I’m not a big fan of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, known to most folks as the Mormons.  Their decision to fund Proposition 8 in California angered me, and their history of prejudice and polygamy is not pretty.  To be clear, rare is the faith that doesn’t have skeletons in abundance, and I try not to judge individuals for the missteps of their religion — otherwise, I’d be hating myself.

That said, this is a bit ridiculous:

A reader contacted me last week, saying that last year, in the heat of the presidential campaign, the Mormons had posthumously baptized Barack Obama’s mother, Stanley Ann Dunham. Baptizing the dead of other faiths, secretly and without the consent of their families, is a common Mormon practice. For the past fifteen years the Mormons have caused quite a stir by forcibly baptizing Jewish Holocaust victims - in other words, converting them to Mormonism - despite strong objections from the Jewish community.

As Ta-Nehesi Coates (h/t) notes,

I think the arrogance of “baptizing” someone posthumously says a lot. I think the arrogance of baptizing someone who’s child, only 30 years ago, would have been scorned in your church says even more.

I agree, but I would take it one step further.  What about Obama’s dad?  Why didn’t this person petition to baptize him?  It wouldn’t be because of his race non-citizenship, would it?  Maybe not.  But it is a good quesiton to ask.

For those unfamiliar with the practice, here’s a good summary via Wikipedia:

Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints believe that baptism is a prerequisite for entry into the kingdom of God as stated by Jesus in John 3:5: “Except that a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God” (KJV).

The LDS Church teaches that performing baptisms for the dead allows this saving ordinance to be offered to those who have died without accepting or knowing Jesus Christ or his teachings during their mortal lives. It is taught that this is the method by which all who have lived upon the earth will have the opportunity to receive baptism and to thereby enter the Kingdom of God. . . .

Any member of the LDS church, male or female, who is at least 12 years old and holds a current temple recommend may act as a proxy in this ordinance. Men must also hold the Aaronic Priesthood prior to entering the temple. A man must act as proxy for a deceased man, and a woman must act as proxy for a deceased woman. The concept of a spiritual proxy is compared by some in the LDS Church to the belief that Jesus acted as proxy for every human when he atoned for the sins of the world.

In the case of Obama’s mom, it wasn’t a relative who made the request, so the baptism is likely to be reversed.  But you have to wonder whether the Church gets how offensive this can be.  Here’s what an LDS spokesperson said in response to the reports:

Mormon Church spokeswoman Kim Farah said that “the offering of baptism to our deceased ancestors is a sacred practice to us and it is counter to Church policy for a Church member to submit names for baptism for persons to whom they are not related. The Church is looking into the circumstances of how this happened and does not yet have all the facts. However, this is a serious matter and we are treating it as such.”

If you accept the LDS statement at face value, why don’t they also regard the forcible baptism of Holocaust victims a “serious matter”?   Jewish leaders in New York and elsewhere have been trying for years to get the LDS to stop this practice, but to date, the church has argued that they only do it for ancestors of those among the faithful, and only when they request it.

I can only conclude that the Church believes that forcibly baptizing someone after their death is okay, but only if it’s done at the request of a relative.  I’m not sure I’d want that standard applied to my family.  If, for example, I became a member of the LDS and decided to follow this practice, I could theoretically baptize my grandparents, all four of whom are deceased.  All four were devout Catholics, and I think all four would not exactly be happy with my decision.

Free will, white courtesy phone please.

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