Jack Mormon
Encyclopedia
The term Jack Mormon is a slang
term originating in nineteenth-century America. It was originally used to describe a person who was not a baptized member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints but who was friendly to Church members and Mormonism
, sympathized with them, and/or took an active interest in their belief system. Sometime in the early- to mid-twentieth century, however, the term began to refer to an individual deemed by adherents of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) to be an inactive or lapsed member of the LDS Church who, despite his personal religious viewpoint, maintained good relations with and positive feelings toward the LDS Church.
, editor
of the Warsaw Signal
, who referred to "A certain Jack-mormon of Hancock county..." Sharp also coined the term "Jack-Mason" to refer to those who were sympathetic toward Masons
in the Anti-Masonic political movement. These sympathetic non-Mormons included Nauvoo Justice of the Peace Daniel H. Wells
, who later joined the church, and soldier and diplomat Thomas L. Kane
. Kane was identified as a sympathetic Jack Mormon by US Army officials and the media, some of whom asserted that he had been secretly baptised into the LDS faith. However friendly toward the LDS people, Kane remained a Presbyterian all of his life.
Several LDS historians believe that the term was used prior to Sharp's mention, and has ties to sympathetic Democrats in Jackson County
, Missouri
. Their belief is that the term originated in Missouri
, during the Kirtland
period of Latter Day Saint history, circa 1834. When Church members were expelled from Jackson County by a mob, many fled to Clay County, where local citizens, mostly Democrats, were sympathetic and friendly toward the Mormons. These citizens were pejoratively labeled "Jack" Mormons by the antagonistic citizens of Jackson County.
-leaning Democrats until the early 1900s, possibly due to anti-Mormon positions held by the Republican party during the latter half of the 19th Century. However, the church's conservative positions on issues such as civil rights, sexuality, drug use, "family values," and the role of religion in government caused large numbers of previously Democratic Latter-day Saints to shift to the Republican Party
by the late 1970s. In the late 1970s and early 1980s the LDS church took a stand against the Equal Rights Amendment
, and again increased the population's participation in the Republican party. At that time, many members who were registered Democrats were called "Jack Mormons", not as a negative term, but to distinguish them as traditional liberal Democrats. Because of the negative connotation of the term's modern context, this usage was short-lived. An alternative theory and contemporary usage holds that the term refers to a person who is a Mormon in "name only" (as in having a common Mormon surname) as though the "Mormon" label were nothing but a surname to this individual.
The term was made popular by heavyweight champion William Harrison "Jack" Dempsey
, born in Manassa, Colorado
, on June 24, 1895. During the 1920s the greatest American sports hero of the day was undoubtedly Babe Ruth; his closest rival was Dempsey, a tough heavyweight boxer from the mining West. Around 1880 an LDS Church missionary
converted his parents and they moved to the Mormon village of Manassa. While his father parted ways with the church, his mother remained a devoted member. Jack would write, "I'm proud to be a Mormon. And ashamed to be the Jack Mormon that I am."
, a "Christmas and Easter Christian" (or based on an adage "Once a Baptist
, Always a Baptist") and a "Yom Kippur Jew" (or sometimes "ethnic Jew").
Some modern LDS youth today use the term to describe a baptized member who chooses not to follow the ethical, moral and cultural guidelines common to Mormons. These guidelines include refraining from profanity and pre-marital sex. Other common cultural limitations include following the Word of Wisdom
by consuming a healthy diet, seeking exercise, and avoiding the use of drugs, tobacco, alcohol, and coffee and tea. Often such individuals are noticeable for public consumption of tobacco
or alcohol
.
It is unclear how or why the meaning of the term changed to its current usage, which is almost the reverse of its original meaning. Preston Nibley
, a mid-20th century LDS author who had a large impact on Mormon culture and folklore, mentioned the term in its modern context during the late 1940s and used it extensively in the 1950s. Today "Jack Mormon" is less commonly used, but using the term is not offensive when said in a self-joking or humorous sense.
in his novel The Monkey Wrench Gang
to describe a character, Seldom Seen Smith, who was a Mormon and had many wives, but was not active in the LDS Church nor its belief system: "Born by chance into membership in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons), Smith was on lifetime sabbatical from his religion. He was a jack Mormon. A jack Mormon is to a decent Mormon what a jackrabbit is to a cottontail."
In the play Angels In America
by Tony Kushner
, the character Harper Pitt identifies herself as a Jack Mormon, and postulates an alternate explanation for the origin of the term: "Like jack rabbit...I ran."
The term is used in its modern meaning by Wallace Stegner
in his 1979 novel Recapitulation, set in Salt Lake City.
Jerry Joseph and the Jackmormons is a popular rock band from Portland, Oregon in the United States.
Jack Mormon Coffee Company is a Salt Lake based coffee roaster, located in the Historic Avenues district.
Slang
Slang is the use of informal words and expressions that are not considered standard in the speaker's language or dialect but are considered more acceptable when used socially. Slang is often to be found in areas of the lexicon that refer to things considered taboo...
term originating in nineteenth-century America. It was originally used to describe a person who was not a baptized member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints but who was friendly to Church members and Mormonism
Mormonism
Mormonism is the religion practiced by Mormons, and is the predominant religious tradition of the Latter Day Saint movement. This movement was founded by Joseph Smith, Jr. beginning in the 1820s as a form of Christian primitivism. During the 1830s and 1840s, Mormonism gradually distinguished itself...
, sympathized with them, and/or took an active interest in their belief system. Sometime in the early- to mid-twentieth century, however, the term began to refer to an individual deemed by adherents of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) to be an inactive or lapsed member of the LDS Church who, despite his personal religious viewpoint, maintained good relations with and positive feelings toward the LDS Church.
Origin of the term
The first publicly recorded use of the term was in 1846 by Thomas C. SharpThomas C. Sharp
Thomas Coke Sharp was a prominent opponent of Joseph Smith, Jr. and the Latter Day Saints in Illinois in the 1840s. Sharp promoted his anti-Mormon views largely through the Warsaw Signal newspaper, of which he was the owner, editor, and publisher...
, editor
Editing
Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, and film media used to convey information through the processes of correction, condensation, organization, and other modifications performed with an intention of producing a correct, consistent, accurate, and complete...
of the Warsaw Signal
Warsaw Signal
The Warsaw Signal was a newspaper edited and published in Warsaw, Illinois during the 1840s and early 1850s. For most of its history, the Signals editorial stance was one of vigorous anti-Mormonism and the advancement of the policies of the Whig Party....
, who referred to "A certain Jack-mormon of Hancock county..." Sharp also coined the term "Jack-Mason" to refer to those who were sympathetic toward Masons
Freemasonry
Freemasonry is a fraternal organisation that arose from obscure origins in the late 16th to early 17th century. Freemasonry now exists in various forms all over the world, with a membership estimated at around six million, including approximately 150,000 under the jurisdictions of the Grand Lodge...
in the Anti-Masonic political movement. These sympathetic non-Mormons included Nauvoo Justice of the Peace Daniel H. Wells
Daniel H. Wells
Daniel Hanmer Wells was an apostle of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the third mayor of Salt Lake City, Utah Territory, United States....
, who later joined the church, and soldier and diplomat Thomas L. Kane
Thomas L. Kane
Thomas Leiper Kane was an American attorney, abolitionist, and military officer who was influential in the western migration of the Latter-day Saint movement and served as a Union Army colonel and general of volunteers in the American Civil War...
. Kane was identified as a sympathetic Jack Mormon by US Army officials and the media, some of whom asserted that he had been secretly baptised into the LDS faith. However friendly toward the LDS people, Kane remained a Presbyterian all of his life.
Several LDS historians believe that the term was used prior to Sharp's mention, and has ties to sympathetic Democrats in Jackson County
Jackson County, Missouri
Jackson County is a county located in the U.S. state of Missouri. With a population of 674,158 in the 2010 census, Jackson County is the second most populous of Missouri's counties, after St. Louis County. Kansas City, the state's most populous city and focus city of the Kansas City Metropolitan...
, Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
. Their belief is that the term originated in Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
, during the Kirtland
Kirtland, Ohio
Kirtland is a city in Lake County, Ohio, USA. The population was 6,670 at the 2000 census. Kirtland is famous for being the early headquarters of the Latter Day Saint movement.-Origins of Kirtland:...
period of Latter Day Saint history, circa 1834. When Church members were expelled from Jackson County by a mob, many fled to Clay County, where local citizens, mostly Democrats, were sympathetic and friendly toward the Mormons. These citizens were pejoratively labeled "Jack" Mormons by the antagonistic citizens of Jackson County.
Political usage
LDS Church membership was made up predominantly of liberalLiberalism
Liberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...
-leaning Democrats until the early 1900s, possibly due to anti-Mormon positions held by the Republican party during the latter half of the 19th Century. However, the church's conservative positions on issues such as civil rights, sexuality, drug use, "family values," and the role of religion in government caused large numbers of previously Democratic Latter-day Saints to shift to the Republican Party
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
by the late 1970s. In the late 1970s and early 1980s the LDS church took a stand against the Equal Rights Amendment
Equal Rights Amendment
The Equal Rights Amendment was a proposed amendment to the United States Constitution. The ERA was originally written by Alice Paul and, in 1923, it was introduced in the Congress for the first time...
, and again increased the population's participation in the Republican party. At that time, many members who were registered Democrats were called "Jack Mormons", not as a negative term, but to distinguish them as traditional liberal Democrats. Because of the negative connotation of the term's modern context, this usage was short-lived. An alternative theory and contemporary usage holds that the term refers to a person who is a Mormon in "name only" (as in having a common Mormon surname) as though the "Mormon" label were nothing but a surname to this individual.
The term was made popular by heavyweight champion William Harrison "Jack" Dempsey
Jack Dempsey
William Harrison "Jack" Dempsey was an American boxer who held the world heavyweight title from 1919 to 1926. Dempsey's aggressive style and exceptional punching power made him one of the most popular boxers in history. Many of his fights set financial and attendance records, including the first...
, born in Manassa, Colorado
Manassa, Colorado
The Town of Manassa is a Statutory Town that is the most populous town in Conejos County, Colorado, United States. With a population of 1,042 at the 2000 census, Manassa is the largest community in Conejos County....
, on June 24, 1895. During the 1920s the greatest American sports hero of the day was undoubtedly Babe Ruth; his closest rival was Dempsey, a tough heavyweight boxer from the mining West. Around 1880 an LDS Church missionary
Missionary (LDS Church)
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is one of the most active modern practitioners of missionary work, with over 52,000 full-time missionaries worldwide, as of the end of 2010...
converted his parents and they moved to the Mormon village of Manassa. While his father parted ways with the church, his mother remained a devoted member. Jack would write, "I'm proud to be a Mormon. And ashamed to be the Jack Mormon that I am."
Change in terminology
The term is now used to describe a baptized member of the LDS Church who rarely or never practices the religion, but is still friendly toward the church. Alternatively, it can be used for someone that is of Mormon descent but unbaptized or non-religious. Some Jack Mormons still support the goals and beliefs of the LDS Church, but for various reasons choose not to attend services or participate in church activities. They are also colloquially known as Cultural Mormons, the LDS equivalent of a lapsed CatholicLapsed Catholic
A lapsed Catholic is a person who has ceased practicing the Catholic faith, in the sense of attending Mass. Such a person may still identify as a Catholic.-"Lapsed Catholic" and "ex-Catholic":...
, a "Christmas and Easter Christian" (or based on an adage "Once a Baptist
Baptist
Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...
, Always a Baptist") and a "Yom Kippur Jew" (or sometimes "ethnic Jew").
Some modern LDS youth today use the term to describe a baptized member who chooses not to follow the ethical, moral and cultural guidelines common to Mormons. These guidelines include refraining from profanity and pre-marital sex. Other common cultural limitations include following the Word of Wisdom
Word of Wisdom
The "Word of Wisdom" is the common name of a section of the Doctrine and Covenants, a book considered by many churches within the Latter Day Saint movement to consist of revelations from God...
by consuming a healthy diet, seeking exercise, and avoiding the use of drugs, tobacco, alcohol, and coffee and tea. Often such individuals are noticeable for public consumption of tobacco
Tobacco
Tobacco is an agricultural product processed from the leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. It can be consumed, used as a pesticide and, in the form of nicotine tartrate, used in some medicines...
or alcohol
Alcoholic beverage
An alcoholic beverage is a drink containing ethanol, commonly known as alcohol. Alcoholic beverages are divided into three general classes: beers, wines, and spirits. They are legally consumed in most countries, and over 100 countries have laws regulating their production, sale, and consumption...
.
It is unclear how or why the meaning of the term changed to its current usage, which is almost the reverse of its original meaning. Preston Nibley
Preston Nibley
Preston Nibley was an American religious leader in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , and wrote several books on the church, including several pieces of devotional literature.-Biography:...
, a mid-20th century LDS author who had a large impact on Mormon culture and folklore, mentioned the term in its modern context during the late 1940s and used it extensively in the 1950s. Today "Jack Mormon" is less commonly used, but using the term is not offensive when said in a self-joking or humorous sense.
Use in popular culture
The term "Jack Mormon" was used by author Edward AbbeyEdward Abbey
Edward Paul Abbey was an American author and essayist noted for his advocacy of environmental issues, criticism of public land policies, and anarchist political views. His best-known works include the novel The Monkey Wrench Gang, which has been cited as an inspiration by radical environmental...
in his novel The Monkey Wrench Gang
The Monkey Wrench Gang
The Monkey Wrench Gang is a novel written by American author Edward Abbey , published in 1975.Easily Abbey's most famous fiction work, the novel concerns the use of sabotage to protest environmentally damaging activities in the American Southwest, and was so influential that the term "monkeywrench"...
to describe a character, Seldom Seen Smith, who was a Mormon and had many wives, but was not active in the LDS Church nor its belief system: "Born by chance into membership in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons), Smith was on lifetime sabbatical from his religion. He was a jack Mormon. A jack Mormon is to a decent Mormon what a jackrabbit is to a cottontail."
In the play Angels In America
Angels in America
Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes is the 1993 Pulitzer Prize winning play in two parts by American playwright Tony Kushner. It has been made into both a television miniseries and an opera by Peter Eötvös.-Characters:...
by Tony Kushner
Tony Kushner
Anthony Robert "Tony" Kushner is an American playwright and screenwriter. He received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1993 for his play, Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes, and co-authored with Eric Roth the screenplay for the 2005 film, Munich.-Life and career:Kushner was born...
, the character Harper Pitt identifies herself as a Jack Mormon, and postulates an alternate explanation for the origin of the term: "Like jack rabbit...I ran."
The term is used in its modern meaning by Wallace Stegner
Wallace Stegner
Wallace Earle Stegner was an American historian, novelist, short story writer, and environmentalist, often called "The Dean of Western Writers"...
in his 1979 novel Recapitulation, set in Salt Lake City.
Jerry Joseph and the Jackmormons is a popular rock band from Portland, Oregon in the United States.
Jack Mormon Coffee Company is a Salt Lake based coffee roaster, located in the Historic Avenues district.
See also
- AntinomianismAntinomianismAntinomianism is defined as holding that, under the gospel dispensation of grace, moral law is of no use or obligation because faith alone is necessary to salvation....
- Cafeteria ChristianityCafeteria Christianity"Cafeteria Christianity" is a derogatory term used by some Christians, and others, to accuse other Christian individuals or denominations of selecting which Christian doctrines they will follow, and which they will not.-First use in print:...
- Cultural CatholicCultural Catholic"Cafeteria Catholicism" is a pejorative term applied to Catholics who dissent from Roman Catholic doctrinal or moral teaching. Some examples would be Catholics who dissent from Church teaching in regards to abortion, birth control, divorce, premarital sex, masturbation, or the moral status of...
- Cultural ChristianCultural ChristianA cultural Christian is a secular or irreligious individual who still significantly identifies with Christian culture. The term is used, for example, by atheist Richard Dawkins in reference to himself...
- Culture of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day SaintsCulture of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day SaintsA culture of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, reflecting the cultural impact of basic beliefs and traditions of the church, distinguishes church members, practices, and activities...
- Humanistic JudaismHumanistic JudaismHumanistic Judaism is a movement in Judaism that offers a nontheistic alternative in contemporary Jewish life. It defines Judaism as the cultural and historical experience of the Jewish people and encourages humanistic and secular Jews to celebrate their Jewish identity by participating in Jewish...
- Lapsed CatholicLapsed CatholicA lapsed Catholic is a person who has ceased practicing the Catholic faith, in the sense of attending Mass. Such a person may still identify as a Catholic.-"Lapsed Catholic" and "ex-Catholic":...
- Moralistic therapeutic deismMoralistic therapeutic deismMoralistic therapeutic deism is a term introduced in the book Soul Searching: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers by Christian Smith and Melinda Lundquist Denton. The term is used to describe what they consider to be the common religious beliefs among American youth...
- Sunday ChristianSunday ChristianA Sunday Christian or Sunday morning Christian is a derisive term used to refer to someone who typically attends Christian church services on Sundays while not strictly adhering to the doctrines or rules of the religion....