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| (Photo by Arne List) |
Although digging at posthumous baptisms may seem quite radical to the general public, Helen Radkey has been doing her best to expose the genealogical roots of these practices.
According to Radkey, an excommunicated Mormon with access to Church records (as well as an ex-Catholic, but that’s another story) - thousands of deceased Jews have been baptized by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (aka “Mormon Church” or “LDS”) without either the knowledge or consent of their living Jewish brethren. In a December 2002 Forward article titled Bedevilling the Saints in Defense of the Dead, Radkey is described as “an Australian-born genealogical researcher” who has become known for her attempts to “stop [LDS] church members from using the Mormons’ extensive genealogical records to baptize posthumously thousands of Jews, including Holocaust survivors.”
That same article portrays Radkey as a “minister in the independent Universal Life Church and tarot card reader” – as well as a reputed “thorn in the side of religious institutions.” Now, nearly ten years later, articles are again indicating that Radkey is still poking away at these institutional underbellies. This from one recent headline:
Mormons baptized slain reporter Daniel Pearl (whose final words before being murdered included the vigorous assertion “I am a Jew”). This from another: Claims surface of Anne Frank baptism by Mormon
Church, week after officials issue apology. This from a third: Mormons apologize for proxy Wiesenthal baptism.
The aforementioned Forward article notes that there was a 1995 signed document in which the Mormon Church “said it would remove the names of almost 400,000 Jews from its International Genealogical Index and agreed that church members may only baptize their own deceased Jewish ancestors, or a deceased Jew whose family gave written consent.” However, the database has not been monitored accordingly - and unauthorized Jewish names (such as Pearl, Frank and Wiesenthal) have been continuously added. (Another issue has been the broad manner in which the phrase “deceased Jewish ancestors” has at times been interpreted – some Mormons have claimed all Jews to be their rightful ancestors.)
The motives run deep on both sides of this issue. Radkey has been speaking out her truth for years now. Meanwhile, there are Mormons who fervently believe that posthumous baptism is the only means left by which some may enter the gates of heaven.
Resources
http://web.archive.org/web/20060701105247/http://www.forward.com/issues/2002/02.12.20/faces.html
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/mormons-baptize-people-dead-article-1.1031550
http://articles.boston.com/2012-02-29/news/31111583_1_baptizing-holocaust-victims-mormon-temple-baptism
http://www.philly.com/philly/news/religion/20120214_ap_mormonsapologizeforproxywiesenthalbaptism.html
Copyright March 4, 2012 by Linda Van Slyke All Rights Reserved
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