Page 32 - ARUBA TODAY

A32 FEATURE
Friday 22 december 2017
APNewsBreak: Mormon baptisms of Holocaust victims draw ire

By BRADY McCOMBS Mormon but no longer be-
Associated Press longs to the church.
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Mor- The baptisms of public fig-
mons are posthumously ures are likely based on
baptizing Holocaust victims two factors, he added.
as well as grandparents of First, people naturally think
public figures like Donald about celebrities more of-
Trump, Hillary Clinton and ten because they see them
Steven Spielberg, despite on TV and in movies or hear
church rules intended to them on the radio. Second-
restrict the ceremonies to ly, Mormons are similar to
a member’s ancestors, ac- other social groups in that
cording to a researcher they like to claim famous
who has spent two de- people as their own.
cades monitoring the Radkey, who left the LDS
church’s massive genea- church in the mid-1970s
logical database. and was later excommuni-
The discoveries made by cated after publicly criticiz-
former Mormon Helen ing it, was blocked from the
Radkey and shared with part of the database that
The Associated Press likely shows the baptisms until re-
will bring new scrutiny to cently getting a login from
a deeply misunderstood a Mormon friend. The sub-
practice that has become In this Monday, Nov. 6, 2017, photo, show Helen Radkey at her home in Holladay, Utah. urban Salt Lake City wom-
a sensitive issue for the Associated Press an has dedicated count-
church. The church, in a grossly insensitive. baptisms were found listed block baptisms on restrict- less hours to researching
statement, acknowledged The posthumous baptizing in the church’s genealogi- ed names, he said. That proxy baptisms because
the ceremonies violated its of Holocaust victims re- cal database, including includes a list of Holocaust she believes people’s reli-
policy and said they would opens Jewish wounds from Radkey’s 2012 discovery victims sent each month by gious preferences should
be invalidated, while also being forced in the past to of one performed on Anne a Jewish human rights or- be respected even after
noting its created safe- convert to Christianity or Frank. ganization in Los Angeles. they’re dead.
guards in recent years to face death or deportation, The church apologized Ryan Cragun, an associ- Printouts and screenshots
improve compliance. Jewish genealogist Gary then, sent a letter to mem- ate professor of sociology of Radkey’s latest research
Proxy baptisms are tied to a Mokotoff said. bers reiterating its guide- who studies Mormonism show that in the past five
core church teaching that “The more she digs, the lines and announced the at the University of Tampa, years, proxy baptisms were
families spend eternity to- more she uncovers,” Mo- creation of a firewall aimed said Mormons are striving performed on at least 20
gether, but the baptisms do kotoff said. “It’s not like a at preventing the inappro- to baptize everyone who Holocaust victims.
not automatically convert chance circumstance.” priate use of proxy bap- has ever lived to help get They also were performed
dead people to Mormon- After discussions with Mo- tisms. non-Mormons out of “spirit on Humphrey Bogart and
ism. Under church teach- kotoff and other Jewish “The church cares deeply prison” in the afterlife and Marilyn Monroe; the moth-
ings, the rituals provide the leaders, the LDS church in about ensuring these stan- receive exaltation. er of Queen Elizabeth II;
deceased a choice in the 1995 established a rule bar- dards are maintained,” One reason for performing and grandparents of Kim
afterlife to accept or reject ring baptisms of Holocaust spokesman Eric Hawkins the ritual on Holocaust vic- Kardashian and Carrie Fish-
the offer of baptism. victims except in rare cases said in the latest statement. tims is that their names are er and U.S. politicians Joe
The Church of Jesus Christ where they are direct an- In recent years, it has im- easy to find in government Biden, John McCain and
of Latter-day Saints is the cestors. It also bars proxy plemented additional safe- records, which creates an Mike Pence.
only major religion that baptisms on celebrities. guards, including adding efficient way to quickly Radkey said she found no
baptizes the dead, and But periodic controversies four full-time staffers who baptize more people, said evidence of ancestral ties
the ritual has contributed erupted when new proxy watch the database and Cragun, who was raised to Mormons.
to struggles by the faith to Mokotoff said Radkey’s
combat the mischaracter- findings show the church
ization of its beliefs. isn’t doing enough to po-
The church’s stance on lice the practice.
family and the afterlife is be- But Rabbi Gary Greene-
hind a massive collection baum, the former national
of genealogical records director of interreligious af-
the Utah-based church fairs at the American Jew-
compiles from around the ish Committee, said he’s
world and makes available seen firsthand that the
to the public through its church takes seriously pre-
website www.familysearch. venting Holocaust baptisms
org . Proxy baptisms are and said leaders are acting
recorded in a password- in good faith to honor the
protected part of the da- agreement.q
tabase accessible only to
church members.
The ceremonies first drew
public attention in the 1990s
when it was discovered
they were performed on a
few hundred thousand Ho-
locaust victims, which Jew- This Aug. 4, 2015, file photo, flowers bloom in front of the Salt Lake Temple, at Temple Square, in
ish leaders condemned as Salt Lake City. Associated Press