Mormons Baptizing the Dead
It has been in the news recently about some odd behavior coming from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Apparently, some members of this church feel it is important to baptize those of different or no faiths after they have not only died, but have been dead for several decades. The newest victim of Mormon saving is Anne Frank.
This news is just a week on the heels of the last event the church had to apologize for, which was that members of the church had posthumously baptized the parents of Holocaust survivor and Jewish rights activist, Simon Wiesenthal. The same person, Helen Radkey, who revealed these baptisms also revealed the Frank baptism that occurred in Santo Domingo on Feb. 18.
The church once again issued a statement from Salt Lake City, Utah, where the church is based. It said, “The Church keeps its word and is absolutely firm in its commitment to not accept the names of Holocaust victims for proxy baptism. It is distressing when an individual willfully violates the Church’s policy and something that should be understood to be an offering based on love and respect becomes a source of contention.”
This is most likely referring to the fact that by church members administering this type of baptism, it violates a 2010 pact between the Mormon Church and Jewish leaders. Holocaust survivors especially are not supposed to be baptized after it was barred in 1995. It is very offensive to Jewish people to have this happen to Holocaust victims because they were killed because of their faith.
The rite does not harm any bodies so at least they are not desecrating anything. A church member uses the deceased’s name and acts as a proxy for the baptism. They then have a database where they put the name of the person and the date they were “baptized.”
Supposedly, the church is not trying to offend anyone with these types of baptisms. In the Mormon faith, it is believed that if someone is still able to be baptized after death they will be “able to hear the gospel.” That may be so, but performing such a rite without the deceased’s family or some form of descendant to give their permission is offensive. It violates who the person was when they were living, especially someone like Anne Frank who died for being Jewish.
