# How could the LDS baptize my Lutheran grandmother as a Mormon 6 years after she died? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 3, 2003, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-could-the-lds-baptize-my-lutheran-grandmother-as-a-mormon-6-years-after-she-died/179258 "2003-06-03T00:00:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![jack\_ss](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c77e96/32.png) [@jack\_ss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jack_ss)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2003, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-could-the-lds-baptize-my-lutheran-grandmother-as-a-mormon-6-years-after-she-died/179258/21 "2003-06-03T03:00:57Z")
The way I see it, either the LDS church is correct & the deceased can decline the baptism if they so choose. Or they’re incorrect and their baptism is nothing more than some “weird juju” or “mumbo jumbo”, in which case it holds no power in the spirit realm. ---
**Author:** ![AbbySthrnAccent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@AbbySthrnAccent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AbbySthrnAccent)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2003, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-could-the-lds-baptize-my-lutheran-grandmother-as-a-mormon-6-years-after-she-died/179258/22 "2003-06-03T03:22:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Blake \* > \*\*If the Ku Klux Klan decided to declare a dead relative of yours to be white, despite her being a proud black person, how would you feel? > > If the Republican party decided to posthumously declare Albert Einstein to be a non-Jew, how would you feel? > > Most people feel that the dead deserve some sort of respect for the beliefs they held in life. I think that’s why people get upset. \*\* Except that we are not declaring a change in skin color or ethnicity, we are performing the ordinance and giving the person, posthumously, the opportunity to accept or decline the ordinance. We of course do not know what the indivdual decided. The record is kept, to show that the ordinance was performed, so that later if/when another member of the family decided to do their family history work, they will know that the ordinance has already been done to prevent a duplicated work effort. (Which actually used to happen quite frequently when the records were kept in ledgers at the individual temples rather than in computer databases. There is no disrespect intended in giving our ancestors a choice they may have made had they been taught the gospel during their lifetime. Finally it’s not strangers (KKK or Republicans) making the requests for theses ordinances to be performed. It is descendants or other family members. Admittedly sometimes it’s distant family members that make the submission as people who are quite interested in geneaolgy (no matter what their faith or lack of faith) tend to research ever more distant lines with each generation back. > [@](#): > > I hope Manny doesn’t kill me for posting an incidental fact, but Jewish groups have gotten really fired up over LDS baptizing Jewish dead. A few ago, the LDS leaders agreed to stop doing it, but apparently not everyone got the news, so it continued. After more pressure from Jewish groups, the LDS church just recently announced (again) that they would stop. The original agreement was reached in 1995, I read a CNN article in December where a woman found that it was happening again. I’m not up on Jewish/Mormon geneaology issues, because as far as I know so far I have no Jewish ancestry to trace. However it was my understanding that it was ok to to baptisms of Jewish ancestors if the names were submitted by progeny. [The Forward](http://www.forward.com/issues/2001/01.04.27/news5.html) which is a Jewish American publication the is a defender of Jewish rights had this to say: > [@](#): > > In the mid-1990s some survivors’ groups were horrified to learn that their relatives who perished in the Holocaust had been added to the list of the posthumously baptized. In 1995 The Church of Jesus Christ reached an agreement with the American Gathering of Jewish Holocaust Survivors in which it promised not knowingly to baptize survivors unless they were direct ancestors of living members of the church. > > The church also removed hundreds of thousands of Holocaust survivors from its genealogical indexes and issued a directive to church officials urging them to discontinue any future baptisms of deceased Jews, unless they were direct ancestors of living Mormons or had written permission from living members of the deceased’s immediate family. > > The Church of Jesus Christ said it has no intention of posthumously baptizing immigrants on the Ellis Island passenger lists, including Jews. “Names will be submitted for posthumous baptism by direct-line descendants,” said Dale Bills, a spokesman for The Church of Jesus Christ. > > The baptism issue was raised in early negotiations with the church, said Stephen Briganti, the president of the Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation, which built the new American Family Immigration History Center on the main floor of the immigrant arrival building. “We’re very sensitive to that,” Mr. Briganti said. “They’ve assured us that that’s not the case.” > > Eastern European Jews were one of the largest groups to pass through Ellis Island, “and they and their descendants should be made to feel comfortable” using the database, Mr. Briganti said. > > Indeed, Jewish genealogy experts say relations between Jews and Mormons couldn’t be better. “The rapport is excellent in both ways,” said Gary Mokotoff, the publisher of Avotaynu, the International Review of Jewish Genealogy. “If anything, the Jewish genealogical community takes more than it gives because the [Church of Jesus Christ] has the records, we’re interested in them, and they make them available.” P.S. Wow, I thought I hit submit on this an hour ago. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2003, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-could-the-lds-baptize-my-lutheran-grandmother-as-a-mormon-6-years-after-she-died/179258/23 "2003-06-03T04:14:00Z")
Thanks, Abbey. I find it interesting that the Jewish groups don’t have a problem with the current practice but those who, shall we say, have issues do–on behalf of the Jews, of course! ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2003, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-could-the-lds-baptize-my-lutheran-grandmother-as-a-mormon-6-years-after-she-died/179258/24 "2003-06-03T04:14:10Z")
Thanks, Abbey. I find it interesting that the Jewish groups don’t have a problem with the current practice but those who, shall we say, have issues with the church, do–on behalf of the Jews, of course! ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2003, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-could-the-lds-baptize-my-lutheran-grandmother-as-a-mormon-6-years-after-she-died/179258/25 "2003-06-03T04:16:30Z")
Okay–let’s go with the 2nd posting above. I was sure I’d hit preview before hitting the stop button, but evidently it was that big ol’ submit button I’d hit instead. ---
**Author:** ![grimpixie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecb155/32.png) [@grimpixie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grimpixie)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2003, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-could-the-lds-baptize-my-lutheran-grandmother-as-a-mormon-6-years-after-she-died/179258/26 "2003-06-03T07:35:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Monty \* > \*\*The LDS proxy baptism, again, is a prayer. It is how the LDS display their respect to the dead. I will also venture to say that a fair number of people who are upset over this particular practice have, at one time or another, prayed for us Mormon folk on occasion. \*\* Could you explain why the ceremony is given the label of “baptisim” if it is simply a prayer for the dead to be given an oppurtunity to become LDS. Baptisim is a fairly loaded term, carrying as it does the implications of initiation and membership (at least in the strands of Christianity that I am familiar with). Perhaps a more accurate description might be (if I have understood your descriptions correctly) that this is a prayer to ask that a “baptisim” might one day take place - correct me if I am wrong. Still, **Scarlett** ’s grandmother’s entry in the family tree says: > [@](#): > > baptized LDS 17 Jan 1998 in Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-day Saints, sealed child LDS 11 Jul 2000 in Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-day Saints. which does imply a done deal, seeming to accept that the offered baptisim and sealing _were_ accepted by the dearly departed. I can see how that might upset some people… Grim ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2003, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-could-the-lds-baptize-my-lutheran-grandmother-as-a-mormon-6-years-after-she-died/179258/27 "2003-06-03T12:24:12Z")
> [@](#): > > If the Republican party decided to posthumously declare Albert Einstein to be a non-Jew, how would you feel? Be careful Blake. That comes awful close to slander. Or libel. I forget which. ---
**Author:** ![WeRSauron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f19dbf/32.png) [@WeRSauron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WeRSauron)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2003, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-could-the-lds-baptize-my-lutheran-grandmother-as-a-mormon-6-years-after-she-died/179258/28 "2003-06-03T13:26:27Z")
An explanation of why Latter-day Saints baptise the dead by proxy: It is written: > [@](#): > > “Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born? Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God” (John 3:3-5). This is a commandment that is applicable to all people, living and dead, past and present and future. What compounds this is the fact that spirits, once a person dies, goes the spirit world where it continues to live, grow, and learn. We believe there are missionaries or messengers in the spirit world who teach the Restored Gospel to the inhabitants thereof, to give them a chance to accept or reject Christ. Now, in addition to accepting Christ, one needs to obey Him. As it is written: > [@](#): > > “If ye love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15). So, we need to be baptized. How would the dead, who have accepted Christ, be baptized? The Lord revealed the answer by ordinances performed in the Temple - we shall stand as proxies for the dead, have the ordinances performed on their behalf, and so the dead have the opportunity to advance spiritually if they so desire. Despite the performance of the ordinance, we are counselled to _never_ assume whether someone has accepted or rejected the ordinance. So, just because someone has been baptized by proxy does not mean they’re a Latter-day Saint. I have a _lot_ of work to do. I’m the only Latter-day Saint in my family, and my ancestors were Muslim, Hindu, Sikh, etc. I want my ancestors to have the opportunity to accept or reject the Restored Gospel and have the required ordinances performed if they have accepted it. I haven’t the slightest clue whether they will accept or deny it - but I’d shudder at them not having the opportunity if they did accept Christ and His Gospel. However, just because a person has died doesn’t mean their spirit in the spirit world will be very different. It is written: > [@](#): > > Ye cannot say, when ye are brought to that awful crisis, that I will repent, that I will return to my God. Nay, ye cannot say this; for that same spirit which doth possess your bodies at the time that ye go out of this life, that same spirit will have power to possess your body in that eternal world" (Alma 34:34). (Aside: **Monty** and **AbbySthrnAccent** are great posters about matters Latter-day Saint.) WRS (Endowed, Sunday School teacher, etc., etc., recently married to a Muslim.) ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2003, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-could-the-lds-baptize-my-lutheran-grandmother-as-a-mormon-6-years-after-she-died/179258/29 "2003-06-03T13:43:40Z")
grim: The term “baptism” is used because a baptism does take place: that of the proxy. The entry you provided left off something: “deceased xxxx.” There is no implication of acceptance or denial of the ordinance by the deceased. As I said above, nobody but the deceased (if the LDS theology is correct) can make that decision. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2003, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-could-the-lds-baptize-my-lutheran-grandmother-as-a-mormon-6-years-after-she-died/179258/30 "2003-06-03T13:46:17Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by WeRSauron \* > (Aside: **Monty** and **AbbySthrnAccent** are great posters about matters Latter-day Saint.) Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![grimpixie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecb155/32.png) [@grimpixie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grimpixie)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2003, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-could-the-lds-baptize-my-lutheran-grandmother-as-a-mormon-6-years-after-she-died/179258/31 "2003-06-03T14:07:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Monty \* > \*\*grim: The term “baptism” is used because a baptism does take place: that of the proxy. The entry you provided left off something: “deceased xxxx.” There is no implication of acceptance or denial of the ordinance by the deceased. As I said above, nobody but the deceased (if the LDS theology is correct) can make that decision. \*\* Can you baptise (by proxy) non-believing family members who are still alive in the hope that they will someday come to see the light? What about the sealing part mentioned after the baptisim by proxy - is that also by proxy? If I remember correctly, sealing is a part of the marriage ceremony - is that right? Grim ---
**Author:** ![AbbySthrnAccent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@AbbySthrnAccent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AbbySthrnAccent)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2003, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-could-the-lds-baptize-my-lutheran-grandmother-as-a-mormon-6-years-after-she-died/179258/32 "2003-06-03T14:17:48Z")
Sealing and marriage are separate ordinances. It is possible to be LDS and be married and not sealed. ---
**Author:** ![AbbySthrnAccent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@AbbySthrnAccent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AbbySthrnAccent)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2003, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-could-the-lds-baptize-my-lutheran-grandmother-as-a-mormon-6-years-after-she-died/179258/33 "2003-06-03T14:48:47Z")
\*\* Scarlett67\*\* I’m LDS. My husband is not. We’ve had two children. When one was a toddler he had leukemia. Both our children had been given children’s blessings and are on the membership records of the LDS church. LDS youth are not permitted to be baptized until they are at least 8. However, at the time our older son was attending a well regarded Lutheran private school. The Lutheran minister visited in the hospital and wanted to baptized our ill child. I obviously do not think an infant/toddler needs to be baptized. But hubby permitted it, because he liked the minister and wanted him to do the funeral, if there was going to be one. Hubby (Hubby and his parents are Baptists) feared his parents would not attend if it was conducted by an LDS person. I’m telling all this to point out that we wouldn’t find your scenario, as offensive as you might think (excluding some sort of ritual live sacrifice, of course). It comes down to doing what you believe, and letting others do what they believe. It’s one of our basic articles of faith. “We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may.” Could I have chosen to be offended that hubby permitted someone outside my (and my sons) faith perform an ordinance (infant baptism) that he knew I didn’t believe in? Sure I could, I could have turned it into a huge family battle. I chose not to. I chose to believe that he did what he did because he thought it was necessary and because it helped him get through the most terrible time of our family life. Somewhere out there is a record that my son’s were once baptized Lutheran, but the bottom line is this, the ordinance wasn’t performed by anyone I recognize as having authority, so it means nothing to me. Please don’t be offended. Instead think of it as your Uncle doing what he thinks is right and what is helping him deal with the death of his mother. **WeRSauron** Thanks. Your explanation of why the ordinance is performed is great. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2003, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-could-the-lds-baptize-my-lutheran-grandmother-as-a-mormon-6-years-after-she-died/179258/34 "2003-06-03T14:51:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by grimpixie \* > Can you baptise (by proxy) non-believing family members who are still alive in the hope that they will someday come to see the light? Well, there might be a few family members you want to get the hint you wish they were on the other side of the veil of tears… Seriously, though, no. Baptisms by proxy are only to be performed on behalf of those who are already deceased, not for those you wish were. ---
**Author:** ![grimpixie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecb155/32.png) [@grimpixie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grimpixie)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2003, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-could-the-lds-baptize-my-lutheran-grandmother-as-a-mormon-6-years-after-she-died/179258/35 "2003-06-03T15:19:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by AbbySthrnAccent \* > \*\*Sealing and marriage are separate ordinances. It is possible to be LDS and be married and not sealed. \*\* So, was granny sealed by proxy? And what would be the purpose of such an event taking place?? Grim ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2003, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-could-the-lds-baptize-my-lutheran-grandmother-as-a-mormon-6-years-after-she-died/179258/36 "2003-06-03T17:04:17Z")
I’m not a Mormon, but my understanding of it - mostly through reading these boards - is that sealing is done between Mormon married couples to basically keep them together in the hereafter. A Mormon marrying a non-Mormon only gets the marriage, not the sealing, so they believe they will be separated from their non-Mormon spouse after death. So assuming that granny accepted the baptism by proxy, and grandpa too, then they could be spouses even in the hereafter if they were sealed. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Some\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ad7895/32.png) [@Just\_Some\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Some_Guy)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2003, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-could-the-lds-baptize-my-lutheran-grandmother-as-a-mormon-6-years-after-she-died/179258/37 "2003-06-03T18:30:38Z")
Not to be particularly agressive regarding this to the helpful mormon posters but this raises a theological question for me. Why aren’t the Mormon temples running around the clock baptizing the deceased into their religion. Go back just a thousand years and it becomes a statistical likelyhood that any two people of European ancestry are related so there’s relation there satisfying the “need to be related to request it” clause. Presumably it would be a positive thing for everyone to accept the tenets of Mormonism even if they happen to be dead when it occurs so why aren’t they having giant assembly line baptisms of every deceased person in the world to take care of as many people as they can? Yes, it is kind of like asking why god lets evil exist but in my mind at least it’s taking this aspect of Mormonism to its logical conclusion. So obviously at least some theologin must have raised the question and pondered it at some point and I’m kind of curious what the answer is. Again, sorry if that’s a bit too confrontational of a question but I really do want to know. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2003, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-could-the-lds-baptize-my-lutheran-grandmother-as-a-mormon-6-years-after-she-died/179258/38 "2003-06-03T19:39:39Z")
Well, it’s not limited to being upset about baptism by proxy (BTW, I myself feel very uneasy about it, but that’s not really relevant here) as quite a few Jewish groups were angry when the Vatican canonized Edith Stein, the first Jewish saint. She was born Jewish, but later converted to Catholicism and became a nun, IIRC. She also perished in the Holocaust, even though she had converted (because of course, Hitler wasn’t concerned just with your practicing Judaism, but also “ethnic Jews”). So, if people got upset about her being canonized, even though she herself professed to be a Catholic, I can see why they might get upset about baptising those who were professed Jews into the LDS faith. ---
**Author:** ![CastleAnthrax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecd19e/32.png) [@CastleAnthrax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CastleAnthrax)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2003, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-could-the-lds-baptize-my-lutheran-grandmother-as-a-mormon-6-years-after-she-died/179258/39 "2003-06-03T22:04:22Z")
This is the first I’ve heard of such a concept. It seems remarkably generous to offer salvation to the dead, who presumably are in a better position to judge what really happens in the afterlife. Is there a way to sign up for this ahead of time? I am decidedly not Mormon and will not be in life- but if I die and find out you’re right, I’d really like the opportunity to switch. This is completely serious. I’d like that with all religions, to be honest. I’ve always hated the idea that you’re supposed to make eternal decisions on no more than hearsay evidence. ---
**Author:** ![AbbySthrnAccent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@AbbySthrnAccent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AbbySthrnAccent)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2003, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-could-the-lds-baptize-my-lutheran-grandmother-as-a-mormon-6-years-after-she-died/179258/40 "2003-06-03T22:30:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by grimpixie \* > \*\*So, was granny sealed by proxy? And what would be the purpose of such an event taking place?? > > Grim \*\* It’s not my granny so I don’t know what was done. **Scarlett** ’s quote > [@](#): > > “baptized LDS 17 Jan 1998 in Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-day Saints, sealed child LDS 11 Jul 2000 in Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-day Saints.” From her uncles record, clearly means something to her uncle. It has the word sealed in it, but it’s not clear whether granny was sealed to her parents, her husband or her children. Any or all of the above is possible. The purpose of sealing is quite simply to bind the family together for eternity, parents sealed to each other, children sealed to parents and so on so that the family is an eternal unit. > [@](#): > > We believe that everyone that ever lived or will live on the earth ought to have the opportunity to be baptised. > > Your uncle probably feels that he has done an act of service for your grandmother (and by extension her family) by taking the time to research and document the family geneaology and having someone perform the ordinances on her behalf. He mostly hopes that after his mothers death, she was taught the gospel of Jesus Christ (in the after death spirit world) as he believes and that his mother would accept the ordinance because he is hoping that other ordinances will be performed (and accepted by her) on her behalf that will seal her to her children and bind the family beyond our mortal lives. So in addition to our belief that every person should have the opportunity to be baptised, is the belief that every person ought to have the opportunity to be sealed to their mate and children. Again for clarity sake, we do not presume to know if the individuals for whom these ordinances are performed accept them or not and we acknowledge that there are those that may not. The choice is not ours to make. Our responsibility is to do the work so that if the individual wanted it, it was done and available. **Azael** quite accurately compared it to an invitation. > [@](#): > > we are performing the ordinance and giving the person, posthumously, the opportunity to accept or decline the ordinance. We of course do not know what the indivdual decided. The record is kept, to show that the ordinance was performed, so that later if/when another member of the family decided to do their family history work, they will know that the ordinance has already been done to prevent a duplicated work effort. **WeRSauron** ’s explanation of why Latter-day Saints baptise the dead by proxy is thorough and accurate. **Ferret Herder** ’s understanding is correct. > [@](#): > > Why aren’t the Mormon temples running around the clock baptizing the deceased into their religion. The Washington D.C. temple is open around the clock on specific days of the week. At other times in the past when the need was there other temples have operated around the clock for a time. However, the need is not always there, the work depends on accurate genealogical records done by LDS descendants. [quote] Presumably it would be a positive thing for everyone to accept the tenets of Mormonism even if they happen to be dead when it occurs so why aren’t they having giant assembly line baptisms of every deceased person in the world to take care of as many people as they can? [quote] I’m not sure I understand your question here, but I’ll take a stab at it and if I don’t answer what you are asking you can email me for clarification or ask again. We do the work for our own ancestors because in the past it has upset different cultures when we just did all the records we could get gain access to. As I understand it there are countries and our groups, who permitted access to their civil or community record and allowed us to do our work with the records in exchange for our microfilming or other preservation/ transciption/tranaslation work. Obviously, as with the Jewish community this is not always an option available to us and other agreements are made. We still have millions of Jewish records and we still allow them and any other person interested in family history work access to our records. How busy the baptismal fonts is largely a function of how much work is being done by individual members of the church in a particular temple district. Some districts are busier than others. Unlike most temple work, baptisms can be done by members as young as 12 years old, if they choose and it is not necessary to be endowed to be a proxy for baptisms. In addition to other community service projects and wholesome teen mid-week activites, my son’s youth group goes as a group about once a month. These trips usually take 20-30 people and the kids are often proxies for 20-30 baptisms each. We are lucky that we are less than an hours drive from a temple. Some members are not so near and cannot go so often or have to make huge sacrifices of time or money to get to a temple. There are 114 [temples](http://www.lds.org/temples/faq/0,11264,1904-1,00.html) operating world wide and 14 more announced or under construction. Temple ordinances are not conducted in meetinghouses, only in the Holy Temples. Does that answer your question? **Guin** I am not saying that I do not understand why they are upset. I feel that they are upset because they don’t understand that we believe we are doing an act of service that might help them and can’t hurt them. If it holds no meaning for them then it doesn’t change who they are. We are not doing anything to anyone that they cannot reject or undo. No one is being forced to be LDS. Follow the links to The Forward and you will see that we have done and then undone at the request of Jewish leadership tens of thousands of names. Quite simply, as I stated above, if **Scarlett’s** grandmother does not want to accept the baptism, then it means nothing other than that her son did as he is required by God and did the work on her behalf so that she could have the choice. The scriptures and explanation by **WeRSauron** ’s do a very good job of explaining why be believe as we do. We do the work because we believe it is necessary and God requires it of us. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-could-the-lds-baptize-my-lutheran-grandmother-as-a-mormon-6-years-after-she-died/179258.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-could-the-lds-baptize-my-lutheran-grandmother-as-a-mormon-6-years-after-she-died/179258.md?page=3)