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

[John P. DuLong]

Britt Baubie wrote:

> If I remember correctly, the reason that the Mormon's are into genealogy
> so
> much is so that they can be "Sealed" to their ancestors.  I think they
> realized that their faith was not that old and what better way to save
> their
> ancestors?  Someone probably asked Joseph Smith once, what about my father
> and mother who weren't Mormons?  It is a "Catch 22" because we all benefit
> from their religious goals and yet some of us question their worship
> practices.  Does everyone realize that Ancestry.com is completely Mormon
> based?

I have often thought like Britt that the sealing and proxy baptism was a way
for the Mormons to allow converts to bring their ancestors along.  I know
that many people in the past and in foreign lands resist conversion of
Christian missionaries because they do not want to be separated from their
deceased loved ones in the afterlife.  So the Mormon approach is really a
brilliant way to overcome this hesitancy.  Families are forever and will be
reunited in the afterlife according to their theology.

Also, the Mormon Church is really a relatively new creation, only a few
generations old, so this bringing of ancestors into the fold is a great way
to extend the church back in time and give it more legitimacy.  

Because of their theology, we non-Mormons get to benefit from the
genealogical record preservation work they do.  I may not believe their
theology, but I am grateful to them.  I wish the Catholic Church would be
more flexible about this issue, but I certainly understand their position.
I am just glad that church records in France and Québec are considered civil
records.

JP

John P. DuLong, Ph.D.
Acadian and French-Canadian Genealogy
959 Oxford Road
Berkley, MI 48072-2011
(248) 541-2894, home
(248) 890-4853, cell
http://habitant.org