The generic public face of LDS Mormonism

[drumdude]

It seems like as each year passes, the Salt Lake church tries harder and harder to seem as generically Christian as possible.

Check out the main website:

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/comeuntochrist

What is the purpose of this bait and switch tactic? Why do they want to seem like a generic Christian religion rather than lean into their unique qualities? The Book of Mormon, for example, is only mentioned at the very bottom of the web page.

Is this weird to any of you who grew up in the church in earlier years?

[huckelberry]

Tongue in cheek, yes I remember accompanying the missionaries to visit,we would don fake horns on our heads and ask at the door, would you folks like to become Mormons and baptize the dead?

I remember as a young Mormon thinking Jesus was the center of the church. I do not see any thing wrong with the presentation you link to, though I think in the past the idea of apostasy and true church might come up a little sooner.

I am unsure of what generic Christianity is. I am inclined to doubt whether far left or far right versions of Christanity qualify as valid.

[drumdude]

Tongue in cheek, yes I remember accompanying the missionaries to visit,we would don fake horns on our heads and ask at the door, would you folks like to become Mormons and baptize the dead?

I remember as a young Mormon thinking Jesus was the center of the church. I do not see any thing wrong with the presentation you link to, though I think in the past the idea of apostasy and true church might come up a little sooner.

I am unsure of what generic Christianity is. I am inclined to doubt whether far left or far right versions of Christanity qualify as valid.

Point well taken. I suppose in regards to the question about defining generic Christianity - I would say a test might be to show a non-Mormon the LDS website and ask them which denomination they think the website is for.

The website for the Catholic Church in Rome, for example, prominently shows the Pope and a coat of arms.

The LDS website currently shows a stock photo of a smiling young woman hugging an older lady. Which church that website belongs to could be anyone’s guess.

Why is the church so afraid to proudly feature Moroni, the Prophet, the LDS Salt lake temple, and other distinctive branding features to visitors?

[malkie]

On a totally unrelated note, it's very important to remember, and to tell everyone, that we're not Mormons, or even LDS: we're members of the Church of Jesus Christ. Nothing generic about that, right?

So we should be talking about the public face of the Church of Jesus Christ Church of Jesus Christ-ism.

[Moksha]

Why do they want to seem like a generic Christian religion rather than lean into their unique qualities?

They realize that Joseph Smith made up the whole Mormon faith and they needed a less crumbly foundation on which to have a church. Information on the history of Joseph Smith and his church is so pervasive on the Net, that it would take pure concentrated imbecility to not have it eventually affect members.

[Sophocles]

They did something similar with their TV commercials in the 70s/80s/90s. They were well-produced spots but focused solely on generic family values, nothing unique to Mormonism at all.

I remember watching those as a kid and vaguely thinking that I've never actually had a lesson at church that was anything like those commercials. Sure, the commercials reflected my values and aspirations, but it's not like church actually taught us how to build strong family relationships or anything. It was always just implied that if we followed all the rules these strong happy families would somehow emerge as a result.

I think that's always been their marketing strategy, present as normal and save the weird stuff until people are well invested.