I’m one of those who believes the Mormon faith is loony, but I’m not sure I understand the offense taken when they do stuff like this. Several religions think I’m going to rot in hell, and that sentiment doesn’t offend me. If a religion posthumously conducts some ceremony on my behalf thinking they are doing me a favor, they can knock themselves out.
Agreed. Call me sentimental and silly, but I actually think it’s a nice-hearted gesture for the LDS to try to “baptize” me after I die. I don’t think it has any effect, of course, but it’s kind of them to make the gesture. And whom is it harming, anyway? If someone says “May Krishna bless you”, I don’t get myself into a knot; I appreciate the thought behind it, even if I think it’s mistaken. Same token, here.
Let's look at just a few problematic offensive points from the point of the New Testament.
I'll cover the second in another post.
Since countless LDS leaders have called the Mormon people self-saviors and saviors of the dead, it's not only a distraction from the poor but delusional.
We already have a "Savior of the world" -- we don't need millions more trying to bump Jesus out of that limelight:
* And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be THE Savior of the world. (1 John 4:14)
* They said to the woman, "We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is THE Savior of the world." (John 4:42)
Last time I looked in the Bible, Christians were supposed to object to idolatry in their culture. And if you don't think that Mormons make baptizers of the dead "saviors" who rival Jesus Christ, you haven't read their leaders' comments on baptism of the dead. For those citations, see: Are Mormon people LITERAL saviors of dead Jews, others? (The OTHER World Series: Vanity)
If you're a Christian or Jew and you conclude "this doesn't harm anyone," you're catering to idolatry -- substitute "saviors" pretending to act in his name.
Agreed. I fail to see the controversy here.