I'm genuinely curious about your opinion of post mortem baptism. I'm not a religious man, but I find the concept distasteful. Is there a defense for this practice? Am I simply misinformed?
Ask a Mormon anything.
- Thread starter kiwi
- Start date
I'm genuinely curious about your opinion of post mortem baptism. I'm not a religious man, but I find the concept distasteful. Is there a defense for this practice? Am I simply misinformed?
To make it to the highest kingdom, you have to be baptized (You can't be married in a temple without it). We are baptized for the dead because they can no longer do it for themselves. It isn't a forced baptism though, they get to choose whether they accept it or not, we are simply giving them the opportunity to accept it.
I'm impressed IBWIP, you actually seem to know a little about our religion and not just what mainstream media throws at you (so, basically, polygamy).
i've heard of postmortem baptism before. i don't get how they can decide whether to accept it or not when they're dead.
I may be a judgmental, crass, and uneducated drunkard, madam, but I am not entirely unworldly or unread. Besides, I once read an inflammatory article claiming that the mormon church was busy baptizing victims of the holocaust, which I found particularly odious. I, for reasons I cannot explain, hope it is untrue.
You say that this baptism isn't forced. Is the idea that the "soul" of the dead person, upon this surprise baptism, is able to select whether or not to accept it? Also, how can the results of this decision be known? I sort of assumed that the dead person was considered some sort of de-facto mormon.
i heard an interesting interpretation of the motivation behind mormon's who seek to spread their faith. it was at the beginning of an episode of this american life. Ira talks about the ending of Schindler's List, where Oscar Schindler looks around at what remains: his car, this golden trinket etc. and how he could have spent it in an effort to employ more jews, and save more from their fate. The feeling of loss that he could have done more.
When you really believe that everyone who isn't baptised has it really, REALLY bad after death, you do as much as possible to save as many as you can, while you can.
At least that's my understanding.
I guess my question is, do you feel this way, kiwi?
When you really believe that everyone who isn't baptised has it really, REALLY bad after death, you do as much as possible to save as many as you can, while you can.
At least that's my understanding.
I guess my question is, do you feel this way, kiwi?
Why would Jospeh Smith return the golden plates to Moroni? Instead of being a matter of faith, they could be a matter of fact, helping us non-believers to cross over.
The point of the temples is anything that happens in them happens both here, and in Heaven, hence why babtism's for the dead are performed in a temple, therefore, making it possible for those that are in Heaven to reap it's blessings. Unfortunately, you need a body to get baptized, so that's why we do it for them afterwards, but yes, their souls get to choose whether they accept it or not. If their soul doesn't accept it, it's as if it never happened on earth. How do they know it's happened? They just do? Not sure of the semantics of it all.
This is actually fairly acurate. We share it out of love, I'm insanely happy, I know that if I live right, I can be with my family forever and become a Goddess and create worlds and have spirit children and continue the cycle, we like to share this with everyone so they too can have that possibility.
People are greedy, they are an insanely spiritual artifact and if kept here on earth would have been stolen/sold/desecrated/who knows. Also, we don't have all the information off of them yet, there is a sealed portion we aren't ready for. We'll get it when we are.
Wait... so the actual physical remains need to be present? I was under the impression that these posthumous baptisms occurred with the corpse, or whatever, in absentia.
No, dead bodies remain where they are. We use our bodies in place of theirs but are being baptized for their spirits. Sorry if that was confusing.
You can repent in Heaven and learn the things you need to know to get to the highest kingdom, but you can't be baptized in Heaven, so we do that for them.
I don't suppose they explain the mechanism of the transmigration of the soul anywhere in that book, do they?
kiwi, how bad would it be to blackmail your husband to move y'all over here, and for him to accept, and for us to never ever tell you about it so you'd just think it was the ultimate gift of love? would that be too bad?
also, do you want me to lend you my openminded stick so the people who need to be beaten with it may be?
also, is it really THAT wrong to lust a hot mormon housewife? from a frumpy nonmorman housewife?
also, do you want me to lend you my openminded stick so the people who need to be beaten with it may be?
also, is it really THAT wrong to lust a hot mormon housewife? from a frumpy nonmorman housewife?
Not that I remember.
We'd never move to Atlanta, but maybe we can find a more central location and both move! And you better lust after me.
And yes please send me your stick, I would take it to Utah and beat a bunch of people with it.
Kiwi isn't a stereotypical mormon. She does bad bad things.
That's too bad. You leave me with no choice but to believe ridiculous fiction more to my liking.
Thank you for playing along, though.
:respect:
I have to say that I like this. One of the things that's always struck me as, well, unfair about most religions is the fact that by the time you know whether you've done what you're supposed to do in life, you're already at the point of being condemned.
Kiwi isn't a stereotypical mormon. She does bad bad things.
Obligatory:
wait so black people can't be Mormons?
and how do Mormons feel about Jehovah's Witnesses?
Of course black people can be Mormon's, they aren't treated any different then any other person.
We giggle at them behind their back.
No really, they are just people with differing beliefs then ours.
