[FCHSM] From Megan Smolenyak's blog: Bad News for Catholics

[John P. DuLong]

> I'm Catholic too, and not ashamed to say it.  What I have trouble with is
> the whole idea of our Catholic ancestors being baptized as Mormons  
> long after their deaths. And the Mormons will tell you that that  
> dead person agreed to the Mormon baptism--how on Earth is that  
> possible??

Actually, I believe according to Mormon theology the dead have not  
automatically accepted this proxy baptism and they can reject it.   
Think of it this way, your ancestor dies, finds that there is indeed  
an after life, and that the after life is the one the Mormon's  
projected, he or she can then accept the proxy baptism or deny it.  Of  
course, the Mormons are banking on the dead accepting the proxy  
baptism because they believe their view of the after life is true.

In contrast, if there is no after life or the after life does exist  
and matches what Catholics or others project, then the dead can simply  
ignore the whole proxy baptism issue.

I think of these proxy baptisms as a kind of odd Pascal's wager for  
the deceased, that is, one ought to be baptized by proxy just in case  
there is a Mormon god and after life.  I also understand, but have not  
verified this, that one can write to the Mormon Church and ask that  
proxy baptism never be performed on you after you are deceased.

Of course, as a non-believer and not ashamed to say so, I find all  
talk of an after life strange.  I am just happy that the Mormon  
theology embraces the idea of proxy baptisms of the dead and that  
families are forever as these concepts fuel their keen interest in  
genealogy and preserving records for which we all benefit.  I regret  
that the Catholic Church has decided to no longer cooperate with the  
Mormons, but I certainly can understand why they feel they must not  
cooperate given their competing theological views.   Furthermore, for  
the same reason, I can understand why Jews do not want their dead to  
undergo proxy baptism.

I must confess that when I find my Catholic ancestors have been  
baptized by proxy into the Mormon faith I often wonder how many of  
them would have felt about it.  Especially, I would be curious to know  
how my French-Canadian ancestors who were living in Illinois when the  
Mormons were living in Nauvoo and the topic of hot debate felt about  
the Mormons.  I suspect that most of them would not appreciate being  
brought into the Mormon fold via proxy baptism.

JP