From the excerpted article:

Christ’s blueprint...is very specific regarding ordinances that are to be performed...particularly baptism. “Once someone crosses the doctrinal bridge and acknowledges that baptism is essential for salvation (which it is), then logically he is led to believe in baptism for the dead — there is no escaping it,” Elder Callister said. “Otherwise, how does one answer the difficult question: What about those who died without the opportunity to be baptized?”...

Tell me, Elder Callister:

How does Mormonism begin to answer all the following NINE difficult questions re: Baptism of the Dead!!!

#1

Do you think pre-Gutenberg printed records will drop out of the sky, or be dug up etched in golden plates in Hill Cumorahs all over the world?

#2

You seriously think that the vast records of people in the Dark Ages and before the Dark Ages, down to their very birth name (required for Lds baptisms), will be found? (If not, then drop this silly idealism of "saving" whoever has ever lived!!! It's a false ideal part of a false hope of a false gospel)

#3

Given that Lds leaders tend to make this magnanimous appeal to "fairness" that ALL will have the opportunity to receive the "Mormon gospel" in the after-life, why don't you talk about the "Mormon fine print here?" (Like, "uh, yeah, it's kind of dependent upon us finding all their birth records & such, doesn't it?...you know B.C...early A.D....dark ages...illiterate people...etc. etc. etc.")

#4

How are Mormons going to be able to baptize people they never knew existed...? (Most people who have ever lived have fallen beyond "recorded history")

#5

Given that the necro-baptism "beast" that needs to be fed includes...
...full names...
...date born; date died...
...where are Mormons going to secure this info for the vast numbers of people who've lived in history?

#6

What % of all the people who have ever lived are even in your data banks?

#7

Hasn't the scandal of baptizing Jewish holocaust victims (and other celebrities) made it even more difficult for Mormons to proxy-baptize non-relatives? (Once the baptism of Jewish holocaust scandals was revealed -- along with other embarrassing celebrities and infamous (Hitler) necro-baptisms -- the Mormon church insisted to its members new "guidelines" that these members were only to proxy-baptize their own relatives...further making it highly improbable that not very many non-Americans and non-Europeans would be necro-baptized)

#8

Lds apologist Daniel C. Peterson appealed to "fairness" in this article: Defending the Faith: What about those who have never heard? [How Lds promote baptism of dead]. Yet, as we can see here, the Mormon church has a terrible "logistical" issue here that Mr. Peterson didn't bring up over that lunch with a Protestant clergyman and his wife: Lds are 1.7% of the U.S. population...but that includes inactive "jack" Mormons still on the books. And worldwide, that % shrinks to morsel level...especially when you consider the Muslim world, the Communist world, the African world, and the Asian world. So...imagine you're part of a group that has less than 10 million active members worldwide...and only a few million that claim active access to your inner sanctum temple. And then, I as your "prophet" tell you that you only have to come up with the names and birth and death records of the billions of people who've ever lived...including pre-Gutenberg times (pre-1456). Tell us, Mr. Peterson: How "fair" is that to all those who left no trace of their existence? (What? Does the Mormon god favor only the literate? What? Does the Mormon god favor primarily those who lived in literate areas beyond Gutenberg times? Or does the Mormon god favor only the church members of the 17th & 18th & 19th centuries for which the Lds church is more likely to glean records than most public sources?)

#9

Why did Lds apologist Daniel Peterson -- and the formal Lds church -- accuse the Christian God in the article linked in question #8 of being "unjust"? To cite Peterson: "Our conversation...turned to the ultimate fate of the unevangelized...To make the question specific, I proposed the hypothetical case of a medieval Chinese peasant who...had never traveled more than perhaps 20 miles from his home and who had never so much as encountered the name of Jesus. 'He’s damned,' the clergyman said...I responded that such a fate seemed terribly unjust, since this Chinese peasant had never had a fair chance — actually, he’d had no chance at all — to hear the gospel...."

Note: In place of what Christians believe about those outside of Christ, Peterson offered the supposed Mormon view -- Baptism of the dead -- which allegedly offers "a fair chance" for such a "medieval Chinese peasant". Peterson ended his commentary by claiming that the Mormon belief "in the vicarious redemption of the dead" is somehow "a fair and solid solution to" this "problem."

First of all, what is Peterson the Mormon apologist presuming about this "medieval Chinese peasant" -- from a Mormon baptism of dead perspective, anyway?

Well, Lds don't baptize nameless phantoms of the past en masse. No, that's what their massive genealogical enterprise is all about: Capturing govt records; capturing church history rosters; capturing names & dates off of tombstones.

So Peterson makes up this spotlight about some medieval Chinese peasant. Yet how many birthnames & birth-death dates does the Mormon church really have about medieval Chinese peasants -- many/most of whom were likely either illiterate or highly illiterate???

Several years ago on a thread, one FREEPER pointed out that: "Very few of the humans who have inhabited this earth were buried in graves - with head stones or plinths" -- so even recovering such names from the pre-Gutenberg era becomes a major challenge for anybody, especially the Mormon genealogical enterprise.

Lds apologist Peterson's problem goes beyond the tombstoneless dead of history. I mean, the Lds church can't even tell you everybody who's alive on the planet now -- even 100 years from now, they won't be able to name even close to all those who lived in the year 2013 on Planet Earth.

Yet, Mormons claim proxy baptism is universal (or will be).

Have Mormons bothered to ever do the math?

Let's go with a young earth math theory for the moment -- that the earth is only 6,000 years old.
#1 A few experts have concluded that if this is the case, we may have had still 30-60 billion people who have ever lived on the earth.
#2, Now, if the Earth suffers few major catastrophes over the next almost 1,000 years, how many people could the earth have by the year 3,000? (One estimate from WikiAnswers suggests 80-110 billion).
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_many_people_will_there_be_in_the_year_3000
#3 Now, toss in perhaps another 400-450 billion people who will have lived and died in the year 2000, 2100, 2200, etc. before the year 3,000 comes upon us.

My point? By the year 3000 Mormons may have to smoke their computer genealogical war machine room to accommodate 500-600 billion plus people who lived from 4,000 B.C. to 3,000 A.D.

Now, since Lds believe that such baptisms aren't done other than by proxy, please, Mr. Peterson, provide for us a "mathematical breakdown" of how this is supposedly "fair."

For example, tell us: How many proxy baptisms will the average Mormon teen-ager have to perform in the temple over the next 13 generations (keep in mind the exact % of Mormon teens even involved in this process) to crank up the Mormon necro-baptism number to an eventual 500-600 billion?

You see, Mr. Peterson, this is what happens when you let incredulity rule even basic logic. Mormons are "sold" on the "fairness" & "Justness" & "equality" argument that the door is (or eventually will be) "open" to "all."

But when you start asking them to define "all," they slouch away.
By "all," do you mean the pre-Gutenberg billions? (Uh...)
By "all," do you mean the "no records exist" for those who lived in the teen A.D. centuries? (Uh...)
By "all," do you mean the lack of worldwide temples & manpower mandated to even meet the current Lds fastfood Necro baptism machine need? (Never mind that no matter how many volunteers they grind up in their computer appetite clamoring for "More food...More food," it'll never ever catch up)

So, do tell Mr. Peterson of your "math formula" for necro-baptizing the billions and billions and billions of known people ... never even mind the 30-60 billion who have already lived & whom you can't find any extant records for!

Bottom-line: You, see...in Mormonism, Christ as THE Savior gets diluted by sheer ritualism...genealogy...an unhealthy obsession with the dead...and then usurped as THE Savior!

How does Mormonism begin to answer all the following NINE difficult questions re: Baptism of the Dead!!!

Bah!

Who really CARES??

How does Mormonism begin to answer the FACT that only about 15% or so of ALL MORMONs are WORTHY enough to spend eternity with god the father?

The mouthy ones on FR just IGNORE it; evidently hoping no one will notice!

Temple Recommend Questions

1 Do you have faith in and a testimony of God the Eternal Father, His Son Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost?

2 Do you have a testimony of the Atonement of Christ and of His role as Savior and Redeemer?

3 Do you have a testimony of the restoration of the gospel in these the latter days?

4 Do you sustain the President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as the Prophet, Seer, and Revelator and as the only person on the earth who possesses and is authorized to exercise all priesthood keys? Do you sustain members of the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles as prophets, seers, and revelators? Do you sustain the other General Authorities and local authorities of the Church?

5 Do you live the law of chastity?

6 Is there anything in your conduct relating to members of your family that is not in harmony with the teachings of the Church?

7 Do you support, affiliate with, or agree with any group or individual whose teachings or practices are contrary to or oppose those accepted by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints?

8 Do you strive to keep the covenants you have made, to attend your sacrament and other meetings, and to keep your life in harmony with the laws and commandments of the gospel?

9 Are you honest in your dealings with your fellowmen?

10 Are you a full-tithe payer?

11 Do you keep the Word of Wisdom?

12 Do you have financial or other obligations to a former spouse or children? If yes, are you current in meeting those obligations?

13 If you have previously received your temple endowment:

Do you keep the covenants that you made in the temple?
Do you wear the garment both night and day as instructed in the endowment and in accordance with the covenant you made in the temple?

14 Have there been any sins or misdeeds in your life that should have been resolved with priesthood authorities but have not been?

15 Do you consider yourself worthy to enter the Lord's house and participate in temple ordinances?

Maybe they are hoping for a DEATHBED-like confession.

Save yer money and following restrictive rules and regulations until the LAST part of your life - getting a TR at the last possible moment.

After all; a MORMON merely needs a CURRENT Temple Recommend Card to get the benefits of MORMON Heaven, Top Level.

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/1990/04/keeping-the-temple-holy?lang=eng