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3/8/12

Mormons and Posthumous Baptism: Insulting or A Nice Gesture?

One of my LDS friends on Facebook posted an article from Slate, talking about Mormons and baptism of the dead.  Specifically of Daniel Pearl, a Jewish reporter from the Wall Street Journal who was beheaded in the middle east about 10 years ago.

My friend's opinion on the article was this:

"Can just say, If you don't believe it, does it really matter? If you don't believe in the LDS church, does it matter? It shouldn't be a big deal unless you believe the practice is actually going to "work". The Book of Mormon is just a book unless you believe it to be scripture."

And while I agree to an extent, I think it's the principle.  If you don't believe in religion and think 'dead is dead' there is no soul to play with after you've passed on and this practice is pointless.  However, for religious people, this could be seen as the Mormon Church trying to call 'dibs' on your soul...

If you read more into the actual ceremony, the LDS Church believes you can't get into heaven unless you're baptized, so that's what they do.  They don't necessarily baptize you MORMON, but they want to give you the chance to 'go home.'  According to this website, they only do it for ancestors and family members of mormons, but there are plenty of stories around citing random baptisms of Holocaust victims, and even Barack Obama's mother.

As far as I can tell, this is a 'souls only' thing, and they are not digging up graves in the middle of the night.  Still, in the event of a Zombie Apocalypse, it's going to be interesting to see how many of the undead think they're mormons now...

Some of the comments on the Slate website were interesting.  Askamormon has a website representative trying to explain the LDS point of view, while others chimed in saying "Mandate from heaven?  As a Catholic, I believe I have a divine mandate to burn you at the stake for your heretical practices. But as an American living in a pluralistic and secular society, I restrain that impulse for the greater good. There are some things that people of faith need to keep to themselves if we want to have a civilization. "

One commenter posted a link to a site called "All Dead Mormons are Now Gay" where you can baptize dead Mormons into homosexuals.  Interesting concept.

I also enjoyed the ever-confusing concept of Jewish people as a race vs religion.  I always thought Judaism was a religious choice, but apparently there are a lot of Jewish Mormons?  I don't even want to go down THIS road...

I just thought this was funny...
Lastly you can contact the church to be included in an opt-out list, so they don't go after you once you're dead.  However, a lot of people were asking for an opt-in vs an opt-out...

My general thought was I want to live and die by the beliefs I choose.  Whether that be Catholic/Atheist/Mormon/Hindu, etc.  Let me be who I want to be, and die that way as well.  I am free to make my own choice, and a posthumous baptism, to me, says "ok, now that you're done doing the wrong thing all your life, let US fix it for you!"

What are your thoughts on this subject?  Does it matter?  Do you believe in "Dead is dead?"  Or do you think a soul floats in purgatory (or worse) until the Mormons step in, and now, after 10 years, Daniel Pearl is finally in heaven?

Please share your opinions below.

(remember, you can comment anonymously if you like...)
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