Post | 11/11/2008 10:04 am

Holocaust Survivors to Mormons: Stop Baptism of Dead Jews (AP)

By The Staff at wowOwow.com

Holocaust survivors yesterday begged the Mormon church to please stop baptizing Jews who lost their lives in Nazi concentration camps.

Way back in 1995, the Church of Latter-day Saints agreed not to perform baptisms or other rites for Holocaust victims — except when they have living descendants who are Mormons, the Associated Press reports. That agreement’s limited only to Holocaust victims, rather than all Jewish people. Those baptisms of Holocaust victims, say Jewish activists, were particularly offensive because these people died as a result of their religion, the report read. Despite this understanding, the chuch has been using genealogy records to go ahead with posthumous baptisms via a proxy system. And trust that Holocaust survivors aren’t pleased. Ernest Michel, the chairman of the American Gathering of Holocaust Survivors said Monday in a statement: "We ask you to respect us and our Judaism just as we respect your religion. We ask you to leave our six million Jews, all victims of the Holocaust, alone, they suffered enough."

A church spokesman said the church kept has already removed more than 260,000 names from the genealogical index. But for the last three years, researcher shows that resubmissions and new entries of names slip into the database system.

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23 Reader Comments (so far…) Sign In or Register to comment

Patty E
I was appalled, when I read this! I am not Jewish, so my personal feelings that this is ‘overstepping’ a boundary, comes from deep within me. Along with ‘freedom of religion’ , there is what should be, a respect for each and every person to be allowed to believe in who they are—-without fear that someone else will judge them, as needing to be ‘saved’ from their core selves, without permission, My disgust at this attempt to ‘rule over’ the very essence of a persons’ being, using religion as the sword, is getting in the way of my words….reminds me of Hitler all over again.
By Patty E on 11/11/2008 12:51 pm
Dropping By
It seems absurd to me that anyone would care what the Mormons do in this or any other regard. If the church is bogus, their actions mean nothing. If the church is true, then well-meaning people are doing something for their ancestors (as the article notes, the Church has complied with the requests of the Jews, except that Mormons continue to do temple work for their own ancestors, some of whom happen to be Holocaust survivors). Some people’s sense of outrage seems always to be set to “Super Sensitive.” If I learned a Catholic friend had prayed for me, or a Jewish friend had remembered me in a ceremony, I would be grateful and honored. What’s the difference?
By Dropping By on 11/11/2008 1:15 pm
Kryssi K
“If the church is bogus, their actions mean nothing. ” True! Yet on the other hand, their actions meant something to the 18,000 couples whose marriages are now nullified by the $30-something million spent by Mormons on the misleading propaganda that led to the passing of California’s Proposition 8…
By Kryssi K on 11/11/2008 3:19 pm
MaryPage Drake
The difference is in this being just one of many, many instances of self-righteous hubris taking up the time and energies of so many people who could better serve our species by being out actually giving aid and succor to the hungry, homeless children right here in our own nation and throughout this world. The idea, of course, is not religiously inspired, but a power plan to keep the Faithful busy with their heads down and not reading the newspapers or listening to the news. My Mormon friends spend hours traveling to their nearest temples frequently and Salt Lake City at least once a year in order to complete their lists and their personal tasks of baptizing and entering into the rolls. The whole point is their not having time for getting into some kind of mischief that might lead them to stray from the fold! It is just SO obvious, yet people do devote themselves to these totally useless tasks and ignore real needs out there.
By MaryPage Drake on 11/11/2008 1:27 pm
Dropping By
Ms. Drake, if you actually have Mormon friends, I find it impossible to believe that you have not seen them also serving their communities in countless ways, including all the ways you cite. Every Mormon I know gives money and time to serve the less-fortunate in selfless, Christian ways, including donating time and money at food banks and all the rest. If you were to do a little research about the billions their Church gives away in conjunction with other faith groups, you would be shocked. Wow, a comment by you about self-righteous is ironic in the extreme.
By Dropping By on 11/11/2008 1:40 pm
Sandbee (FB) 54
Dropping By - I married into a Mormon family - their missions are totally for creating more Mormons and pushing their beliefs. Ms. Drakes description is quite accurate.
By Sandbee (FB) 54 on 11/11/2008 1:57 pm
f p
Yeppers, that is exactly the main tenet of this religion.
By f p on 11/11/2008 2:55 pm
Kathrine Gluvna
Dropping By, I lived in Utah for twelve years. Several of my friends and neighbors participated in the baptism rituals. I thought then that seemed arrogant. To chose a religion for someone who has no say - and whose families have no say. Yes, the Mormon people do lots of good works, just as the rest of us do. That doesn’t change what they are doing by baptizing the Holocaust victims.
By Kathrine Gluvna on 11/11/2008 2:17 pm
Mary NSB-Florida
And which religions are called “extremists” ?
By Mary NSB-Florida on 11/11/2008 3:42 pm
Maizie James
There are many aspects of Mormon rituals, which I don’t understand, especially baptism of the dead who are of another faith. Also, I wonder why the Mormon church spends more money on the poor OUTSIDE this country, rather than here in the USA in our poor inner cities and rural communities. Most puzzling of all, is how the Mormon church (fails?) to deal with their ‘own’ wayward believers who still practice polygamy . I have an acquaintance who was a supervisor of Social Service (circa 70’s - 90’s) in Mesa, Arizona; a city which has a large population of Mormons. I was told there were more Mormon (female heads of household) receiving welfare benefits than any other group. I wondered why the Mormon church, noted for charitable donations, fails to support their ‘fundamentalist’ followers who still adhere to plural marriage beliefs. I’ve also read that there still remains a large percentage of Mormon female heads of household who receive state aide in places like Nevada, Texas, and Arizona. Just curious.
By Maizie James on 11/11/2008 4:30 pm
Tracy Hall Jr
Ernest Michel knowingly misrepresents LDS teachings on freedom of choice. We neither believe nor represent that our proxy baptisms turn the dead into “Mormons.” It is a free-will offering of love that has neither validity nor meaning if not ratified by the free informed choice of the dead. In respect of Jewish sensitivities, the Church now actually discriminates against Mormons who have Jewish ancestry. Members with Jewish ancestry may submit ordinances only in behalf of direct-line ancestors, and these must be submitted to Church headquarters for pre-approval. It is actually those who seek to interfere with our private religious practices that want to force their will on the dead — by denying them ever any opportunity for choice. For more: http://hthalljr.googlepages.com/choice.html Tracy Hall Jr hthalljr’gmail’com
By Tracy Hall Jr on 11/11/2008 5:52 pm
Sandbee (FB) 54
“It is actually those who seek to interfere with our private religious practices that want to force their will on the dead - by denying them ever any opportunity for choice.” If the dead are still able to make choices they don’t need your help to make them.
By Sandbee (FB) 54 on 11/11/2008 6:29 pm
Tracy Hall Jr
Sandbee54, I cannot choose between pumpkin or apple pie unless both can be had. Choice requires opportunity. Please indulge me as I summarize some of the principles that motivate our massive effort to “bake the pie” so that the dead can choose. (References are at scriptures.lds.org). We believe the Biblical teaching that baptism is required for admission to the Kingdom of God: “Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” (John 3:5). We believe that baptism is a covenant between man and God that requires immersion of a mortal, physical body in earthly, physical water (neither of which is enjoyed by the spirits of the dead). We also believe, like Catholics (but unlike Protestants), that the covenant of baptism must be administered by someone duly authorized by God to administer it — it requires Priesthood authority from God. We believe that on May 15, 1829, John the Baptist came, as a resurrected being, to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery on the banks of the Susquehanna river and restored the authority to baptize. (Doctrine & Covenants 13) We believe that on April 3, 1836 (of possible interest to Jews: during Pesach / Passover), the prophet Elijah, who was taken to heaven without tasting death (2 Kings 2:11), came to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery in the Kirtland, Ohio Temple and restored the keys of of administering the ordinances in behalf of the dead. (D&C 110). (Baptism for the dead was also practiced by the primitive Christian Church: 1 Corinthians 15:29). We believe that when we die our spirit lives on (Book of Mormon, Alma 40:11) and can still exercise freedom of choice, which we call moral agency. And we believe that all covenants that are essential to salvation must be made before the day of resurrection, when all who ever lived will have spirit and body inseparably reunited, then to be judged of God for the deeds performed in the flesh. (Alma 11:43-45) The vast majority of all mankind, throughout all history, have died without ever having heard the Gospel of Christ. We believe that God provided, from the beginning, for proxy ordinances to be performed for and in behalf of the dead, so that all who have ever lived will have equal opportunity to accept or reject the saving ordinances of the atonement of Jesus Christ. If our enemies succeed in shutting down our temples or in otherwise preventing us from doing this work, we believe that God’s eternal plan of salvation for all of his children would be frustrated. Whether or not you accept our beliefs, I hope you can understand that from our point of view, preventing a proxy ordinance denies the spirits of the dead the choice to accept it or reject it. Thanks for reading. Tracy Hall Jr hthalljr’gmail’com
By Tracy Hall Jr on 11/11/2008 10:18 pm
gulliver fourmyle
excess religious zeal, from Iran, the pope—-anyone—-???—-always trouble—-in this case wasting perfectly good water on bones—-that never ordered ‘watering’—-my, my—-‘life-on-a-planet’ —-‘it goes w/the place’—-you’ll figure it out—-
By gulliver fourmyle on 11/11/2008 11:49 pm
Sandbee (FB) 54
All of this talk about choice from a religion that just put a fortune into fighting choice in living in California strikes me as very hypocritical. Especially a religion which was founded upon and still does not do enough to fight polygamus child marriages.
By Sandbee (FB) 54 on 11/12/2008 7:38 am
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