[Colofornian]

From the article: Nobel-laureate Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel and a top official from the Simon Wiesenthal Center said Tuesday that Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney should use his stature in the Mormon church to block its members from posthumously baptizing Jewish Holocaust victims...Asked if he had ever participated in posthumous baptisms, Romney told Newsweek in 2007 that, “I have in my life, but I haven’t recently.”...The controversy could put Romney in the uncomfortable position of having to directly address Mormon theology, a topic he has so far avoided in his current campaign. Many evangelical voters have expressed skepticism about Mormonism, and Romney, a former lay leader in the church, has rarely discussed his experiences in the church.

(Yeah, that's who we want in the White House...somebody into baptizing dead people... /sarc)

[Colofornian]

For background on this issue, see:
* Anne Frank, a Mormon?
* Are Mormon people LITERAL saviors of dead Jews, others? (The OTHER World Series: Vanity)

[NYer]

As a Catholic, I too am offended at these proxy baptisms. When I brought this to the attention of a Mormon 'bishop', his response was: "You have the right to complete a formal request for yourself not to have a proxy baptism and we will keep it on file in our database".

Good luck to Elie Wiesel! I don't imagine he will get very far with this.

[JimRed]

That raises a sticky question for all Christians, particularly Catholics. Can you be saved by the act of a third party (other than Christ)?

Words mean things, and among those words are “whosoever believeth in me shall not perish, but have everlasting life”*. An individual being baptized as an infant, or another being baptized after death has not believed, so is not promised life. The Catholic liturgy includes professing belief in “one baptism for the forgiveness of sins”, yet Christ was baptized even though he was sinless.

Since Adolf Hitler was baptized, does that mean we’ll be seeing him in Heaven? Provided, that is, that we have accepted Christ’s sacrifice and are saved, or have been baptized as well?

In short, baptizing someone who is already dead, while a loving gesture, is of no effect.

*From memory, and the words may vary by version.

[BigEdLB]

I am not a Mormon, and I am not a Jew. There are plenty of things that one can criticize Romney for, but, to jump on a religious procedure which causes no physical harm to anyone is a diversion in this year with all the other things that are going on.

Israel is under dire threat from the Majik Moolas, and Wiesel is focused on Romney's religious differences. Romney, for whatever else you can say about him, is a steadfast supporter of Israel. And Wiesel should look at the glass as half full, not half empty.

I have Mormon convert cousins who have baptized in absentia my grandfather and grandmother, devout Lutherans. I see no problem. The afterlife is the afterlife, and in the hands of God. And this life is for the living and doing what is right. The horror of the Holocaust, with 6 million plus victims, cannot be denied. But let`s not to get diverted by something like this.

[amihow]

If the complainers don’t believe in baptism for the dead,why would they care that the Mormons are doing it? If the Mormons baptized my ancestors, I would jut wonder why they are doing the ineffective.

Anyway, there is freedom to practice one’s religion in the Constitution. They may be irrational, but they are not harming anyone.

[SZonian]

It appears that the LdS church's persistent refusal to cease "baptizing" the dead, puts them at odds with one of their creeds...

11. We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may.

So someone who objects to the pagan rituals being performed in a family members name, who is claiming their privilege to worship how, where or what they may is being "denied" this privilege by the LdS church.

Unless of course, SLC has retracted the "allow" part of that creed.

No respect.

[surely_you_jest]

This seems, at first blush, like a lot of pearl-clutching over nothing.

On reflection it seems that Wiesel, activist that he is, is grasping at straws in an effort to insert himself into the Republican presidential nominee selection process. And he clearly is not a Republican.

I am not only not in favor of Romney, I actively oppose him.

But I really resent this poo-slinging by Wiesel. FU Elie!

[annieokie]

Maybe Romney also needs to questioned on how many he has “FELT UP” (so to speak) in his church. Interesting.

[TexasRepublic]

NO ONE can change the outcome of a dead’s person’s eternal destination. Each person lived their own life and will answerable for it. You can’t change the outcome by “praying them” to Heaven or being baptized for them. It is pointless to try or to be offended. It is a non-issue.

[Tennessee Nana]

Good bring attention to the fact that Willard Mitt Romney is a Mormon high priest and bishop...

Romney himself did proxy dead dunking of other peoples ancestors...

Maybe some were Jews...

But none of them would have wanted to be Mormons...

[Zionist Conspirator]

I'm going to put my foot into this for the zillionth time, and say the exact same thing I've said since the beginning:

Mormons believe that they are required to "proxy baptize" the dead so they can "go to heaven." This belief is mistaken, but the practice harms absolutely no one, does not yank Jewish souls out of Gan `Eden and make "mormons" of them, and at the same time eases the consciences of mormons who sincerely believe they must do this.

When the nations of the world are told to discard their false religions, beliefs, and practices in the name of Objective Religious Truth I will be all for it. However, mormons are not being asked to cease this practice in the name of Objective Religious Truth but rather in the name of "tolerance," pluralism, and multiculturalism. This is utter and absolute nonsense. Not only mormon proxy baptism, but chrstian proselytization aimed at Jews, is attacked not in the name of G-d but in the name of Adolf Hitler (mach shemo!). Mormons and chrstians are told to stop practices they sincerely (if mistakenly) believe are required of them not because it is wrong but because it contradicts the "lessons we learned at Auschwitz." What exactly did we learn at Auschwitz that we did not already know at Mt. Sinai anyway???

This particular demand was made, not by a genuine Orthodox rabbinic authority, but by Elie Wiesel, a celebrity-Holocaust survivor whose reason for being Jewish is apparently reduced to Churban 'Europa' and who may not even believe HaShem even exists.

Now before you mormon-bashers jump all over me for "defending mormonism," I am not defending mormonism at all per se; I take the same position with regard to all those demands made of you to stop "witnessing." Too many Jews are Jewish today because of Adolf Hitler (mach shemo!) and not because of HaShem and Torah. It's time this postmodern purely ethno-political Judaism (based on nineteenth century ethnic nationalism) be buried for good and all and replaced with Torah and Mitzvot.

Just my two cents' worth.