Posted on 02/07/2007 12:00:36 PM PST by theothercheek
The Stiletto is not a theologian, and does not have an informed opinion on whether Mormonism is a religion or a cult; if it is a religion, whether it is a Christian religion; or whether any beliefs or customs of its adherents are outside societal norms in the US. There are people who have strong opinions on these questions, but The Stiletto readily admits she is not knowledgeable enough to be among them.
However, there is one Mormon practice The Stiletto finds extremely disrespectful to people of other faiths, baptizing the dead by proxy:
The Mormons, a United States-based denomination officially named the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS), encourage members to baptise [sic] the dead by proxy in the belief they are helping the deceased attain full access to heaven.
Church members are told to focus on their ancestors, a rite understandable in a relatively new denomination founded in 1830. But so many now perform the rituals for celebrities, heroes and perfect strangers that the practice has spun out of control.
Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Genghis Khan, Mao Zedong, King Herod, Al Capone and Mickey Mouse have all appeared for a short time in the International Genealogical Index (IGI) for proxy baptisms, said Helen Radkey, an IGI researcher.
"It seems that any kind of name at all may be submitted," said Radkey from Salt Lake City, where the LDS is based. The IGI also accepts names for rites that "seal" spouses in eternal marriage or parents and children in eternal families.
This has outraged Jews and baffled Christians who see it as usurping the memory of their departed relatives. The LDS says it cannot stem the tide of dead baptised [sic] in its own temples.
The Stiletto will never consider giving her vote to Mitt Romney unless he unequivocally repudiates these proxy baptisms and uses his vaunted leadership skills to impel the Mormon hierarchy to abandon it immediately and eternally.
Someone who died a Jew in a Nazi concentration camp "becomes" a Mormon years after death – without his consent, obviously, but also without the consent of his living descendants. Ditto Armenian Christians killed by Ottoman Turks. Imagine the emotional trauma proxy baptism causes surviving relatives and descendants of these victims.
Changing the religion of someone who was murdered in the Genocide or the Holocaust by proxy baptism is annihilating him a second time. The Stiletto will refrain from foisting her religious beliefs on Mormons – but in return she insists that they keep their mitts off her ancestors.
The U.S. Constitution declares that all men are created equal – which means The Stiletto’s religion is neither inferior nor invalid, as compared to Mormonism. But this arrogant and odious practice of proxy baptism suggests that Mormons judge their beliefs superior to everyone else's. In a pluralistic, multiethnic nation as ours, anyone who believes (s)he follows "the one true" religion is de facto unfit to be president.
NOTE: In case I did not put the link in correctly, this is the second item in a feature called "The Daily Blade, and follows an article titled "In Serious Denial."
I'll take this one further... With the exception of Unitarians, this statement applies to practically every religion from Christianity to Buddhism.
LOL! Sounds like you were. ..
Only if the Mormons are right. In that case, I'll be glad.
If they are wrong I'll be something else.
After I'm dead you can change my sex on any document you want. Change the color of my hair. Change my height.
Have a blast. I won't care.
I deny that this practice has any effect whatsover on the souls of my ancestors or anyone else's. So my Lutheran grandfather, who also shows up in the IGI, is still a Lutheran, or whatever it is that people are when they get to the other side.
So this is no kind of issue at all for me. I might have other bones to pick with Romney, but this isn't one of them.
You first said: "The dead are dead. If Mormonism is false then a Mormon proxy baptism has no effect and an intelligent person can shrug it off.
If Mormonism is the truth then they are doing the dead a favor."
You then said: "She doesn't need to project it onto others."
Um, this seems a bit contradictory.
Hey, theothercheek, time to turn the other cheek and get over it.
I'm not concerned so much with his religion (although I wonder if he thinks Jesus is on Kolob, and if Mitt wears holyroos.)
I'm concerned with his incredible flip-flops coming out of the flip-flop capital of America, Massachusetts.
Ted Kennedy was rejected in the Carter2 era, Dukakis against Bush, and Kerry againt Bush43.
I'd say that modern Massachusetts is a bad place for a candidate to come from.
I want the best commander above me. I'm not going to say "I'd prefer having an inferior leader who [never got divorced], [didn't belong to another religion]" etc.
I'm not sure how. Apparently The Stiletto is unsure her religious belief is correct so she is upset when others are.
For my part, I believe what I believe is true. But I don't deny others the right to think I'm wrong.
I was thinking would the Dead give a rats Patoot?
If they want to baptise Hitler its their business why should I care? They can baptise and dead numbnuts they want to? I could care less. Who is this Stiletto anyway?
I googled it and found this:,MISTRESS STILLETTO Trusted and adored by submissives who lead high profile lives. ... AND MAKE YOU SUCK MY STILLETTO HEELS LIKE A SLUT!"
LOL
This is a country of people with many different religions - and of no religion. This practice of proxy baptism shows that Mormons think their religion is better than every one else's - which is why they want to "save" them after death by turning them into Mormons for all eternity. A person who believes his religion is "better" than anyone else's - you don't see a problem with this?
Those who think that all religions are the same are among the most arrogant. Claim they are not all the same and you'll be relegated, in their minds, to a caveman.
Here is more info on The Stiletto (she also posts on Polital Mavens, which is a sister site for Jewish World Review):
http://thestiletto.info/About.html
http://thestiletto.info/FAQs.html
Actually, it means they think it's the truth. It's not a comprative thing - good, better, best - it's an either/or thing.
Religion is your belief about what is true. If you don't believe it is true, it's not your religion.
So you'll be voting Democrat, then? Did it ever occur to you that your relatives might care? And you are missing the point of the editorial entirely: The relative of people who died BECAUSE of their religion do care. Very much. They are offended and want this practice stopped. The Mormons, however, have ignored the pleas of rabbis and others to stop doing this.
If you have beliefs, but you don't think they are actually, objectively true, then they are worthless and empty. I believe that Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God, and that it's objectively, really true. I believe that Islam is an evil deception that is dragging its adherents to an eternity in hell. You apparently believe that all beliefs are equal and that anyone who believes in objective truth (other than the core tenet of relativism) is inferior and unacceptable as President. Therefore you believe that your belief system is superior; how is that any different?
"baptise" is an acceptable alternate spelling for "baptize".
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