I listened to an interesting podcast on NPR’s the Hidden Brain called “Lost in Translation”. They talked about how word usage can influence how we think and act. For example, they did an experiment where they had artists paint a picture of “death”. Afterwards a group of people that did not know who painted which picture was able to tell if the artists native language used a female or male pronoun for the word “death”. Some paintings had a more feminine representation of death, and other a more masculine. Another example they gave is when people described a bridge, if their language used a feminine pronoun, then they would use like beautiful and graceful. If their language used a male pronoun, then the words were strong, sturdy, and tall.
This got me to wondering what about words we use in the church, and how that might influence our thinking and shape our worldview. There has already been a lot written about “non-consensual immorality” with our own hawkgrrl weighing in here
But what about other words that we Mormons use. Remember when somebody who didn’t come to church was “inactive”? Now they are “less active”. I think the reasoning behind this is that it is less harsh, and gives the impression that there is still some “activity” in the person, they just need a little push to get back into full activity.
We use to have “free agency”? Now we just have “agency”, or more recently “moral agency”. This was probably to drive home that even though we are free to act, we are not free from the consequences. There are no gays or homosexuals in the church, or for that matter anyplace in the world. There are just people that suffer from “same sex attraction”. The church as yet to come up with a good word for transsexuals, but I’m sure we’ll hear one soon in General Conference. Maybe “gender befuddled”?
What about using male pronouns for all deity? Even though we believe that we have a Mother in Heaven, and she is a God, there is no “Her” in any of our official discourse. Once in a while we’ll get a “They”, usually when the General YW’s or RS president is speaking in General Conference, and has talked about “Loving Heavenly Parents”.
There are millions of English speaking Mormons who think God and Jesus speak in early modern English using thee and thou, and that those words are the only way to address them in prayer.
And just recently, the word “minister” has jumped into the LDS lexicon. While we all have an idea of what it means, this will change in coming generations as the new ministering (not a program) takes over for home teaching and visiting teaching. (When I hear “Minister”, I think of the poor sap in the pre-1990 temple movie). David B talked about this change in meaning in his recent post Suddenly, Everything is Ministering.
So what words do you see being used in the LDS Church that can alter our perception, for good or bad?
Wheat & Tares 
When it comes to using the term “same sex attraction” instead of “gay,” I’m guessing even some of the top leaders of the church roll their eyes. Elder Ballard, at a BYU devotional this past November avoided the phrase completely::
“I want anyone who is a member of the Church who is gay or lesbian to know I believe you have a place in the kingdom and I recognize that sometimes it may be difficult for you to see where you fit in the Lord’s Church, but you do. We need to listen to and understand what our LGBT brothers and sisters are feeling and experiencing. Certainly we must do better than we have done in the past so that all members feel they have a spiritual home where their brothers and sisters love them and where they have a place to worship and serve the Lord.”
The terms Deacon, Teacher, Priest, & Elder conjure up different images for Mormons than other denominations and the world in general. It wouldn’t surprise me to see the word Minister eventually used in a Mormon settings completely different from traditional Christian use.
“Ordinance” held a different meaning in the early history of the Church than it does today- one much closer to the traditional definition of the word. When we read about the “laws and ordinances of the gospel,” the terms were being used synonymously. Ever heard of a city ordinance? That’s what it used to mean to us, too.
I don’t recall ever seeing ‘suffer from same sex attraction.’ It was always ‘struggle with same sex attraction.’ About 3 or so years ago after proddings from gay Latter Day Saints, the identifying phrase was changed to what you see now in church publications, namely ‘experience same sex attraction.” Much better, but still miles to go.
I’m confused. We used to be able to say to a fellow ward member, “Hi, I’m your new home teacher.” Now, we are counseled against saying, “Hi, I’m your minister.” So what do we call ourselves? This change seems to have been implemented half-baked. The hole in the terminology is testament to this. So, what are we former home teachers supposed to call ourselves?
Wally, how about “ Hi, I’m your assigned friend, can I help you?”
I do not like re-purposed words; it means that speaking and reading carries an increased risk of misunderstanding. Perhaps you are speaking of happy and carefree, perhaps you are speaking of same-sex attraction, perhaps it means foolish and misguided (a modern teenager usage of the word).