Posted by:
steve benson
(
)
Date: February 15, 2012 12:10AM
Water-on-the-brain Mormon Inc. is apparently asserting that Wiesenthal's parents haven't been dead-dunked yet; only that their names have been placed in the LDS genealogical database.
Below are excerpts from an AP version of events (Check the **NOTE at the bottom of the report):
". . . SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Mormon church leaders apologized to the family of Holocaust survivor and Jewish rights advocate Simon Wiesenthal after his parents were posthumously baptized in a Mormon temple ritual.
"Wiesenthal died in 2005 after surviving the Nazi death camps and spending his life documenting Holocaust crimes and hunting down perpetrators who remained at large.
"Records indicate his parents, Asher and Rosa Rapp Wiesenthal, were baptized in proxy ceremonies performed by Mormon church members at temples in Arizona and Utah in late January. . . .
“'We sincerely regret that the actions of an individual member of the church led to the inappropriate submission of these names,' Michael Purdy, a spokesman for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, said in a statement issued Monday.
“'We consider this a serious breach of our protocol and we have suspended indefinitely this person’s ability to access our genealogy records.'
"The name of the individual who submitted the names of the Wiesenthals for baptism was not released. The Associated Press could not independently verify whether the church member had been disciplined. . . .
“'The only way such insensitive practices would finally stop is if church leaders finally decided to change their practices and policies on posthumous baptisms, a move which this latest outrage proves that they are unwilling to do,' [associate dean at the Simon Wiesenthal Center Rabbi Abraham] Cooper said.
"New Jersey-based Jewish genealogy experts Gary Mokotoff said publicity about the Wiesenthal baptism will help solve the problem, which he believes is likely limited to a small number of overzealous church members who believe they are providing a service to their church.
“'If the word gets out that there are consequences, they’ll stop,' said Mokotoff, who has also participated in talks with Mormon leaders. 'But no one has a right to involve other person’s families in their religion. That’s basically what’s wrong about the whole concept.'
"Still, Mokotoff notes that only continued monitoring of the database will show whether church rules and discipline work.
"Salt Lake City researcher Helen Radkey found documentation of the baptism of the Wiesenthals last week while conducting regular checks of a church database. Jews have relied on the work of Radkey, a former Mormon, since 1999, although Mormon church officials have publicly questioned her motives for reviewing the database. . . .
**[NOTE]: “'None of the three names were submitted for baptism and they would not have been under the church’s guidelines and procedures,' [LDS church spokseman Michael] Purdy said. 'The names were simply entered into a genealogical database. Submission for proxy baptism is a separate process.' . . ."
(see: "Mormons Apologize for Posthumous Jewish Baptism," by Jennifer Dobner, "Associated Press," as reported by "ABC News," 14 February 2012, at:
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/mormons-apologize-proxy-wiesenthal-baptism-15593186)
Edited 10 time(s). Last edit at 02/15/2012 03:24AM by steve benson.