Religion · Salt Lake City, UT Metro · August 21, 2026
LDS Church Sues Ex-Member's 'Mormon Stories' Podcast Over Trademarks
What Alinsky tactic is being used
3 of the thirteen rules are in play here — campaigns rarely run just one.
Rule 4
“Make the enemy live up to its own book of rules.”
The live legal argument on Dehlin's side is that the church abandoned the term "Mormon" — a direct appeal to the church's own conduct and its own public stance on the nickname, now used against its claim of ownership. The church's answer in its complaint and its Newsroom statement is to insist its use of "Mormon" has been historic and continuous, tied to the Book of Mormon. That is the classic shape of Rule 4: the institution is being measured against its own book, and the whole abandonment defense only works if the gap between what the church said about the word and what it now claims is real.
Counter-Rule 4 · Radical Integrity
Close the gap between stated values and actual practice before anyone else finds it. This tactic only works where the gap is real.
Read the church's own statement, "Getting It Right: Clarifying Trademark and Branding Concerns," and Open Stories Foundation's press release side by side before repeating either. For your own congregation or ministry this month: pull out anything you publish under a denominational name or logo and check that your actual practice matches your stated policy — if you claim a mark, use it consistently; if you disclaim affiliation, say so where people will actually see it. Close the gap yourself rather than waiting for someone to find it.
Rule 11
“If you push a negative hard and deep enough, it will break through into its counterside.”
Both sides are being pushed past what the filings say. The suit is being narrated in commentary as a church suing to silence a critic, while the church's own filing states Dehlin may criticize it and may use "Mormon"; the church's side is narrated as protecting converts from deception, while the pleaded claims are about logos, a light-rays design, and copyrighted photographs. Each overstatement is a negative pushed hard enough to flip into a sympathetic counterside for the other party.
Counter-Rule 11 · Proportional Truth
Refuse to overclaim, even where it would help. One exaggeration hands the other side the only weapon that works permanently.
Refuse to describe this as a free-speech shutdown or as proof of deception. When you discuss it, say exactly what is pleaded — trademark and copyright infringement over branding — and note that the church says viewpoint is not at issue and that Dehlin says he made some branding changes after the warning letter. If you cite the case in a Sunday school class or a newsletter, cite the docket number and the two primary statements, not a headline.
Rule 9
“The threat is usually more terrifying than the thing itself.”
The sequence in this story is threat before action: a warning letter, five months of negotiation, mediation that ended in March, and only then a federal filing — and the warning letter alone was enough to produce some branding changes. A federal IP suit against a small nonprofit is frightening out of proportion to what is actually being sought, which is why a legal defense fund can be raised on it and why a disclaimer demand can be refused as "unreasonable."
Counter-Rule 9 · Courageous Realism
Name the worst case out loud and cost it honestly. Fear of the unnamed is doing most of the work.
Name the worst case out loud and price it. Read the docket entries yourself and see what relief is actually requested; the realistic outcome of a branding suit is an injunction on logos and a disclaimer, not the end of a podcast. If you run or fund a ministry that uses another body's name or images, get a plain answer this month on whether you have written permission — the cost of finding out now is a letter, and the cost of finding out later is a filing fee and counsel.
Chapter 3 sets out the rules; Chapter 15 answers each of them in turn. This is that pairing applied to this story.
Know where you stand
The free 4-minute assessment identifies your mountain and your institution’s capture phase — so alerts like this one arrive matched to where you actually stand.
Facing this yourself? Ask. Describe what is happening and get what the book, Scripture, and the law of your state say, with the exact words to use. Your first one is free.