups
 * Temple Lot church
 * Other Latter Day Saint groups

Actions that need to be taken

 * First, the page should be called Wikipedia:Naming conventions (Latter Day Saintism).
 * Article names that do not deal specifically with the Mormon church should have the {Mormonism} paranthesis changed to "(Latter Day Saints)"
 * The term "Mormon" should not be used to describe groups that do not describe themselves as Mormon.
 * RLDS members are not Mormons.
 * Community of Christ members are not Mormons.
 * Restoration Branches members are not Mormons.
 * The term "Mormonism" should not be used to describe the beliefs of groups that are not Mormon.