So they can do it to others and their family has no say in the matter? That takes..... well... guts, shall we say?
What about those poor souls who know one knows existed because birth records were lost or never kept?
What’s the point of even becoming Mormon if one can have it done by proxy?
They want your money. Now!
Oh, but the DEAD can either accept or reject the rites. That is the rationalization. Some folks, however, see this as complete disrespect of the dead AND the living.
Read this post #656 on how the proxy work affected this poster, and ask if he was thinking of the dead he was representing, or of himself and how the experience affected him. This work is a major "calling" for mormons, works that they believe will lead to their own "exaltation".
From the above linked post, How better can you learn of Jesus than by doing his work of bringing souls unto him? how better to help the Dead by proxy work of earthly ordinances so that, if they choose to accept the gospel the ordinances that have been done for them they can progress. How better to increase your spirituality become closer to God, than to read the scriptures while waiting, and then be instructed of God, by his servants. It truly was a wonderful evening spent with my wife, serving Jesus the way he has asked us to.
“So they can do it to others and their family has no say in the matter? That takes..... well... guts, shall we say?”
You are being fed a distorted and hostile view of us by some posters here.
It is important to realize that a proxy baptism doesn’t force anything on the person it is done for. It is of no effect at all unless that deceased person (now in the spirit world) accepts what was done on their behalf. If they accept, then it becomes as if they were baptized, if they choose to reject it, it is as if nothing was done. The choice is theirs to make, not their family’s.
Either way we don’t really know so the church doesn’t count them as members. All that is done is a simple baptism, almost identical to how we baptize a living person, except in a baptism for the dead the wording is changed a little to reflect that a living person is baptized in baptized in behalf of someone who is dead.
Why should someone’s family have a veto over what choices they can make regarding religion? Why should someone be offended by someone else doing a proxy baptism if they think the practice has no validity and will change nothing? If someone things it is a valid practice, they should be glad it was done, if they think it is invalid, they should at least accept it as gesture of love towards that deceased person.
“What about those poor souls who know one knows existed because birth records were lost or never kept?”
We are encouraged research our own family tree and have proxy baptisms done for our ancestors so that is the source for the vast majority of proxy baptisms we currently do. Yes there are many people whose lives have no existing record, but this work will continue on to the end of the millennial reign of Christ. Resurrected persons will be able to provide missing information, and if necessary revelation from God is also there to ensure that all receive a fair chance.
“What’s the point of even becoming Mormon if one can have it done by proxy?”
It isn’t a second chance. If you get a fair chance here and reject it, then you have made your choice and nothing done after your life will change anything. You will be the same person in the spirit world as you are here. Same attitudes, same likes and dislikes. If someone can’t bring themselves to repent of their sins and accept the gospel here when given the chance, they aren’t going to react any differently to it in the spirit world.
If someone else accepts it is true, what good reason would there be for not becoming a Mormon? Also, accepting the fullness of the gospel and living it brings great blessings and joy into a person’s life.