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The termJack Mormon is aslang term originating in nineteenth-century America. It was originally used to describe a person who was not abaptized member of theChurch of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints but who was friendly to church members andMormonism, sympathized with them, 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 ofthe Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) to be an inactive or lapsed member of the LDS Church who, despite their personal religious viewpoint, maintained good relations with and positive feelings toward the church.[1][2]
On April 18, 1845, the term "Jack Mormon" appeared inThe Ottawa Free Trader to refer to J. B. Backenstos, the sheriff ofHancock County, who was "friendly to the Mormons, though not one himself."[3] This early published use of the term marks perhaps the earliest appearance of "Jack Mormon" in print, though it was followed soon by other instances in papers such as theNew-York Daily Tribune[4] and theRichmond Palladium.[5] Thomas C. Sharp, editor of theWarsaw Signal, also coined the term "Jack-Mason" to refer to those who were sympathetic towardFreemasons in theAnti-Masonic political movement. These sympathetic non-Mormons included Nauvoo Justice of the PeaceDaniel H. Wells, who later joined the church, and soldier and diplomatThomas 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 aPresbyterian all of his life.
Several LDS historians[who?] believe that the term was used prior to Sharp's mention, and has ties to sympathetic Democrats inJackson County,Missouri. Their belief is that the term originated inMissouri, during theKirtland period of Latter Day Saint history, circa 1834. When Church members were expelled from Jackson County by a mob, a number of them fled toClay 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.
During the early 1980s, it was also used as a description of members of theFundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS Church) who broke from the church, in part, over belief in plural marriage.[citation needed]
LDS Church membership was made up predominantly of 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 social issues such as sexuality, drug use, traditional family values, and the role of religion in government caused large numbers of previously Democratic Latter-day Saints to shift to theRepublican Party by the late 1970s. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, the LDS church took a stand against theEqual Rights Amendment, and again increased the population's participation in the Republican party. At that time, a number of 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.[citation needed]
The term was made popular by heavyweight championWilliam Harrison "Jack" Dempsey, born inManassa, 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, anLDS Church missionary converted Dempsey's parents and they moved to the Mormon village of Manassa, Colorado. While his father parted ways with the church, his mother remained a devoted member. Dempsey would write, "I'm proud to be a Mormon. And ashamed to be the Jack Mormon that I am."[6]
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 asCultural Mormons, the LDS equivalent of alapsed Catholic, a "Christmas and Easter Christian"/ "Sunday Christian"(or based on an adage "Once aBaptist, 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 theWord 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 oftobacco oralcohol.
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.
The term "Jack Mormon" was used by authorEdward Abbey in his novelThe Monkey Wrench Gang to describe a character, Seldom Seen Smith, who was a Mormon and had multiple 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."[7]
In the playAngels in America byTony 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."
In Episode 6 of Season 5 of the AMC television seriesHell On Wheels, the character known as Eva identifies herself as a Jack Mormon to the Brigham Young character.
The term is used in its modern meaning byWallace Stegner in his 1979 novelRecapitulation, set in Salt Lake City.
Jerry Joseph and the Jackmormons is a 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.
American actorJason Cloud premiered a self-produced play titledJack Mormon in December 2017 inVienna, Austria.[8]
Mr. B. is what is called a "Jack Mormon," that is, friendly to the Mormons, though not one himself; [...]
One ofMr. Polk's nominees [as a lead-mining superintendent in Hancock County], a Jack-Mormon, by the name of Backenstos, who resides at Carthage, is in trouble.
We learn by the St. Louis papers of Friday week of the murder of Dr. Marshall, ofCarthage,Hancock county, Ill., by R. Deming, sheriff. [...] Deming was called a "Jack Mormon," elected by Mormon votes, and in the Mormon interest.
The dictionary definition ofJack Mormon at Wiktionary
