(Image via Wikipedia)

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon Church) has apologized for violating an agreement that they had with Jewish leaders not to posthumously ‘baptize’ victims of the holocaust. Here is the story:

CNN) – The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has apologized for "a serious breach of protocol" in which the parents of the late Nazi hunter Simon Wiesenthal were posthumously baptized as Mormons.

The church also acknowledged that three relatives of Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel were entered into the genealogy database, though not referred for baptism.

Asher Wiesenthal and Rosa Rapp were baptised in proxy ceremonies in temples in Utah and Arizona, according to the database records discovered by researcher Helen Radkey in Salt Lake City.

The Wiesenthal baptisms violated a 1995 pact in which the church agreed to stop baptizing Jewish Holocaust victims.

Here’s a response on the issue from LDS spokesman Michael Purdy:

“We sincerely regret that the actions of an individual member of the church led to the inappropriate submission of these names.”

"These submissions were clearly against the policy of the church. We consider this a serious breach of our protocol and we have suspended indefinitely this person’s ability to access our genealogy records."

Meanwhile one cannot over estimate the grief this has caused among Jews with family and relatives who were killed in the Holocaust. Here’s a reaction from Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, who had participated in the earlier negotiations with the Mormon Church over their practice of posthumously baptizing Jews:

"We are outraged that such insensitive actions continue in the Mormon Temples," said Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, who participated in many of the high-level meetings between Jews and Mormon officials.

"Such actions make a mockery of the many meetings with the top leadership of the Mormon Church dating back to 1995 that focused on the unwanted and unwarranted posthumous baptisms of Jewish Victims of the Nazi Holocaust."

Here’s another wrinkle to this on-going story. On Tuesday, GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney was called upon by Holocaust survivor and Nobel Prize winner Elie Wiesel to tell his church to stop doing proxy baptisms in the names of dead Jews, particularly Holocaust victims like Wiesel’s parents who were apparently found on a recent Mormon ‘ready to baptize’ list.

<<Read my response to this story on my Apologetica page>>

  *Top

Related Posts?:

1. -Jews to Mormons: Stop Baptizing Our Holocaust Dead!
2. -California: Still Protesting Against Marriage Amendment

Mormonism is center stage again with Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman running for President in 2012. I have seen one article after another talking about why evangelicals should not be voting for a Mormon.  A poll of evangelical Christians in June showed that at least 34% said that they would not vote for a Mormon running for President under any conditions.

Well the conditions are this- the current President, Barack Obama is not an evangelical nor does he share many of our values, but he is a declared Christian none–the-less.

We will have to wait and see whether either one of these former governors becomes the GOP presidential nominee for 2012. Personally I do not support either of them, at least not right now.  Mitt Romney is the obvious front runner and all of the others running are vying for the top spot as the ‘I’m-not-Romney’ candidate.

Here’s my perspective on the issue.

Mormons and evangelicals definitely have some major theological differences that will probably separate us forever. However, we also share many values.

<<Read the rest of my thoughts on the Apologetica page>>           *Top

Related Posts?:

1. -Mormon in the White House? Evangelicals Vs. Mormons Controversy Heats Up
2. Romney’s Mormonism a Problem for Evangelical Voters?

The Jewish holocaust survivors have asked the LDS leaders to refrain from posthumous baptism of Jewish victims of the holocaust. From the Mormon perspective–they believe that they are doing something eternally good.

This is a conflict that probably can not really be resolved and in the end will only bring some more bad publicity to the Mormons.

<<Read the complete article>>              *Top 

Related articles by Zemanta

• Baptism Of Holocaust Victims Sparks Anger
• Message to Mormons: Stop baptizing dead Jews
• Mormons continue baptisms of dead Jews
• Jews to Mormons: Stop Proxy Baptisms

Related Posts?:

1. -Pope Visits Synagogue but Holocaust still a major Dividing Issue
2. -Pope Exonerates Jews in New Book on Jesus

(Protesters at Mormon Temple  by Getty Images via Daylife)

Proposition 8, the marriage amendment for traditional marriage, passed on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, gay rights activists have been protesting ever since all over the state. Over a thousand have gathered to loudly demonstrate outside of the Mormon Temple in Westwood.

The gay activists are particularly angry over the huge support that the LDS Church gave to the passage of Prop.8.

It is really despicable that they would single out the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon) for their attacks. The Catholic Church and thousands of Evangelical churches also supported the amendment. This is tantamount to religious persecution.

All of the churches that supported Prop.8 did so in response to their theological support for traditional marriage. There still is freedom of religion and thought in this country in spite of elitist PC views.            *Top

Related articles by Zemanta

• Catholics, Mormons defend support for same-sex ban
• Did Mormons provide California’s Proposition 8 its margin of victory?
• Hundreds of Prop 8 Opponents Rally at the Mormon Church
• Thousand people protest outside Mormon Temple in LA

Related Posts?:

1. -Mormons Unfairly Cast as Scapegoats by Gay Activists
2. -Mormon Church Responds to Prop.8 Protests

According to Maher Hathout, a senior advisor to the Muslim Public Affairs Council in Los Angeles:

“We are very aware of the history of Mormons as a group that was chastised in America. They can be a good model for any group that feels alienated.”

Muslims and Mormons seem to have a growing relationship on a number of different levels, often they are co-hosts of a number of educational and social programs.   <Read the rest of the article on my Apologetica Blog>

*Top

Related Posts?:

1. What Do Mormons Really Believe? -About The Bible
2. What Do Mormons Really Believe? -What Bible Version Do They Use?

Related Posts?:

1. What Do Mormons Really Believe? -About The Bible
2. -Re: Growing Ties Between U.S. Muslims and Mormons

In “The Articles of Faith”, which is about as close as the LDS get to an official creed, number 8 addresses the Bible and scripture:

We believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly; we also believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God.

However, when you look more closely into their beliefs about the Bible, you find that it is not just a matter of making sure the ‘translation’ is good. Mormons really believe that the book was altered by the church and many important things were left out of the record. < --See the rest of article posted at my Apologetica site-->                *Top

Related Posts?:

1. What Do Mormons Really Believe? -What Bible Version Do They Use?
2. -Re: Growing Ties Between U.S. Muslims and Mormons