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 A picture of Anne Frank, perhaps the most famous victim of the Holocaust.
February 22nd, 2012
05:11 PM ET
After Anne Frank baptism, Mormons vow to discipline membersBy Dan Gilgoff, CNN.com Religion Editor (CNN) - Reacting to a report that well-known Holocaust victim Anne Frank had been baptized by proxy in a Mormon temple, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints says it is committed to disciplining members of its church who conducted such baptisms, which violate church policy. Word of the Frank baptism came a week after the issue of Mormon posthumous proxy baptism of Jews attracted national attention. This controversy surfaced after it was reported that the dead parents of Jewish Nazi hunter Simon Wiesenthal had been baptized in a Mormon temple. The church apologized for that baptism, blaming it on a technical glitch in its system for submitting names for posthumous proxy baptism. “It takes a good deal of deception and manipulation to get an improper submission through the safeguards we have put in place,” LDS Church spokesman Michael Purdy said in a statement Tuesday, responding to the report about the Anne Frank baptism. Explainer: How and why do Mormons baptize the dead? Though the church regularly conducts proxy baptisms for dead, in what it calls an attempt to give everyone a chance to accept salvation through Jesus, it has a 1990s-era policy against conducting such baptisms for Holocaust victims. The policy was adopted after complaints from Jewish groups, which said it was offensive to conduct Mormon baptisms for Holocaust victims who were killed because of their Jewish faith. “The Church keeps its word and is absolutely firm in its commitment to not accept the names of Holocaust victims for proxy baptism,” said Purdy in his Tuesday statement. The church said it is “committed to taking action against individual abusers by suspending the submitter’s access privileges,” the statement continued. “We will also consider whether other Church disciplinary action should be taken.” According to Helen Radkey, a former Mormon who tracks Mormon posthumous proxy baptisms, the one for Anne Frank was conducted on Saturday in the Dominican Republic. soundoff (1,379 Responses)« Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Next »
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I think I'll pray that the Purple People Eaters from Planet Krypton come down and take all of the Mormons off the face of the Earth.
That sounds like it is right out of the LDS doctrine. Or is that Scientology?
Baptizing dead people is why the Mormon church has such extensive genealogy records. Anne Frank is a high profile case that gets people up in arms – but why are other less known people any different? This practice needs to stop – it's not the Mormon church's place to be baptizing anybody who isn't alive and actively choosing to become Christian. Just another example of "devout" religious people thinking they know what's right for everybody else...
No dead person ever needs to be baptized. This is a practice that ONLY the LDS church teaches. No other church teaches this ridiculous practice. It's pointless!
Has anyone asked Anne Frank how she feels about it? I didn't think so. This is a peculiar and interesting practice of an increasingly important religion...but, a practice which, to me, seems harmless at worst and absolutely necessary if the Mormons have it right.
It's all a bunch of hooey. Believing in fairy tales is delusional behaviour.
But the Mormons are wrong... so there is no reason for them to do it.
It's a matter of principle, to not want to be baptised as a Mormon after you die.
There is no reason for this to be done. It's a Mormon practice, and ONLY a Mormon practice! Dead people DO NOT need to be baptzed!
Why is the Jewish holocaust so famous when there was a holocaust against Armenians, Assyrians and pontic Greeks during World War I? The Turks tried to wipe away all Armenians and Assyrians and killed over 1.5 million!
The other genocides are recognized as well. Not sure what you mean by "so famous". The Jews of the world have SIX MILLION reasons why they wish the Holocaust of WWII never happened and wasn't used as a standard for genocide and mass murder.
Our government refuses to acknowledge it for fear of losing Turkey as a middle eastern ally. In fact, I believe there was threat from Turks when France recognized it recently. Germany has admitted and dealt with its past evils, but Turkey continues to bury its collective head in the sand and refuses to be held accountable.
If these Mormons don't stop I will perform a posthumous conversion of Jesus to make him a Jew.
Jesus was a Jew.
But... Jesus was a Jew. That's the laziest conversion ever.
If you don't believe in the LDS religion, why does it matter?
I sort of agree with you on that... I guess it is a bit sacrilegious, but I am an atheist and don't get offended/up in arms when people pray for me or had me baptized without my consent.
Because it is DOING nothing but slander to that person name and FAMILY!
I guess if I were a relative of Anne Frank, and was not a mormon, and the headline is on CNN for the world to read, I would probably be offended. On the other hand, what if they have it right?
Duane...there are a lot of true stories around us that go unreported. This is CNN's goal, stir up this chatter and miss the real news. I would rather see Obama sings Al Green. That dude can sing.
If we are to judge groups of people by the actions of those who are the worst of the bunch, well, I don't know how many groups could survive such judgement.
Mormons: judged by the actions of those who continue to submit names in violation of church policy
Catholics: judged by the actions of pedophile priests
Muslims: judged by the actions of terrorist extremists
Atheists: judged by serial killers like Jeffrey Dahmer
LGBT community: judged by those who knowingly spread AIDS without telling their partners
The media: judged by those who 'spin' the facts and report biased stories to affect social change
etc., etc., etc.
Everybody lives in glass houses. Perhaps we should stop throwing stones at each other.
well spoken,but, i'm afraid we are not there yet as a society.
Jeffrey Dahmen WAS a mormon, and his work done by the LDS chruch again after his death, google it!
That sentiment is far too reasonable and thoughtful to be found on a CNN comment board.
I AM a Catholic and you are WAYYYYY off on your accusations! Priests just like every one else, are sinners and human beings. Not ALL priests are pedophiles. Before you start throwing out accusations, get your facts straight, because I find it offensive!
Dear NM,
Reading comprehension. Work on it. Thanks.
Not sure if Dahmer was an Atheist but, there is nothing in Atheist that tells you to kill, molest, and eat people. He was from Wisconsin, you can just as easily correlate his crimes with being from Wisconsin. Also, straight people with AIDS (or any other STI) knowing spread them as well.
So much hatred on this message board, wow, these people are becoming insane, I wont be surprised if they go and kill some non-white or non-christian person.
Looking at the current 14 responses, I see 14 little people out of 6-8 billion people on this planet with minds to match. Keep your negativity to yourself
To EJ and to all, this is really not about religion from my point of view. It's about presuming you know what someone wants and acting upon it without knowing, absolutely, that it is something they wanted. It would be like someone imposing their will on your beloved dead grandma – reinventing her as a Hindu or Christian when she wanted none of it in her life. I totally believe in "to each their own" and whether you "believe" or not is one's right, but don't claim deceased people as your "own".
who cares? All religion is BS anyways.
Except Christianity. Period.
edocol wins!
6 million (according to jews) were killed...... now we need another Hitler but NOW wipe out all 14 million and not only 6 🙁
Lucy, how about you just wipe yourself out, thereby doing the world a giant favor.
Lucy, you got some 'splainin' to do.
Mark this as a Violation.
The 6 million number refers only to Jewish victims.
There were 5 million others who also were exterminated.
Lucy! You should be ashamed of yourself! You just suggested that 14 million people deserve to DIE because of their relationship with GOD. Wow. That's the ugliest thing I have ever heard someone say. Ever.
Please stop feeding the trolls.
sigh.. the church's are just getting crazier and crazier. salvation after your dead, that's like the when the Medici family controlled the Vatican and sold forgiveness on sheets of paper.
Who do they think they are to believe they know what was in the heart of an individual who lived thousands of miles away and many years ago? They know nothing of these individuals, their strength of faith, their commitment to their values and religous traditions. On top of it they manipulated their own faith's rules about posthumous baptisms. As a Christian I revere the individuals who endured the holocaust in the name of their faith and to honor their heritage. Would any of us be strong enough to do the same? Shameful and I would like to know where it says, in any religious text, "Thou shall know unquestionably what is in the hearts of others, even when deceased?". Are you talking to the dead now?
First of all, Iove you CNN is writing this article WAY after the fact in an effort to oust Romney...nice timing. This story came out years ago. Secondly, I love how they don't explain this beautiful doctrine in any sensible way and make it look crazy. LDS people believe that all people will be given the opportunity to hear the gospel in this life or the next–that the deceased can accept or reject the baptism. They are offering up their most sincere gift to those who want it but in no way is agency taken away just because the baptism was performed. I'd say it's a better plan than damning everyone to hell who doesn't believe–as other Christian often believe. Relax people–you will always have the right to believe what you want to in this life or the next and nobody can take that from you with a simple ceremony.
Really? after death? by proxy? how does that work exactly?
The same way it all does…make believe and magic.
It works by proxy–meaning we find all of our ancestors and personally do their baptism for them–knowing they have the right to accept or reject the baptism in the spirit world. There are some Jewish converts to Mormons (although don't know about Anne Frank)....and there are strict rules about who one can baptize (i.e the person has to be dead over 100 years or living family members, Mormon or not, have to agree to it, etc). It is a ceremony Mormons hold sacred and dear–one that allows families to be united eternally ultimately. Of course, the decision to accept it–is left up the deceased individual. Paul speaks of baptizing the dead in the Bible.....it's not a new concept. Mormons believe ALL men/women will have the opportunity to hear the message of the gospel whether in this life or the next–many will not hear it in this life, thus the need for baptism by proxy.
Whatever suffering happening to those jews they deserve it! That's their punishment from God for not accepting Jesus Christ the mother f'u'c'k'e'r's!!!!!
wow...your special...
@Johnny – It amuses me that you condemn Jews for not excepting Jesus which makes it seem that you have and then you call them mf"s. I wonder if showing a little of the love that Jesus taught would be better than using such a derogatory term for a whole race of people. It certainly would show that you actually practice what you presume to preach.
The gay community has begun baptizing dearly departed Mormons into their Sacred Sodomy Celestial Kingdom.
Their first instruction to the initiates is... "relax, baby."
If Mormons cant baptize in the name of other people then can other faiths not pray in the name of other people???
Praying for someone doesn't assume they were mistaken about which God they kneel before, and then arrogantly 'convert' them, posthumously.
I don't understand why we focus about Jews being the only victim of the holocaust?! Millions and millions of non-Jews were also victim of the holocaust, including Christians. Stop favoring those jews who control the media and the world and STOP shoveling the jewish holocaust in our childrens throat every single day at public schools. We do NOT care and it happened long time ago. This is 21st century NOT 1940s.
Wow-if you do not care about the suffering and death of your fellow human beings, what does that say about you?
Jennifer, have someone gas about 90-95% of your family, rethink the issue, and come back and post again. Thank you.
WOW
The holocaust never happened. Jews just want money and power and want people to feel sorry for them
Do you have proof that exactly 6 million died? It could have been few thousand only.
I don't want my kids to learn about the holocaust in public school. It should be ILLEGAL to discuss mass murder to young kids. Teach it in private school or privately, NOT in public!
Jennifer, that might be one of the most irresponsible, reprehensible things I have ever read. One needs to remember past tragedies to prevent their reoccurrence. The reason the Holocaust is so associated with the Jewish faith is because out of 9 million Jews living in Europe at the time, 6 million were killed. That is 2/3 of the total population! It was a systematic attempt to eradicate the faith from the planet. Hitler had no intention of erasing Christianity, only those Christians who were human enough to speak up against his terror. And for that everyone is sorry and remembers them with equal passion. But they were not the primary targets of that regime's aggression.
You are a horrifying person.
Yes, other people were hurt. The point is that the what happened to the Jews was genocide. Their population dwindled so rapidly that only a fraction of them were left.
Also, please refrain from using the word "we", you meant "I". We aren't all sociopaths. Thanks.
Hey Lucy you troll, I knew several holocaust survivors who were not Jews. What did they have to gain? The death of their families?
yes, Jenifer, may be few thousands which is just a small number, and yeah, if they dont teach in private schools or private, just take your gun and go kill those guys. I think you should check yourself in rehab.
Hitler was half Jewish..... don't forget that
Why did he not successfully kill all 9 million if he wanted to wipe Judaism away?
I don't care what anyone say.... Keep the holocaust away from our children! We are not interested. It did NOT happen in America so shut up
@Man
Because the allies got involved and start hitting him on all fronts, while what was left of the Jewish people ran for their lives? Its well known history son.
P.s I wanted to get an A on every test in school… but sometimes I got a B. Sometimes we don’t get what we want despite our efforts.
I think the the most horrifying thing is that "Jennifer" might actually have children.
Jennifer, I think it was Churchill who said those who don't remember the past are due to repeat it. That may not be the exact wording, but the message is loud and clear.
What is going on? As a mormon, I am not happy to hear this. First, I don't know if this is necessarily true. I know for a fact that CNN is coming up with all these stories about mormons to put a negative light on the religion because of Mitt Romney and the GOP election. Second, it's only going to get worse. There are bad mormons but there are also bad people in every religion. We are all human.
Murpis, the story is in fact true and has been reported here in SLC.
Mrupis, what's going on is that Mormons are batship crazy. godisimaginary
A religious type leaning on a "fact" they can’t prove and dismissing a fact that can be proved…. I’m SHOCKED….
Read my statement again. I didn't say it wasn't true. I said I don't know if it is true. Calm down people.
@murpis
You’re right you did say you don’t know for a fact that it is true, its only on the NEWs (and not only CNN). If you believe that CNN is conspiring against the Mormon religion and the republicans (of which you provide no proof for this ‘fact’) then why are you here reading the article? Ooo that’s right you just wanted to cry victim.
Victim? You really are a strange one. I don't know how you got that I am calling myself a victim. The news is not proof of anything, just so you know. Anyways, I can tell you are just trying to start an argument and win it. You are just a bully and I'm done responding to you. Have a good one.
@ murpis
Name calling really? And I’m the one starting an argument…as a response to a comment about the great media conspiracy against your religion? Funny I guess all the other people who posted about your comment with similar statements are all bullies too right? And you wonder why I say you cry victim and then top if off by running away. Classic theist.
P.S. The news media does make mistakes from time to time. You have to use judgment (I know it’s a weak spot for true believers like yourself) and weigh the information from many sources. This is pretty basic common sense. Again I ask if you do not consider them to be creditable and in fact conspiring against you…why are you here?