Rant #2

Was that Sam L Hutchinson?

Ok, this one may not have a lot of depth to it, but it's one of the oddest Mormon culture things I have come across. What is with our terribly weird fascination with middle initials (or first initials)? What you say? What do I mean?

I mean try saying out loud the name of any modern prophet, apostle, or even most general authorities. Did you say a single one with out saying the middle or first initial? Thomas S Monson, Gordon B Hinckley, Boyd K Packer, Henry B Eyring, even Dieter F Uchtdorf. Now try saying these names without the initial. Give these a try: Harold * Lee, Bruce * McConkie, * Tom Perry...Feel a little odd coming off the tongue? Yep, welcome to Initialville!

It's odd because we don't do that in regular life. EVER. Do you do that at work? Do you tell your co-worker, "Hey the general manager, you know, Phillip C Donalson, is coming by to visit tomorrow." Talk about weirdo speak. Do you ever sign your emails or letters with your middle initials? Do you ever use middle initials with political figures, with comments like, "Hey President Ronald W Reagan and President Bill J Clinton both had a lot of charisma..." Never-ever except in rare cases and then we usually invoke all initials (FDR, JFK, etc).

For a second reason, it's odd because how many Tommy Monson's, or Gordo Hinckley's, or Dieter Uchtdorf's do you know? And of all those, how many do you know have been called to church leadership positions? Exactly. I know there was Joseph F Smith and Joseph Fielding Smith but come on! I know that if you get into genealogy you'll occasionally find that your ancestors sometimes suffered from bouts of lack of creativity when it came to naming children. But it's not a regular issue of confusion of persons.

I believe that the real reason we do the initial thing is to make mere men called to church leadership seem more important, to seem to have a larger stature than the common parishiner, but do we really need that? We need to invest in pride? I can accept having a prophet named Hank just as well as I can accept one named Adam or Peter, or John. Will I listen to counsel because Howard W Hunter said it instead of Howard Hunter? I think not.

What's funny is that it is pervasive. Turn on KBYU. Look at any broadcast program there. If you have cable or satelite you can read the program description which read like this, "BYU Family Expo: Greg R Nobody discusses family dynamics using scriptures..." Greg is an accountant from Provo who is also a counselor in the local stake presidency. But who gives a care? How many folks were hoping that see Greg L Nobody? Whew! Thank goodness we saved them from showing up to the wrong fireside!

Am I crazy for thinking that our persisten, reverential use of the middle initials of church leaders is just a little weird?