When Benjamin Shaffer left The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to join a fundamentalist group, his old friends made jokes about how he wasn’t a real Mormon anymore.
“I get to say all those jokes back to them now,” Shaffer said Tuesday, “and watch them squirm.”
Latter-day Saint President Russell M. Nelson has told followers to stop using the word “Mormon” to refer to themselves and the church. Shaffer is glad “Brother Nelson” is trying to accentuate Jesus Christ in the church’s name, but Shaffer doesn’t plan to stop describing himself as Mormon.