They're not Mormons? Really?

Our copy editor Ward Triplett caught this correction on the LAT-Washington Post wire service Friday:

A Los Angeles Times (story) about the HBO series “Big Love” referred to the character of Bill Henrickson as “a semi-closeted Mormon entrepreneur” with three wives. The Henricksons are not Mormons. Their faith is based on “the Principle of Plural Marriage” and has led them to become inactive with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

My first thought was that this was the work of a PR official for the LDS Church, who persuaded a non-churchgoing wire editor to run a correction, kind of like the people who take out ads in journalism magazines to remind you that unless it's actual Kleenex, please call it something else.

Then again, it may have just been a reader, like this one who wrote in to the Concord (N.H.) Monitor when the same story ran in its pages last week:

When referring to people or organizations that practice polygamy, the terms Mormons, Mormon fundamentalist, (and) Mormon dissidents, are incorrect. The Associated Press Stylebook notes: "The term Mormon is not properly applied to the other churches that resulted from the split after (Joseph) Smith's death."

The question of how to correctly use the term Mormon was addressed in a 2006 Church Public Affairs commentary piece, "Use of the Word Mormon in News Reports." The following is an excerpt from the article:

"In the public mind, the word Mormon has come to mean something very specific. It conjures up images of Mormon missionaries on bikes, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Mormon temples. It has become a synonym for members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Later-day Saints. Consequently, when Mormon is used the describe polygamist groups, it causes great confusion about our beliefs among the general public and frustration to our members, which number over 12 million worldwide."

At the very least, though, the LDS hierarchy deserves at least an assist for this widely-published correction. After all, the church's marketing arm has spent decades producing pro-family TV ads with the same tagline ("THE MORMONS") laying claim, more or less of the exclusive kind, to the M-word.

In fact, however, there are splinter groups, including the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, that also call themselves "Mormons." Most of these groups are in Utah and their members at least believe in polygamy, even if they choose not to practice it. Both daily newspapers in Salt Lake City ran a story about a recent census of these groups, and both papers flouted AP style and referred to them as "fundamentalist Mormons." At least one web site refers to fundamentalism as "true Mormonism" -- a claim that will ring true to every mainline Protestant who knows anything about fundamentalists in their own branch of Christianity.

Of course, there are only 37,000 of these Mormons at last count, most of them live quietly away from urban areas (Juniper Creek, perhaps?), and they don't appear to have a public relations office.

Anyway, the "Big Love" season finale is tonight on HBO.