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HELEN RADKEY
Total Articles:
17
HELEN RADKEY is an international renowned religion and genealogical researcher, writer and lecturer specializing in issues relating to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons.) Her provocative and controversial articles about that sect have appeared in the American press, and in 1998, the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome published on her Catholic-Mormon research.
Since 1999, Ms. Radkey has reported on the failure of the agreement signed by LDS leaders and Jewish organizations in which the Church promised to halt its proxy baptisms for deceased Jews. The practice continues, despite denials by the Mormon leadership.
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In 1995 the Mormon Church signed an agreement to cease its practice of baptizing deceased Jews who were not direct ancestors of members of their faith and listing them in the IGI. The church also removed from the IGI the names of hundreds of thousands of posthumously baptized Jews. The church also stated that any Jews who found a deceased relative had been baptized could write to request removal of the name if the deceased Jew was not a direct ancestor of a Mormon.
Despite LDS expressions of good will, as time passed rumors were heard that once-removed names were again appearing on the IGI list. By March 2005, Helen Radkey, a former Mormon living in SLC who had been investigating the charges, had uncovered evidence of over 5,000 names. After representatives of several Jewish organizations took these findings to a meeting with Mormon officials a Jewish and Mormon ad hoc committee was formed to study the findings.
Part of the problem is that Mormons who extract names from records are not familiar with Jewish names. Perhaps that elderly name extraction missionary in NY doesn’t realize that Fanny Goldberg and Morris Bernstein might be Jewish. The fact that a rabbi married them would give one clue, and that Morris was buried in Beth Moses cemetery give another. The committee hoped to resolve these problems.
Then the church dropped the bombshell on the ad hoc committee. While explaining various LDS practices, David Rencher announced that the LDS Church interprets the phrase “direct ancestors” to include all descendants of an ancestor and had done so for decades prior to the ‘95 agreement. So a church member can baptize his 3rd great grandfather and all of the descendants of that 3rd great grandfather, even though he/she is not a direct descendant as that term is generally used. For example, a certain Rabbi who had been martyred in 1659 had been baptized, all of his sons and their families down the line. After all, the church believes in “family togetherness.”
“In other words, if a Mormon claims descent from Rashi or from King David, the LDS Church considers it within the bounds of the 1995 agreement to baptized posthumously every descendant of Rashi or of King David.”
The LDS representative stated that the issue was beyond the purview of the committee, and that he turned the matter to Marlin Jensen. In turn, Jensen referred the matter to the leadership of the LDS church. As of mid-November 2005, the Q of 12 was still wrestling with the meaning of “direct ancestor.”
The above is a synopsis from an article in AVOTAYNU, An International Review of Jewish Genealogy, Fall, 2005, entitled, "Mormon/Jewish Controversy: An Update."
Clearly, this is a giant loophole.
As far as I know, there has still been no “revelation” on the subject.
| The Mormon Church Attempts To Conceal Temple Records For Adolf Hitler
Wednesday, Mar 29, 2006, at 07:21 AM
Original Author(s): Helen Radkey
Topic: HELEN RADKEY -Link To MC Article- | ↑ | On August 30, 1998, Don McAreavy, of Calgary, Alberta, Canada, wrote
to the LDS Family History Library asking if LDS proxy temple work had
been performed for Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun. McAreavy specifically
wanted to know if temple ordinances had been performed for Hitler and
Braun on September 28, 1993, in the Jordan River Temple, Utah.
A response to this inquiry was sent to McAreavy on September 8, 1998.
Typed on an official letterhead of The Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints, the letter was signed by Mae Dean Ashton. The
address of the sender was shown as: Family History Library, 35 North
West Temple Street, Salt Lake City, Utah 84150-3400.
Ashton's reply read as follows:
Dear Mr. McAreavy:
Thank you for your letter of August 30th regarding temple
ordinances for Adolph Hitler and Eva Braun.
We searched the International Genealogical Index TM Addendum and
found no information listed for either. The enclosed printout is the
closest we could find and you will note that birth dates are 1836 and
1838.
No additional information is available.
Sincerely,
Mae Dean Ashton
Team Leader
Photoduplication Unit
The printout Ashton sent McAreavy shows LDS proxy ordinances which
have been performed for Alois Hiedler or Heidler (Hitler), the father
of Adolf Hitler.
In October 1998, McAreavy was able to obtain copies of LDS temple
ordinance records for Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun from Philip Roberts
of the North American Mission Board of the Southern Baptist
Convention. These IGI (International Genealogical Index) copies
reveal that Adolf Hitler was "baptized" and "endowed" on December 10,
1993, and "sealed" to his parents on March 12, 1994. These events
took place in the London Temple, England. Robert's copies also show
that Hitler was "sealed" to Braun on September 28, 1993, in the
Jordan River Temple, Utah, and on June 14, 1994, in the Los Angeles
Temple. Roberts sent copies of these records to Ashton.
McAreavy sent another mailing to Ashton on October 17, 1998, again
asking her if she could locate information for Adolf Hitler and Eva
Braun in LDS files. On November 17, 1998, McAreavy mailed a double
registered letter to Ashton. He reminded her that Roberts had sent
documentation to her which seemed to indicate that the Mormon Church
had done temple ordinances for Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun. "Would you
please be kind enough to verify if the information that Philip
Roberts provided is both accurate and proof that temple ordinances
were performed for Adolf Hitler," McAreavy wrote.
Ashton replied to McAreavy's November 17 letter on December 2, 1998.
She again insisted that the [Alois Hitler] copies she had sent
McAreavy with her September 8 letter were all that could be located
in the IGI TM [Addendum]. McAreavy was informed that he could soon
expect to receive a reply from the [Family History] Department
Director.On December 29, 1998, McAreavy again wrote to Ashton. He
requested the name and mailing address of the Department Director
because he had received no communication from that person, as
promised by Ashton. When there was no response to this request,
McAreavy wrote directly to the Department Director of the
Photoduplication Department of the Family History Library on January
25, 1999. McAreavy again asked if the Mormon Church had done temple
ordinances for Hitler and Braun.
The following reply, again typed on an official letterhead of The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, dated March 16, 1999,
was sent to McAreavy from the Family History Library:
To Whom It May Concern:
Subject: Famous or Historical Figures
You recently wrote to inquire if temple ordinances have been
performed for a famous or historical figure. As a matter of policy,
we respond to such requests only when those making the request are
directly related to the person about whom they seek information.
It might be helpful to know that, as an institution, we have no
control over the names individuals submit to receive temple
ordinances. However, we strongly counsel Church members to submit
only the names of those persons to whom they are related.
Furthermore, we believe that ordinances performed in behalf of any
deceased individual are valid only if that person is worthy of and
chooses to accept what has been done in his or her behalf.
The Church spends a great deal of time, effort, and money to make
information available that helps not only its members, but all who
are interested in family history pursuits. You are welcome to use the
resources we provide. We hope you find satisfaction in doing do.
Sincerely,
Family History Department
In this impersonal communication to McAreavy, the LDS Family History
Department clearly avoided taking responsibility for the discrepancy
between Ashton's September 8 denial of LDS temple work for Hitler and
Braun - and the IGI copies, supplied by Roberts, which seem to prove -
beyond a shadow of a doubt - that this notoriously well-known pair
have, indeed, had proxy LDS ordinances performed on their behalf.
At the time McAreavy made his initial inquiry to the Family History
Library on August 30, there were multiple entries in LDS temple
ordinance files which showed that Mormons have performed various
rituals on behalf of Hitler and Braun. These records can still be
accessed. Ashton gave McAreavy incorrect information. Was this a
deliberate evasion of truth? What are the facts?
Adolf Hitler Converts to Mormonism
Current IGI TM Addendum temple ordinance entries for Mr. [Adolf]
Hiedler (Hitler) show that Hitler was "baptized" by Mormons on
September 30, 1993, and "endowed" on April 27, 1994, in the Jordan
River Temple, Utah. This record was in the IGI TM Addendum at the
time of Ashton's denial [to McAreavy of temple ordinance information
for Adolf Hitler] on September 8. I obtained a copy of this
particular record for Hitler from the LDS Family Search Center in the
Joseph Smith Memorial Building in downtown Salt Lake City on July 13,
1998, less than two months before Ashton stated that no such IGI
record existed for Hitler.
If Ashton and her co-workers were not very efficient in their search
for Adolf Hitler temple ordinance entries in the LDS genealogical
computer system, the same could be said for their lack of
thoroughness in locating the same type of records for Eva Braun.
Eva Anna Paula Braun, born in Munich, Bavaria, Germany, on February
7, 1912, was "baptized" by Mormons on October 16, 1964, and "endowed"
on February 5, 1965, in the Los Angeles Temple. She had been "sealed"
to her parents some time prior to 1970. This information is current
and is easily accessible in the IGI TM Addendum, in which file Ashton
stated that no information was available for either Hitler or Braun.
These entries for Braun should have been found by genuine seekers. In
this case, it seems these records may have been intentionally
overlooked. Was it easier for McAreavy to be given inaccurate
information rather than present him with any copies which he could
possibly have used against the Mormon Church? Or are the staff of the
Family History Library so poorly skilled at accessing their own
computer files that they missed the entries in question?
In addition to the IGI, which is a huge database of names and vital
information for multimillions of people, with an Ordinance Index
attached, the other significant LDS genealogical file is the
Ancestral File. In this family history archive, LDS ordinance records
may be found attached to pedigree charts.
There are, currently, Ancestral File ordinance records which show
Adolf Hitler was "baptized" on September 4, 1993, "endowed" on
October 12, 1993, and "sealed" to his parents and also Eva Braun on
June 14, 1994 - in the Los Angeles Temple. The June 14 sealing of
Hitler and Braun is the same sealing which Roberts sent copies of to
McAreavy and Ashton. These entries could once be found in the IGI.
They have since been deleted, along with other entries for prominent
Nazis. What is going on here?
Prior to adding the 1997 edition to the IGI, it seems that the Mormon
Church, intent on preserving its public image, attempted to remove
the names of well-known Nazis from the IGI files. Most of the IGI
entries for Adolf Hitler; Mrs. (Adolf Hitler); Adolf Eichmann; Paul
Joseph Göbbels; Hermann Göring; Rudolf Hess; and Heinrich Himmler,
were quietly removed. Also erased were the records for Benito
Mussolini, the dictator of Fascist Italy from 1922 to 1943 and ally
of Hitler and the Third Reich.
But the deletion effort was botched. Some entries were missed, such
as the ones still current for Hitler and Braun, in the IGI and
Ancestral File. The IGI ordinance records for Hitler's deputy, Rudolf
Hess, which correctly showed his place of birth as Alexandria, Egypt,
were deleted - yet other IGI ordinance entries still exist for Hess,
wrongly listing his place of birth as Germany.
Also missed were LDS ordinance records, which still exist in the
Ancestral File, for Paul Joseph Göbbels and Hermann Göring. These
entries, which include baptisms for each of them, may have been
intentionally removed from the IGI files.
The LDS ordinance records, of other well-known Nazis, were apparently
overlooked by Mormons during their IGI purge. These records are
currently accessible [1999] . Included in this liberal list are:
Reinhard Heydrich, "The Father of The Final Solution" - Hitler's plan
to exterminate all Jews in Europe. Alfred Rosenberg, hanged at
Nuremberg for war crimes; Erns Röhm, once the thuggish leader of
Hitler's Storm Troopers; and Field Marshall Erwin Rommel, * the
famous Desert Fox of World War II.
In May 1994 and March 1996, from LDS genealogical centers, I obtained
numerous Nazi IGI entries which have since been deleted. In this
collection, are copies of the LDS records for Hitler and Braun that
Roberts sent to McAreavy and Ashton, with the additional sealing of
Adolf Hitler to his parents on June 14, 1994. I have IGI copies of
all of the LDS ordinance records for Hitler which are currently in
the Ancestral File - but no longer in the IGI. As well, my copies
show another baptism for Hitler, almost identical to the one still in
the IGI files under Hiedler (Hitler), with the same ordinance dates.
But the deleted entry is listed as Hitler (Hiedler) Adolf, showing a
birth date of 1889. The Hiedler (Hitler) entry shows a birth of 1891 -
so they are different records.
A mysterious record for a Mr, Hitler, of Vienna, Austria, with date
of death 1900, and showing a proxy baptism date of April 15, 1924, in
the Logan Temple, Utah, is also no longer in the IGI files. Other
vanished IGI entries are a sealing of Adolf Hitler to Eva Braun on
October 19, 1993, at the Jordan River Temple, and a baptism for Mrs.
Hitler (Hiedler) on September 10, 1993, and an endowment for her on
March 17, 1994, also in the Jordan River Temple.
The Mormon Church has attempted to deliberately conceal LDS temple
ordinances for Adolf Hitler. This first occurred with the
disappearance of many of the IGI records for Hitler and other
publicly-known evildoers of the Third Reich. Then - there was a
second attempt to cover-up Nazi records when Ashton told McAreavy
that no LDS temple ordinances had been performed for Adolf Hitler and
Eva Braun. Even when confronted by IGI temple records, for Hitler and
Braun, by Roberts - those in charge of the Family History Department
at the Family History Library, representing the genealogical arm of
the Mormon Church, did not want to take responsibility for these
records. Their implausible excuse was that they have no control over
the names individuals submit to receive temple ordinances.
Like a slippery snake in the grass, the Mormon Church may have tried
to dodge public criticism by denying its questionable proxy
recognition of Adolf Hitler - the amoral and evil Nazi genius who
was responsible for the terror and barbarism of the Third Reich and
the loss of millions of innocent lives, before and during World War
11. But LDS ordinance records speak for themselves - Mormons have
repeatedly claimed the unpopular Hitler. Anything stated to the
contrary cannot alter this conclusion.
Deception is not the hallmark of a church with integrity. As the
Mormon Church will eventually find out - even the most artful serpent
can be choked by its own coils!
http://www.utlm.org/onlineresources/hitlertemplework.htm
| Pope John Paul II Is Now A Mormon - Necro Baptised In A Mormon Temple
Monday, May 29, 2006, at 04:46 AM
Original Author(s): Cricket
Topic: HELEN RADKEY -Link To MC Article- | ↑ | Per Helen Radkey, the woman who has done the Mormon necro dunk research of Jewish Holocaust vicitms now claims the Mormons have necro-baptized Pope John Paul II (Karol Jozef Wojtyla) not only once but four times!
http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Searc...
http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Searc...
http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Searc...
http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Searc...
Do any of you have access to the actual temple ordinance records and can check out what temples these baptisms for the dead were performed at? And when? It takes some authorization (temple recommend?) to do this search. Anyone can access the IGI Individual Record, but not the temple ordinance dates.
See if the Pope has been "sealed" to his parents yet or if he has been endowed yet? And which woman will be sealed to him for an eternal spouse?
How tacky is this!
Any Catholics out there - let your leaders know what the Mormons are up to.
I propose that upon Hinckley's demise we organize simultanious sacred ordinance work on his behalf performed by all the major world religious groups. This to be done in front of the Church Administration Building as a half-time show during General Conference.
Hinckley could be sprinkled, circumcized, blessed, oiled, smudged, capped, christened, tattooed, shaved, flaggelated, bar-mitzvahed, deflowered, transubstantiated, penanced, communed, exorcized, confessed, wreathed, kissed, Shalom Zachored, Sal-Girahed and ordained vicariously. We would just be generously returning the favor and Hinckley could chose to either accept or deny the ordinances - no offense taken, of course!
The temples and ordinance dates in the same order as your posting, cut and pasted for accuracy:
Baptism: 20 APR 2006 JRIVE
Endowment: 20 APR 2006 JRIVE
Sealing to Parents: CLEARED
Baptism: 19 APR 2006 MADRI
Endowment: 19 APR 2006 MADRI
Baptism: 11 APR 2006 OGDEN
Endowment: 15 APR 2006 BOUNT
Sealing to Parents: 15 APR 2006 BOUNT
Baptism: 26 APR 2006 SLAKE
Endowment: 26 APR 2006 SLAKE
Sealing to Parents: 26 APR 2006 SLAKE
| From the Salt Lake City Weekly:
Mickey Mouse is alive and well, at least as far as the folks at Disney are concerned--and they should know. According to some prankster, however, the famous rodent is not only dead, but also eligible to be baptized, endowed and sealed (with wife Minnie) in the LDS Church Temple.
While conducting an investigation into the extensive genealogical database operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, researcher Helen
Radkey discovered records detailing the mouse's family tree--complete with clearance for temple ordinances.
According to LDS Church doctrine, since some never receive the opportunity to become Mormons during their lives, church members may engage in rituals like "baptism for the dead," to allow benighted souls to posthumously convert.
We doubt a cartoon mouse would ever be baptized, even by proxy, but the fact that some random ne'er-do-well was able to enter Mickey's name into the database seems to indicate that system security is not what it should be.
Fortunately, church authorities found a way to maintain some control--according to Radkey, after she made her discovery, they banned her Monday from the library.
http://www.slweekly.com/article.cfm/d...
| Helen Radkey, the whistle-blower of the Mormon/Jewish controversy, has been banned from the Mormon Family History Library in Salt Lake City. It is unclear whether she is banned forever or for just 72 hours as one of the men who evicted her stated. She was threatened with arrest if she returned.
At the time Radkey was approached in the Mormon facility, she was adding to her list of Dutch Jews murdered in the Holocaust who have been rebaptized by the Church. These Jews were removed in 1995 as part of the agreement between the Church and Jewish organizations. In the past few months she has found that more than 1,500 names have been added back and her list is growing.
Radkey started making headlines about six years ago when she disclosed to the press that the Mormon Church was not fulfilling its obligation to the Jewish community to limit posthumous baptism to "direct ancestors" as stated in the 1995 agreement. At first, I did not believe her claims because the names that made the headlines were famous Jews, and my investigation of the IGI concluded these famous people were all baptized before the 1995 agreement. But Radkey provided me with additional information that demonstrated that not only were Jews being posthumously baptized after the signing of the 1995 agreement, but that the numbers were in the hundreds of thousands, if not millions.
I am now convinced that when the Church signed the agreement, they had no intent of stopping the practice. This is based on two statements made by a Church spokesman recently. One stated that it is Church doctrine that their mission is the salvation of the entire human race, both living and dead. The second statement was the Church does not go against its doctrine. The agreement they signed goes against Church doctrine.
Rather than being mad at Radkey for bringing to the attention of the Jewish community that the Church is not meeting its commitment, the Church should hire her and give her complete access to the IGI. Since they have stated in the press that they have met the commitment to the Jewish community that they signed in 1995, Radkey should be asked to demonstrate to them how they have violated this commitment, and if she can't, they should call a press conference where Radkey would admit she was wrong.
On a second matter, Radkey reported to me that for a few days the JewishGen web page that documents the controversy was blocked at the Family History Library. The computers at the Library have Internet access. Sites that are offensive to the Church, such as those that present pornography or alcoholic beverages, are blocked. Radkey subsequently reported to me that a few days later the site was available. You can view the JewishGen Infofile at .
| Mormon/Jewish Controversy: The Problem That Won't Go Away - More About the Helen Radkey Incident
Monday, Jul 17, 2006, at 06:55 AM
Original Author(s): Gary Mokotoff
Topic: HELEN RADKEY -Link To MC Article- | ↑ | In the last issue of Nu? What's New? I described an incident in Salt Lake City where Helen Radkey, the whistle-blower in the Mormon/Jewish controversy, was ejected from the Family History Library.
Some people have told me that the Church had no right to make Radkey leave; it is a public facility. Of course the Church has a right to eject Ms. Radkey; it is a private facility to which the public is invited...and the public can be asked to leave.
In the last issue, I implied, but did not explicitly state, the reason the Church was upset with her. It almost certainly was because Radkey was using the inner aspects of the International Genealogical Index accessible only by password.
When the Jewish genealogical community discovered, in 1992, that 128,000 German Jews murdered in the Holocaust were forcibly baptized by the Church (forcibly in that it was done without their permission), the IGI was an open book. You were able to tell who got baptized, who submitted the name for baptism, when the person was baptized and the source of information. Furthermore, these documents are kept in batches. If you found one record, by analyzing the entire batch you could easily identify other Jews who were posthumously baptized within the group. You could also tell the original source of the information. That is why it was so easy to tell that the entire Gedenkbuch was extracted.
Today, if you go to the IGI, all you know is that someone has had some ordinance performed...unless you have a password. In other words, the Church is in the process of making the IGI a secret database. Is it a coincidence that for decades prior to the signing of the 1995 agreement with Jewish organizations the IGI was an open book and now it is almost closed? Perhaps. The final act will occur in the next year or two. The Church has announced they plan to merge the IGI with pure genealogical information (the IGI is a misnomer--properly, it should be called the International Ordinance Index). Will you be able to tell whether your ancestor was baptized by the Church or was just another genealogical entry in the merged database? The Church has assured the Jewish leadership that the public portion of the Combined Index will include a flag so that any person will know whether it is a genealogy record or a religious record.
Illustration: Example of a document submitted to the Church for the posthumous baptism of the 128,000 German Jews murdered in the Holocaust. Note that the person who extracted the information was faced with the daunting task of writing the words "German Gedenkbuch" 128,000 times, so he bought a rubber stamp to expedite the process. The name/address of the extractor has been blacked out for privacy reasons. The number 1357 at the bottom refers to the page number in the Gedenkbuch from which the Holocaust victim's name was extracted.
Illustration: In the 1960s, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, representing themselves as the Genealogical Society of Utah, approached the Beit Din of London and offered to preserve the birth records of the Jewish community on microfilm. The Jewish group consented. The agreement made no mention of using the records for Mormon rituals. After the microfilm reached Salt Lake City, the contents were distributed to Mormon volunteers who extracted the information, and the Church posthumously baptized hundreds of Jews identified on the birth records. In 1994, Charles Tucker, archivist for the Beit Din, wrote to me and said had they known the information would be used for Mormon religious purposes, they would never have consented to the microfilming of the records.
| Why Is The Jewish Position Re Proxy Baptisms Ignored By Many Mormons?
Wednesday, Jan 28, 2009, at 11:04 AM
Original Author(s): Helen Radkey
Topic: HELEN RADKEY -Link To MC Article- | ↑ | Jews have repeatedly asked the LDS Church to stop baptizing Jews with no family ties to Mormons, especially Jewish Holocaust victims.
Untold thousands of identifiable Jewish Holocaust victims have been subjected to LDS proxy ordinances in violation of the 1995 Mormon-Jewish agreement.
Here is an excerpt from my 61-page report on the Mormon-Jewish controversy:
"...LDS rituals for the dead are implicit attempts to deny the religious beliefs of (non-LDS) lives already lived. Dead people should be remembered for who and what they were. Jewish Holocaust victims were killed by Nazis because they were Jews. These millions of murdered innocents should always be memorialized as Jews-each and every one of them-and never treated as though Judaism is a halfway house to the divine. For the sake of collective Jewish memory and historical accuracy their Jewish religious identities must remain intact and not be altered in any way by Mormons. The LDS Church should keep its promise to Jewish groups, stop posthumously baptizing Jews, and not excuse agreement breaches by saying that dead Jews can decide whether or not they want to be Mormons."
Original Letter in Deseret News:
http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143...
| Many tyrants, mass murderers, pirates, gangsters and other notorious criminals have been subjected to proxy rites by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The names of these infamous ones have ended up in the in the [sic] LDS Church’s database of posthumous ordinances, the International Genealogical Index (IGI): Adolf Hitler, Martin Bormann, Benito Mussolini, Josef Stalin, Mao Tse-Tung, Vlad the Impaler, Blackbeard the Pirate, Jean and Pierre Lafitte, Al Capone, Bonnie and Clyde, and Bugsy Siegel.
And not to overlook Ted Bundy, one of the most prolific serial killers in U.S. history. Ted Bundy was born as Theodore Robert Cowell, on Nov. 24, 1946, in Burlington, Vt. Bundy killed an untold number of women across the country between 1974 and 1978. He bludgeoned his victims, then strangled them to death. Bundy also engaged in rape and necrophilia. Authorities believe his victims numbered over 100. Some of Bundy’s victims were from Utah. On Jan. 24, 1989, Ted Bundy was executed in the electric chair at Florida State Prison in Starke, Fla.
In the fall of 1974, during the time he was murdering innocent women, Bundy moved to Salt Lake City and began attending law school at the University of Utah. The following year, he joined the LDS Church.
Was Ted Bundy’s name removed from Mormon rolls because of his brutal crimes? Even if Bundy was excommunicated from the LDS Church, he was listed as Theodore Robert Cowell in the online IGI of the posthumously baptized, until Feb. 11, 2009.
After leaving a blood-soaked trail of bodies and wounded families, can Ted Bundy, the poster boy of serial killers, now accept or reject the offer of celestial glory? Is this Mormon justice?
| Serial Killers In The Mormon Database Of The Baptized Dead
Thursday, Mar 5, 2009, at 07:31 AM
Original Author(s): Helen Radkey
Topic: HELEN RADKEY -Link To MC Article- | ↑ | Theodore Robert Bundy, more commonly known as Ted Bundy, was posthumously baptized in an LDS temple in Utah in May 2008, under his birth name, Theodore Robert Cowell. Ted Bundy is not the only horrific serial killer of modern times whose identity has ended up in the Mormon database of posthumous ordinances, the International Genealogical Index (IGI) of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. At the date of this report on March 4, 2009, Arthur Gary Bishop, convicted child molester and serial killer, is listed in the online IGI at http://www.familysearch.org/eng/defau...
Arthur Gary Bishop http://www.familysearch.org/eng/searc... - International Genealogical Index - North America
Gender: Male Birth: 29 SEP 1952 Hinckley, Millard, Utah
Arthur Gary Bishop http://www.familysearch.org/eng/searc... - International Genealogical Index - North America
Gender: Male Death: 10 JUN 1988
Arthur Gary Bishop (1951-1988) was an excommunicated Mormon from Hinckley, Utah, who was executed by lethal injection on June 10, 1988 at the Utah state prison at Point of the Mountain, for five counts of capital murder, five counts of aggravated kidnapping, and one count of sexually abusing a minor. Bishop was a homosexual pedophile and child killer. He confessed to the murders of five young boys for sexual motives in 1983, as a result of a routine police investigation, and he led the police to three skeletons near Cedar Fort and two more corpses near Big Cottonwood Creek. In between killing boys, Bishop had attempted to satiate his violent urges by torturing and killing animals.
Who would want to baptize dead serial killers, presumably to offer them an opportunity to improve their status in the hereafter? Apparently, some Mormons seem to like the idea.
| SALT LAKE CITY- The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints excommunicates any church member who practices polygamy. The Church has publicly disowned Mormon fundamentalists, representing the sects of Mormonism which embrace early Mormon teachings that made polygamy a central part of the Mormon faith-the ongoing legacy of Joseph Smith, the founder of Mormonism.
While the LDS Church says it does not sanction polygamy, behind closed temple doors, and in Mormon databases, many excommunicated Mormon fundamentalists (and their plural wives) have been reclaimed through posthumous rituals for the dead-and, in numerous cases, posthumously reinstated through “resurrected” original LDS ordinances, including baptisms.
Reinventing its polygamous history, the LDS Church is ushering deceased excommunicated Mormon fundamentalists-such as Rulon Clark Allred; Rulon Timpson Jeffs; and members of the LeBaron clan, including notorious killer, Ervil Morell LeBaron-back into the LDS fold.
The LDS temple system is systematically validating the plural marriages of many deceased Mormon fundamentalists who, when they were alive, were excommunicated from the LDS Church because of polygamy. Some of these polygamists have been posthumously sealed in LDS temples to plural wives they married-after the LDS Church officially suspended polygamy.
Why does the LDS Church condemn the practice of polygamy-including the polygamy of Mormon fundamentalists-as the LDS temple system consistently validates deceased Mormon fundamentalists and many of their plural marriages?
andcopy; Copyright 2009, Helen Radkey-Permission is granted to reproduce, provided content is not changed and this copyright notice is included.
| Mormon Fundamentalists From The Lists Of The LDS Posthumously Baptized
Tuesday, Jun 2, 2009, at 07:22 AM
Original Author(s): Helen Radkey
Topic: HELEN RADKEY -Link To MC Article- | ↑ | The International Genealogical Index (IGI) is an index of posthumous ordinances compiled by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS). The IGI can currently be found online at http://www.familysearch.org/eng/defau....
All who pretend or assume to engage in plural marriage in this day, when the one holding the keys has withdrawn the power by which they are performed, are guilty of gross wickedness. Bruce R. McConkie-Mormon Doctrine Second Edition
…Rulon [Allred] said, “We are not able to get into [their] temples, brothers and sisters, because they have us locked out. We're not welcome in their [LDS] churches; we're a bunch of scalawags because we believe in the fullness of the gospel…”
Ben Bradlee, Jr. and Dale Van Atta-Prophet of Blood: The Untold Story of Ervil LeBaron and the Lambs of God
A sample list of (20) names of Mormon fundamentalists from the IGI:
(IGI) Baptisms Individual wives listed
· Rulon Clark Allred (1906-1977) 5 4
· John Yeates (Yates) Barlow (1874-1949) 4 4
· Joseph Leslie Broadbent (1891-1935) 2 3
· Rulon Timpson Jeffs (1909-2002) 1 1
· Joseph Smith Jessop (1869-1953) 5 2
· Joseph Lyman Jessop (1892-1963) 3 3
· Fredrick Meade Jessop (1910-2005) 1 0
· Leroy Sunderland Johnson (1888-1986) 2 1
· Charles William Kingston (1884-1975) 3 1
· Alma Dayer LeBaron (1886-1951) 2 3
· Benjamin Teasdale LeBaron (1913-1978) 2 0
· Ross Wesley LeBaron (1914-1996) 1 0
· Joel Franklin LeBaron (1923-1972) 2 0
· Ervil Morrell (Morel) LeBaron (1925-1981) 2 1
· Verlan McDonald LeBaron (1930-1981) 3 1
· Joseph White Musser (1872-1954) 5 3
· Gerald Wilbur Peterson, Sr. (1917-1981) 1 0
· John Wickersham Woolley (1831-1928) 9 4
· Lorin Calvin Woolley (1856-1934) 9 1
· Charles Frederick Zitting (1894-1954) 3 5
© Copyright 2009, Helen Radkey-Permission is granted to reproduce, provided content is not changed and this copyright notice is included.
| Brother Ervil, Brother Ross, Brother Rulon... Unconventional LDS Records For Mormon Fundamentalists
Tuesday, Jun 2, 2009, at 07:23 AM
Original Author(s): Helen Radkey
Topic: HELEN RADKEY -Link To MC Article- | ↑ | andcopy; Copyright 2009, Helen Radkey - All rights reserved.
More than a hundred years ago, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) officially outlawed its entrenched serpent-polygamy-as a practice. The LDS Church today claims to have nothing to do with those who practice plural marriage, and excommunicates any church member who embraces it. Polygamy was a significant part of the foundational theology of Mormonism. The LDS Church suspended plural marriage in this life because the practice runs contrary to the law of the land. Nowadays, to a great extent, mainstream Mormons have sanitized the polygamous legacy of Joseph Smith, and de-emphasize that part of Mormon history.
While the present-day LDS Church does not sanction polygamy, and insists the practice no longer plays a role in current Mormon teaching-it does not claim that its past endorsement of polygamy was wrong. Mormons believe they can embrace polygamy in the highest level of heaven in the hereafter. Behind closed temple doors, celestial plural marriage is given a tacit and broad-minded nod of approval. Although LDS Church leaders no longer allow the practice of polygamy here on Earth, they do permit a living man to be "sealed" to another woman after the death of his wife, or after divorce. In LDS temples, some deceased men are sealed by proxy to multiple wives. These lists include Mormon fundamentalists (and their plural wives) whom Mormons are posthumously reclaiming through "resurrected" original LDS ordinances, and temple rituals for the dead.
Various fundamentalism sects of Mormonism hold on to early Mormon teachings that made polygamy a central part of the Mormon faith. Many Mormon fundamentalists were originally members of the LDS Church and became LDS outcasts because they supported plural marriage. The majority of Mormon fundamentalists, who had been excommunicated from the LDS Church, considered themselves to be the truest of Mormons. They regarded the LDS Church as the only divinely recognized church in the world-but believed the Church was in a state of apostasy.
Well-known pariahs who were excommunicated by the LDS Church over the polygamy issue include: Rulon Clark Allred (1906-1977); John Yeates (Yates) Barlow (1874-1949); Joseph Leslie Broadbent (1891-1935); Rulon Timpson Jeffs (1909-2002); Joseph Smith Jessop (1869-1953); Joseph Lyman Jessop (1892-1963); Leroy Sunderland Johnson (1888-1986); Charles William Kingston (1884-1975); Alma Dayer LeBaron (1886-1951) and the LeBaron clan; Joseph White Musser (1872-1954); Gerald Wilbur Peterson, Sr. (1917-1981); John Wickersham Woolley (1831-1928); Lorin Calvin Woolley (1856-1934); and Charles Frederick Zitting (1894-1954).
When they were alive and kicking, these die-hard polygamists were ousted from LDS ranks because they refused to relinquish polygamy. In death, they have been reclaimed by the LDS Church, which has apparently decided to embrace, not only these dead Mormon fundamentalists, but, in some cases, their polygamous lifestyle, as well. The baptized names of the aforementioned former Mormons-many of whom have been posthumously "sealed" for eternity in LDS temples to multiple wives-are currently in the LDS Church's online database of posthumous rites, the International Genealogical Index (IGI), at http://www.familysearch.org/eng/default.asp . The IGI database was designed to keep track of "temple work" undertaken on behalf of deceased persons. Temple "ordinances" are performed by living church members as proxies for the deceased.
Family pedigrees listing original LDS ordinances, including baptisms, can be found for many of the Mormon fundamentalists in this report in the Ancestral File, a database of genealogies on CD-ROM to January 1998, accessible at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City. Baptism details are given in the Ancestral File for the following names: Rulon C. Allred; John Y. Barlow; Joseph L. Broadbent; Joseph S. Jessop; Joseph L. Jessop; Leroy S. Johnson; Charles W. Kingston; Alma D. LeBaron, and three of his polygamist sons: Joel F. LeBaron, Ervil M. LeBaron, and Verlan M. LeBaron; Gerald W. Peterson, (Sr.); John W. Woolley; and Lorin C. Woolley.
Currently, the regularly updated online IGI is the LDS Church's primary database of posthumous ordinances, until a newer version of FamilySearch is fully released. Sifting through the untidy IGI content, and its (off-limits to the public) online ordinance data, reveals an astonishing array of listings for the Mormon fundamentalists. In many cases, like the Ancestral File, original dates of LDS rituals for many of these excommunicated polygamists are recorded on online IGI entries.
IGI records that list original LDS baptisms for excommunicated Mormon fundamentalists make it appear as though these polygamists, who were considered apostates by the LDS Church, never saw the light of day away from mainstream Mormonism. At the time they were expelled from the LDS Church, their names would have been removed from Mormon membership rolls. Since their deaths-a few clicks of the keyboard have ostensibly put these polygamists back onto church membership lists. This strange form of record-keeping creates the impression that these men have been posthumously reinstated as Mormons. "Resurrected" original LDS baptism dates are shown on online IGI entries for the following excommunicated polygamists: Rulon C. Allred; John Y. Barlow; Joseph L. Broadbent; Joseph S. Jessop; Joseph L. Jessop; Leroy S. Johnson; Charles W. Kingston; Verlan M. LeBaron; John W. Woolley; Lorin C. Woolley; and Charles F. Zitting.
Rulon Clark Allred was born into a polygamous family in the Mexican state of Chihuahua. Allred's decision to take plural wives came in his twenties following what he described as a vision. That decision resulted in the estrangement of his first wife, Katherine Lucy Handy, whom he had been sealed to in the Salt Lake (LDS) Temple in 1926. Allred was excommunicated from the LDS Church in 1940 for practicing polygamy. In 1941, his plural wives were also cut off from the Church. Allred was the leader of the Utah-based group of Mormon fundamentalists, known as the Apostolic United Brethren (AUB). A naturopath by profession, Allred was murdered in his office in Murray, Utah, on May 10, 1977, on the orders of Ervil LeBaron, the head of a rival polygamous group. At the time of his death, Allred was the husband of at least seven wives, the father of forty-eight children, and the spiritual leader of thousands of Mormon fundamentalists. Although the 1926 marriage sealing between Allred and Handy was annulled in 1942-Handy remarried in 1940-online IGI records still display the original 1926 sealing. Several of these records also list Mabel Finlayson, a plural wife of Allred, as an additional spouse. Two IGI records show Allred's original 1914 LDS baptism. One of these entries lists his original 1926 endowment, as well as the 1926 sealing to Handy. Allred was posthumously baptized as recently as January 29, 2009 in the Ogden Utah Temple. He was previously baptized in 2001, 2002, and 2008. He was endowed and sealed to his parents in 2002 and 2008. Mormons gave plural marriage for Rulon Allred a recent thumbs up-when he was sealed by proxy to two of his wives, Ruth Rachel Barlow, and Ethel Jessop, on December 16, 2008 in the Ogden Utah Temple. He had been sealed to Barlow in 1992. It is worth noting that Ethel Jessop became a plural wife of Rulon Allred in 1945-five years after his excommunication from the LDS Church. When Allred was sealed to Jessop in December, 2008-the LDS temple system endorsed Allred's post-excommunicationpolygamy. Rulon Allred is buried at Larkin Sunset Lawn Cemetery in Salt Lake City. Buried next to him, or near him, are his wives: Ruth Barlow Allred; Myrtle Lloyd Allred; Ethel Jessop Allred; Mabel Finlayson Allred; and Melba Finlayson Allred.
John Yeates (Yates) Barlow became a Mormon fundamentalist leader in Short Creek, Arizona. When he was a missionary for the LDS Church, John Barlow defended his polygamous views and was dishonorably released. He was excommunicated from the LDS Church circa 1923. Online IGI entries cite his original 1885 LDS baptism and original 1895 endowment, as well as his original 1897 marriage sealing to his first wife, Ida May Critchlow. Barlow married for the first time in 1897. He took his first plural wife in 1902, the second in 1918, and the third in 1923, making a total of four wives. IGI entries show Barlow has been sealed to all of his wives. He was sealed by proxy to Susannah Stevens Taggart; Ada Marriott; and Martha Jessop. John Barlow was posthumously baptized in 1969 and 2006. His 1895 endowment is listed again on two IGI entries for baptisms on May 26, 1969. Barlow received another endowment in 2007. When he was sealed to his fourth wife and second cousin, Martha Jessop, on January 15, 2008 in the Monticello Utah Temple, Mormons placed a recent stamp of approval on Barlow's ex-LDS polygamous lifestyle.
Joseph Leslie Broadbent was a leader in the early stages of Mormon fundamentalism. In 1927, Broadbent published a pamphlet Celestial Marriage advocating the practice of plural marriage. This was a factor in his excommunication by the LDS Church in 1929. Joseph Broadbent is listed in the online IGI with his original 1899 LDS baptism and original 1910 endowment. He was posthumously baptized in 1990. Included on the 1990 baptism entry is another record of Broadbent's 1910 endowment. IGI entries for Broadbent show his original 1915 marriage sealing to his first wife, Rula Louise Kelsch, and a 2005 sealing to her. Joseph Broadbent was also sealed by proxy to two other wives, Fawnita Jessop and Anna Kmetsch (Kmetzsch), on the same day, May 24, 1994 in the Boise Idaho Temple. On exactly the same date, and in exactly the same LDS temple where John Barlow was sealed by proxy to his fourth wife, Martha Jessop-Joseph Leslie Broadbent was sealed to his parents on January 15, 2008 in the Monticello Utah Temple.
Joseph Smith Jessop, a founder of the Short Creek (Mormon) fundamentalist colony in Arizona, was excommunicated from the LDS Church in 1930 because of polygamy. At the time of his death in 1953, Jessop had 112 grandchildren and at least 145 great-grandchildren through his three wives. IGI records list Jessop's original 1877 LDS baptism and original 1889 endowment, and his original 1889 marriage sealing to his first wife, Martha Moore Yeates. Several IGI entries show Jessop was posthumously baptized, endowed, and sealed to his parents in 1981. His 1889 endowment is cited on one of these listings. Jessop was baptized again in 2005 and 2006, and endowed in 2005 and 2007. He was sealed again to his first wife in 1985 and 2003, and sealed twice in two different LDS temples in Utah to a plural wife, Gertrude Annie Marriott, in August 2008-a very recent LDS endorsement of Jessop's supposedly ex-LDS polygamous lifestyle.
Joseph Lyman Jessop was a son of Joseph Smith Jessop and Martha Moore Yeates Jessop. In 1924, Joseph Lyman Jessop's convictions regarding plural marriage were cemented when he married Maleta Porter, a cousin to his wife, Winnie, as his first plural wife. Within the year, Jessop and his two wives at that time were excommunicated from the LDS Church. Online IGI records reveal the plural marriage that caused Jessop's excommunication. Mormons sealed Jessop to his second wife, [Rachel] Maleta Porter, in 2000. Two separate entries show Jessops's original 1917 marriage sealing to Winnie Porter. He was sealed to another plural wife, Beth Allred, in 1998 and 2000. In January and December, 2008, Jessop was sealed again to his first wife, Winnie Porter. Jessop's original 1900 LDS baptism is recorded on two separate IGI entries. One of these records shows his original 1910 endowment. The 1910 endowment is shown again on another entry with a 1994 proxy baptism. Joseph Smith Jessop and Martha Moore Yeates are cited as Jessop's parents on that record, which indicates Joseph Lyman Jessop was "BIC" (born in the covenant), indicating he is automatically sealed to his ex-LDS father and mother.
Leroy Sunderland Johnson was the leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS Church), based in Colorado City, Arizona. Johnson, who died in 1986, aged 98, was excommunicated from the LDS Church in 1935 for his support of plural marriage. Leroy Johnson's original 1896 LDS baptism is listed on the same IGI record as his original 1914 endowment. Another entry lists his original 1914 marriage sealing to Josephine Ford. Leroy Johnson was baptized by proxy in 1995, and endowed and sealed to his parents in 1996.
Charles William Kingston was a prominent member of the Davis County Cooperative Society and the Latter Day Church of Christ, the communal and polygamous Mormon fundamentalist group in Utah that has come to be known as the Kingston clan. Kingston, who lived to be 91, was excommunicated from the LDS Church in 1929 because of his involvement with plural marriage. His original 1892 LDS baptism is listed in the IGI on the same record as his original 1906 endowment. Kingston was posthumously baptized and endowed in 1995, baptized again in 1997, and endowed in 1998. His original 1906 marriage sealing to his first wife, Vesta Minerva Stowell, is listed four times in the online IGI, with different batch or film numbers. In a steady procession of repetitive proxy sealings, Kingston was sealed to Vesta Stowell in 1996, 1997, and 1998.
Verlan McDonald LeBaron, who was a son of the Mormon fundamentalist, Alma Dayer LeBaron, and wife, Maud LeBaron, was a member of the polygamous LeBaron clan. In 1944, most of the LeBarons were excommunicated from the LDS Church for teaching and practicing polygamy. (Alma Dayer LeBaron had been excommunicated from the LDS Church twenty years earlier.) In the late 1940s, the LeBaron clan established Colonia LeBaron, a polygamist colony in the Mexican state of Chihuahua. Verlan LeBaron died in a car accident in Mexico in 1981. The original 1942 LDS baptism for this polygamist, and former Mormon, is listed in the online IGI on the same record as his original 1951 endowment. LeBaron was also proxy baptized by Mormons in 1995, and endowed in 1996. In March 2004, he was posthumously sealed to his parents, Alma Dayer LeBaron and Maud Lucinda McDonald (LeBaron)-both excommunicated Mormons-in an LDS temple in Mexico. Verlan LeBaron was baptized again on July 22, 2008 in the Salt Lake Temple, and sealed to a spouse, Helen Bertha Hinck, on the same date, in the same Utah temple.
John Wickersham Woolley was one of the founders of the Mormon fundamentalism movement. Woolley was uncle to LDS Church President, Spencer W. Kimball, and Mormon apostles, J. Reuben Clark and John W. Taylor. Woolley was a high-ranking Mormon, but he refused to obey the proclamation issued by the LDS Church in 1904, sometimes called the Second Manifesto, which prohibited LDS Church members from entering into new plural marriages. Woolley continued to perform plural marriage ceremonies and was excommunicated from the LDS Church in 1914. There are more than 30 separate records currently in the online IGI for this prominent Mormon fundamentalist. These include listings that show an original 1841 LDS baptism, original 1851 endowment, and an 1895 sealing to parents. An 1857 baptism is also recorded on an entry with a 1967 endowment. Woolley, who lived to be almost 97, has been posthumously baptized and endowed numerous times. He was endowed as recently as June 2008. The IGI shows a plethora of marriage sealing entries for him. Among the marriage records are listings for original temple sealings (with conflicting dates) to four wives: Julia Searl(e)s (Sirls) Ensign; Ann Everington; Mary Jane Ensign; and Annie Fisher. Separate IGI records for Woolley cite marriage sealings to Ann Everington and Mary Jane Ensign, which ceremonies occurred on June 1, 1892 in the Logan Utah Temple. In April 2008, John W. Woolley was sealed to Annie Fisher in the Salt Lake Temple. In September 2008, he was sealed to Ann Everington in the same LDS temple.
Lorin Calvin Woolley was born in Salt Lake City, Utah, and was a son of John Wickersham and Julia Woolley. Lorin Woolley was a high-profile Mormon fundamentalist leader and a strong advocate of plural marriage. He was excommunicated from the LDS Church in 1924 for publicizing that some LDS Church leaders had taken plural wives after the 1890 Manifesto, which was issued by the LDS Church when it officially suspended polygamy. Woolley taught the 1890 Manifesto was uninspired. He claimed he had the proper priesthood authority, the legitimate sealing power, necessary for performing plural marriages. Woolley was married to at least four wives. His original 1868 LDS baptism is listed on an IGI entry with his original 1873 endowment. Another record shows his original 1883 sealing to his first wife, Sarah Ann Roberts. Lorin Woolley has been posthumously baptized, endowed, and sealed to his parents, numerous times. His most recent baptism was in 2006. He was sealed by proxy to his first wife in 1967.
Charles Frederick Zitting was a Mormon fundamentalist leader of the community in Short Creek, Arizona. He was excommunicated from the LDS Church in 1928 because he married more than one wife. Zitting spent over two years in the Utah Penitentiary for polygamy. Several online IGI entries list Zitting's original 1902 LDS baptism and original 1920 endowment. Two other entries (with different batch numbers) show posthumous baptisms for him in June 1971 and sealings to parents in April 1972. Zitting's 1920 endowment is also listed on these two entries. Zitting has been posthumously sealed by Mormons to five wives: Minnie Affleck; Elvera Olson; Edna Aleen Christensen; Orpha Cope; and Bonnie Elaine Kilgrow. Edna Aleen Christensen (Zitting), and Elvera Olson (Zitting) are buried in separate graves on either side of him. Through an extraordinary twist of fate, Charles Zitting is buried in Elysian Burial Gardens, which is directly across the road from my home in Salt Lake City. Buried alongside of him are three of his six wives: Edna Aleen Christensen Zitting; Elvera Olson Zitting; and Laura Tree Zitting. It should be noted that in March 1998, in the Ogden Utah Temple, Charles Zitting was inappropriately sealed to his first wife, Minnie Affleck. That union had ended in divorce (circa 1926) because of Zitting's belief in plural marriage.
Rulon Allred and Charles Zitting are not the only Mormon fundamentalists who are registered in the IGI with a marriage sealing to a divorced spouse. At least four others on my list-Rulon T. Jeffs; Alma D. LeBaron; Ervil M. LeBaron; and Joseph W. Musser-are listed in the online IGI with marriage sealings to one or more spouses they were either divorced or separated from.
Rulon Timpson Jeffs was the leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, based in Colorado City, Arizona. Jeffs assumed the leadership of the FLDS Church after the death of Leroy Johnson in 1986. Rulon Jeff's first wife, Zola (Brown) Jeffs, was divorced from him in April 1941 because he insisted on taking a plural wife. Two weeks later, Jeffs was excommunicated from the LDS Church. He was caught in one of the government roundups of polygamists in 1944 and was held briefly in the Salt Lake County Jail. When Jeffs died in 2002, aged 92, as the leader of what is thought to be America's largest polygamous sect, he was believed to have 19-75 wives, and to have fathered more than 60 children. (Warren Steed Jeffs, a son of Rulon Jeffs, took over the leadership of the FLDS Church, after the death of his father. The FLDS Church has been a source of controversy over the years because of its polygamist beliefs and allegations of men marrying underage girls. Warren Jeffs achieved notoriety-and prison time-because of his involvement with underage marriage.) Many wives of FLDS patriarch, Rulon Jeffs, are probably alive today and would not be considered suitable candidates for posthumous marriage sealings. In an apparent act of Mormon madness, however, on April 25, 2007-Rulon Jeffs, the polygamist leader with many wives-was sealed by proxy to his now deceased first wife-Zola Grace Brown (Jeffs)-the spouse he was divorced from sixty-six years earlier because she refused to submit to his polygamous urges. The off-the-wall marriage sealing between Jeffs and Brown occurred in the St. George Utah Temple. In the same LDS temple in Utah, Jeffs was posthumously baptized and endowed in 2005, and sealed to his parents in 2006.
Alma Dayer LeBaron, who usually went by his middle name, Dayer, was born in Arizona. Dayer LeBaron had a strong Mormon heritage. His grandfather, Benjamin F. Johnson, was a close friend of Joseph Smith, Jr., the founder of Mormonism. LeBaron became involved with Mormon fundamentalism. In 1904, he married his first wife, Cynthia Barbara Bailey, in Mexico. LeBaron's religious beliefs alienated his first wife, who soon left him and moved to Salt Lake City. After moving to Utah, Dayer LeBaron married Maud Lucinda McDonald in 1910. Together they had thirteen children, eight boys and five girls. In 1923, Maud LeBaron helped her husband select another wife-and Dayer LeBaron married Onie Jones. LeBaron and his two wives were excommunicated from the LDS Church in 1924 because of his involvement with plural marriage. LeBaron moved his family to Mexico to escape anti-polygamy laws in the United States. Onie Jones had six children by LeBaron-and eventually separated herself and their children from him because of his fundamentalist activities. Although LeBaron's marriages to his first wife, Cynthia Barbara Bailey, and plural wife, Onie Jones, did not last-he has been sealed by proxy in LDS temples to both women. LeBaron was sealed to Cynthia Barbara Bailey in the Provo Utah Temple in 1996-and sealed to her again in the Ciudad Juárez México Temple in 2004. He was sealed to Onie Jones in the St. George Utah Temple in 1999. LeBaron was sealed to Maud McDonald in March 2004 in the Ciudad Juárez México Temple. He was posthumously baptized in March 2004 in the same LDS temple in Mexico. In May 2005, Alma Dayer LeBaron was baptized again in the Anchorage Alaska Temple, and endowed in the same LDS temple in July 2005.
Ervil Morrell LeBaron, a son of Alma Dayer and Maud LeBaron, was the most notorious member of the LeBaron family. The LeBaronites came prominently into public attention with the criminal activities of Ervil LeBaron. In the 1970s, LeBaron engaged in a murderous feud with his brothers and other polygamists for control of fundamentalist sects. LeBaron established the Church of the Lamb of God, and orchestrated the deaths of numerous people, as he tried to seize power among Mormon fundmentalists. He attempted to unite fundamentalist polygamous sects under one umbrella. Anyone who resisted his plans met violence. Ervil LeBaron was ultimately convicted of ordering the murder of rival polygamous leader, Rulon Allred. LeBaron had ordered the murder of his brother, Joel, and, throughout the 1970's, ordered as many as 30 others killed, including at least one of his own children. Ervil LeBaron died in prison in Utah in 1981. Even after his death, some of his followers continued to kill those he had put on a hit list. LeBaron had 13 wives and 54 children. He had been excommunicated from the LDS Church in 1944 because he openly defied LDS authority. Despite Ervil LeBaron's blood-soaked history-the LDS Church has offered him posthumous redemption. This modern-day Cain, who murdered even his own kin, was baptized by proxy in March 2004 in the Ciudad Juárez México Temple-baptized again in May 2005 in the Anchorage Alaska Temple-and endowed in that same LDS temple in July 2005. As a senseless gesture, LeBaron was sealed by proxy to his first wife, Delfina Salido, in the Dallas Texas Temple in 2002. As described in Prophet of Blood: the Untold Story of Ervil LeBaron and the Lambs of God, by Ben Bradlee, Jr. and Dale Van Atta: "…Ervil divorced Delfina [Salido] and legally married Kris [Jensen] in 1966 in Arizona…" (p.95). In the summer of 1977, after the murder of Rulon Allred-fearing for her own life-and concerned about the welfare of some of her children-Delfina Salido LeBaron fled from Ervil LeBaron and the Lambs of God. She laterhad a nervous breakdown and was committed to a mental institution (p. 256-260; 266).
Joseph White Musser was a significant Mormon fundamentalist leader who was born in Salt Lake City, Utah. Musser became the major defender of the polygamous tradition. He is known for his Mormon fundamentalist books, pamphlets, and magazines. In 1892, Musser married his first wife, Rose S. Borquist, in the Logan Utah Temple. In 1902, Musser married his second wife, Mary C. Hill. In 1907, he married his third wife, Ellis R. Shipp, Jnr. Musser was excommunicated from the LDS Church in 1921 for attempting to take Marion Bringhurst as his fourth wife. He married his fourth wife, Lucy O. Kmetsch (Kmetzsch) in 1922. Around 1925, after years of separation, Rose (Borquist) Musser obtained a civil divorce from him. Musser's open advocacy of polygamy led to his arrest by federal officers in 1944. Although Musser's first three wives all eventually rejected his polygamist views-he has been sealed by proxy for eternity to these three women. In 2001, he was sealed to Rose Selma Borgquist [sic] in the Mount Timpanogos Utah Temple, and to Mary Caroline Hill in the Bountiful Utah Temple. In 1997, Musser was sealed to his third wife, Ellis Shipp, in the Provo Utah Temple. Joseph Musser has been posthumously baptized five times-in 1990, 1997, 2000 (twice), and 2004-in different LDS temples. He was endowed in 1990, 1997, 2000, 2001, and 2004, and sealed to his parents in 1990.
Other examples of deceased Mormon fundamentalists-most of whom were excommunicated Mormons-who have been subjected to LDS temple ordinances by proxy are: Fredrick M. Jessop; Benjamin T. LeBaron; Joel F. LeBaron; Ross W. LeBaron; and Gerald W. Peterson, Snr.
Fredrick Meade Jessop was a son of Joseph Smith Jessop and Martha Yeates Jessop. Fredrick "Uncle Fred" Meade Jessop was the acting bishop of the FLDS Church for many years and was instrumental in community development and the founding of many businesses. Jessop served as first counselor to Leroy Johnson and as second counselor to Rulon Jeffs, before he died in 2005, aged 94, at a hospital in Colorado. He reportedly had many wives and more than 100 children, although the children may have been the results of his wives' previous marriages. Jessop appears to have been posthumously baptized in 2003, and endowed in 2004, in the St. George Utah Temple. While the birth information on that IGI record for him is correct-incorrect death details are shown. A later entry for Jessop gives more accurate birth and death data. Jessop was baptized again on November 16, 2006, in the St. George Utah Temple, and endowed in the same temple on April 5, 2007. Strangely, Fredrick Meade Jessop was sealed to his ex-LDS parents, JosephSmith Jessop and Martha Moore Yeates, in the St. George Utah Temple, on May 19, 2007.
Benjamin Teasdale LeBaron was the first-born son of Alma Dayer and Maud LeBaron. Benjamin LeBaron fought a long battle against hereditary insanity. He claimed to hear revelations from God through extraterrestrial voices. LeBaron, who was born in Arizona, and spent time in mental institutions in Utah, died in Arkansas in 1978. Benjamin LeBaron was posthumously baptized in March 2004 in the Ciudad Juárez México (LDS) Temple. He was baptized again in May 2005 in the Anchorage Alaska Temple, and endowed in that same LDS temple in July 2005.
Ross Wesley LeBaron was the second-born son of Alma Dayer and Maud LeBaron. In 1955, after a falling out with his brother, Joel-Ross LeBaron incorporated his own church, calling it the Church of the Firstborn. Ross LeBaron resided mainly in Utah and quietly promoted his church (which he later disincorporated). During the 1980s, LeBaron lived in a storage shed on 33rd South in Salt Lake City, where I was introduced to him-and one of his wives-by one of his followers. LeBaron believed in UFO's and the Adam-God doctrine. He was convinced that "Father Adam" and Jesus travel in flying saucers. LeBaron was a frequent guest on local radio talk shows. He would expound his belief that Jesus Christ would one day return to earth in a spaceship. In the several discussions I had with LeBaron, he invited me to join his group-and showed me diagrams and toy models of spaceships. He also told me that his murderous brother, Ervil LeBaron, had been possessed by evil spirits. Polygamist Ross LeBaron, who died in Idaho in 1996, was posthumously baptized in March 2004 in the Ciudad Juárez México (LDS) Temple.
Joel Franklin LeBaron was a son of Alma Dayer and Maud LeBaron. Joel LeBaron was a leader of the Mormon fundamentalist movement in northern Mexico. In September 1955, Joel LeBaron visited Salt Lake City, Utah, with several of his brothers, including Ross LeBaron, and organized the Church of the Firstborn of the Fulness [sic] of Times. Joel LeBaron reported that he was visited by nineteen former prophets, including: Abraham; Moses; Jesus Christ; and Joseph Smith, the founder of Mormonism. (Joel LeBaron claimed his priesthood line of authority from his father, Alma Dayer LeBaron, who was ordained by his grandfather, Benjamin F. Johnson, who had supposedly received an ordination to the highest priesthood office from Joseph Smith, Jr.) In 1971, Ervil LeBaron separated himself from the Firstborn Church. He and his followers established the rival Church of the Lamb of God-the most violent of the polygamous offshoots of the LDS Church. In August 1972, Joel LeBaron was shot in the head and killed by a follower of hisbrother, Ervil LeBaron. Joel LeBaron was posthumously baptized twice in 1995-in the Logan Utah Temple, and the Manti Utah Temple. He was also endowed in both temples. Polygamist Joel LeBaron was sealed to his ex-LDS parents, Alma Dayer LeBaron and Maud Lucinda McDonald (LeBaron), on March 20, 2004 in the Ciudad Juárez México (LDS) Temple.
Gerald Wilbur Peterson, Sr. was a Mormon fundamentalist who was once a member of the LDS Church. In the 1970s, Peterson united with the Allred group. He believed he was the prophet to succeed Rulon Allred. After Allred was murdered in 1977, Peterson claimed that Allred appeared to him as a ghost to reconfirm Peterson's right to the presiding keys of the priesthood. In 1978, at Provo, Utah, Peterson organized the "Righteous Branch" Church, which now has its headquarters in southern Utah. Gerald W. Peterson, Sr., who died in 1981, was posthumously baptized in 1990. His original 1937 LDS endowment is shown on his online IGI baptismal entry.
In January 1933, a definitive "Official Statement" from the Office of the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Salt Lake City was drafted by second counselor, J. Reuben Clark, and published in the Church News section of the Deseret News. The "Official Statement" clarified the LDS doctrine of celestial marriage. The First Presidency made a careful distinction between celestial marriage and polygamous marriage saying: "Celestial marriage-that is, marriage for time and eternity-and polygamous or plural marriage are not synonymous terms. Monogamous marriages for time and eternity, solemnized in our temples in accordance with the word of the Lord and the laws of the Church, are celestial marriages." Although the LDS Church officially dismantled plural marriage in 1933-in contradiction to this stance-the LDS temple system is systematically validating the plural marriages of many deceased Mormon fundamentalists who were excommunicated from the LDS Church because of polygamy. As this report shows, some of these polygamists-Rulon Clark Allred; John Yeates (Yates) Barlow; Joseph Leslie Broadbent; Joseph Smith Jessop; Joseph Lyman Jessop; Alma Dayer LeBaron; Joseph White Musser; and Charles Frederick Zitting-have been posthumously sealed in LDS temples to plural wives they married-after the LDS Church suspended polygamy.
The LDS Church appears to be reinventing its polygamous history, as it ushers excommunicated Mormon fundamentalists back into the LDS fold through a post-mortem back door. Without directly addressing the polygamy issue that caused these plural marriage advocates to be expelled from the LDS Church while they were alive, Church-sanctioned temple rituals would make more than just a few maverick polygamists-and their polygamy-now wholly acceptable by LDS Church standards. Mormons may insist that the efficacy of their temple rituals depends upon the willingness to accept, and the worthiness to receive, and these "rules" apply to all recipients of LDS rites. Nevertheless, in LDS temples worldwide, the modern-day Mormon mindset is bending over backwards to unambiguously sustain its bedrock belief in plural marriage beyond the grave. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or distributed without prior written permission of the author/copyright owner.
Some IGI entries referred to in this report may be no longer visible in the online IGI to be found at http://www.familysearch.org/eng/defau... . This can be attributed to the LDS Church's removal of data.
andcopy; Copyright 2009, Helen Radkey - All rights reserved.
| Obama's German Ancestors Will Be Posthumously Baptized As Mormons
Monday, Jun 22, 2009, at 08:30 AM
Original Author(s): Helen Radkey
Topic: HELEN RADKEY -Link To MC Article- | ↑ | © Copyright 2009, Helen Radkey
On May 1, 2009, it became publicly known that President Barack Obama's mother, Stanley Ann Dunham, was baptized by proxy on June 4, 2008 in the Provo Utah Temple, which is owned and operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The controversial online entry for Obama's mother soon vanished from the LDS Church's online database of posthumous rituals, the International Genealogical Index, (IGI).
Coincidentally, on June 4, 2009-exactly a year after Dunham's baptism-and a little over a month after that news went public-Associated Press reports began to appear online stating that Barack Obama has German roots. Provo-based Ancestry.com, the world's largest online family history resource, with many Mormon fingers in the pie, confirmed that Obama's lineage-on his mother's side-can be traced to Germany.
Although there appears to be Mormon genealogical involvement in the discovery of Obama's German roots-the news reports about his German lineage failed to mention that several of Obama's German ancestors are in the process of receiving LDS temple rites by proxy. (Accredited Mormons with a special user log-in have access to online IGI ordinance details, and would be able to look up and determine which LDS rituals have been performed for a dead person-information which is always off-limits to the public.)
According to the online IGI, as of June 5, 2009, the names of Obama's sixth great-grandfather-John Conrad Wolfley (Johann Conrad Wolflin), born in Besigheim, Germany, in 1729-his spouse, Anna Catherine-and their son, Ludwig Lewis Wolfley, who was Obama's fifth great-grandfather, and the first U.S.-born relative in that branch of Obama's family tree-had all been "CLEARED" for baptism and other LDS temple ordinances for the dead.
© Copyright 2009, Helen Radkey-Permission is granted to reproduce, provided content is not changed and this copyright notice is included.
| Mormon-Jewish, Auschwitz 2009
LDS Baptisms Of Jewish Holocaust Victims Continue Unabated
Thursday, Jul 23, 2009, at 07:28 AM
Original Author(s): Helen Radkey
Topic: HELEN RADKEY -Link To MC Article- | ↑ | Despite a 1995 signed promise to discontinue the improper Mormon proxy baptisms of
deceased Jews–especially wrongful baptisms of Jewish Holocaust victims–The Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) has broken its word to Jewish organizations.
The LDS Church has unquestionably failed to prevent Mormon “zealots” from adding
many tens of thousands of Jewish Holocaust names to LDS temple lists since 1995.
In recent years, a substantial number of names of Greek Jewish Holocaust victims have
been fed into the Mormon temple pipeline. Proxy baptisms for Greek Holocaust victims
occurred in LDS temples in 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008. There is evidence that hundreds
of Greek victims have been subjected to LDS temple rituals in 2009–further increasing
the number of concentration camp victims on Mormon lists. LDS Church databases list
additional Greek Holocaust names that are in the process of receiving Mormon rites.
LDS temple rituals are performed by living church members as proxies for the deceased.
“Temple work” for the dead includes: baptism, confirmation, priesthood ordination (for
males), initiatory and endowment ceremonies, sealing to spouse, and sealing of children
to parents. Mormons believe these “ordinances” offer salvation to (non-LDS) deceased.
The “Final Solution” in Greece resulted in the deaths of about 67,000 Greek Jews. They
were killed by the thousands in Nazi death camps. Many Greek Jews died (1943-1944) in
Auschwitz-Birkenau, as indicated on many Mormon listings for Greek Holocaust victims.
Birkenau, also known as Auschwitz II, was an extermination camp in German-occupied
Poland. It was the largest part of the Auschwitz complex and claimed more victims than
any other Nazi death camp. Treblinka death camp, which was also in Poland, is shown as
the death site on some LDS records for Greek victims baptized in LDS temples in 2009.
The majority of the 2009 baptisms and other proxy rituals for Greek Jewish Holocaust
victims have been performed in four main LDS temples in the United States: the Seattle
Washington Temple; the San Diego California Temple; the Mount Timpanogos Utah
Temple; and the Draper Utah Temple, which has only been operative since March 2009.
Why are Mormons continuing to baptize Jewish death camp victims in blatant violation
of the official written agreement the LDS Church made with Jewish groups in 1995?
Mormon “redemptive” rites for Jewish Holocaust victims, and for any deceased Jew, are
woefully misguided attempts to invariably depreciate the wholeness of Jewish worth.
andcopy; Copyright 2009, Helen Radkey–Permission is granted to reproducereproduce, provided content is not changed and this copyright notice is included.
| Mormons continue polygamous temple rites for Mormon fundamentalists
More than a hundred years ago, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) outlawed the practice of polygamy. LDS records, however, indicate that early Mormon leaders, Joseph Smith, Jr. and Brigham Young, have both been “sealed” (married) for eternity to hundreds of wives. Despite its current temporal ban on polygamy, the LDS Church promotes polygamy on a perpetual basis. Polygamous unions, mainly on behalf of the dead, using living Mormons as proxies, are routinely performed in LDS temples.
Mormon fundamentalists-representing the sects of Mormonism which embrace early Mormon teachings that made polygamy a central part of the Mormon faith-are among the deceased people whose multiple marriages are now recognized by the LDS Church. Many polygamists who became Mormon fundamentalists were excommunicated from the LDS Church because they supported polygamy. The LDS Church has disowned Mormon fundamentalists. In sharp contradiction, the LDS temple system systematically validates the plural marriages of dead ex-Mormon polygamists through its marriage sealing rituals.
An example of many such individuals is Rulon Clark Allred, who was excommunicated from the LDS Church in 1940 for practicing polygamy. Allred was the leader of the Utah-based group of Mormon fundamentalists, known as the Apostolic United Brethren (AUB). A naturopath by profession, Allred was murdered in his office in Murray, Utah, on May 10, 1977, on the orders of Ervil LeBaron, the head of a rival polygamous group. At the time of his death, Allred was the husband of at least seven wives, the father of forty-eight children, and the spiritual leader of thousands of Mormon fundamentalists.
Mormon records show that Rulon Allred has been sealed by proxy to five of his wives: Katherine Lucy Handy, from whom he was divorced; Beatrice Marjorie Lloyd; Ethel Jessop; Mabel Finlayson; and Ruth Rachel Barlow. Allred was sealed to two of his wives, Ethel Jessop and Ruth Barlow, on December 16, 2008 in the Ogden Utah (LDS) Temple. Ethel Jessop became a plural wife of Rulon Allred in 1945-five years after his excommunication from the LDS Church. Allred's posthumous sealing to Jessop in 2008 was an LDS endorsement of Allred's post-excommunication polygamy.
LDS proxy rituals for Rulon Allred appear to be ongoing. Allred was sealed to Mabel Finlayson on September 17, 2009 in the Panama City Panama (LDS) Temple. LDS files also indicate Allred is “Ready” to be sealed to Melba Finlayson, Mabel's twin sister.
As though killers will share an eternal reward with their victims, Ervil Morrell LeBaron-the Mormon fundamentalist behind the death of Rulon Allred-was sealed by proxy in 2002 to Delfina Salido, from whom he was divorced. LeBaron is in the process of being sealed to several of his other wives. LDS records show that marriage sealings for LeBaron to Maria De La Luz (Mary Lou) Vega and Lorna Chynoweth are currently “In progress.” A marriage sealing for LeBaron to Yolanda (Lina) Rios is listed as “Ready.”
andcopy; Copyright 2009, Helen Radkey-Permission is granted to reproduce, provided content is not changed and this copyright notice is included.
| Mistakes Galore, As Mormons Perform Secret Temple Rites For The Family Of Tiger Woods
Sunday, Jan 31, 2010, at 08:09 AM
Original Author(s): Helen Radkey
Topic: HELEN RADKEY -Link To MC Article- | ↑ | Mistakes galore, as Mormons perform secret temple rites for the family of Tiger Woods
On November 27, 2009, American professional golf champion, Tiger Woods-the highest-paid athlete in the world-was involved in a mysterious car crash near his Florida home. The accident sparked rumors of domestic violence between Woods and his wife, Elin (Nordegren) Woods. Reports describing the intimate details of Tiger Woods' alleged sex romps with a parade of women began to surface. The famous golfer has fallen from grace as the ultimate role model in sports to an allegedly pathological philanderer.
Tiger Woods was known to party and gamble at hotel casinos in Las Vegas. Coincidentally, a few weeks before his extramarital affairs became publicly known, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) performed proxy rites for the paternal family line of Tiger Woods in the Las Vegas Nevada (LDS) Temple.
LDS temple rituals are performed by living church members as proxies for the deceased. “Temple work” for the dead includes: baptism, confirmation, priesthood ordination (for males), initiatory and endowment ceremonies, sealing to spouse, and sealing of children to parents. Mormons believe these “ordinances” offer salvation to (non-LDS) deceased.
Eldrick Tont Woods (born December 30, 1975), who became known as Tiger Woods, was born in Cypress, California, to Earl Dennison Woods, Sr. (1932-2006), and Kultida (Punsawad) Woods (born 1944). Tiger Woods is the only child of their marriage, but he has two half-brothers: Earl Dennison, Jr. (born 1955); and Kevin Dale (born 1957); and one half-sister, Royce Renee (born 1961), from the 18-year marriage of Earl Dennison Woods, Sr., and his first wife, Barbara Hart Woods. Tiger Woods comes from a background rooted in Buddhism. His mother, Kultida “Tida” Woods, is a Thai Buddhist.
Earl Dennison Woods, Sr., the father and mentor of Tiger Woods, died in Cypress, California, on May 3, 2006. Earl Woods, Sr. was baptized and confirmed a member of the LDS Church by proxy in the Las Vegas Nevada Temple on November, 6, 2009. He was also “sealed" for eternity by proxy to his ex-wife, Barbara (Ann) Hart (Woods), on November 9, 2009 in the Las Vegas Nevada Temple, even though the final judgment of their divorce had been granted on March 2, 1972 in the Superior Court of California.
Barbara Ann Hart Woods, now known as Barbara Woods Gary, was the first wife of Earl Dennison Woods, Sr. Although it appears she is still living, Barbara Woods was “posthumously” baptized and confirmed a member of the LDS Church by proxy on November 6, 2009 in the Las Vegas Nevada Temple, under her maiden name, Barbara Hart. In a December 2009 online news report, Barbara Woods complains about the grievous mental suffering inflicted on her by Earl Woods, Sr. during their marriage: . If Barbara Woods Gary is not dead, then “posthumous” Mormon rituals on her behalf are inappropriate-and why would anyone want to “seal” her forever to a deceased ex-spouse who caused her so much misery? There is no date or place of death shown on her Mormon record. Did the LDS Church member who submitted her name for LDS temple ordinances bother to check if she was alive or dead?
Miles Woods and Maude (Carter) Woods, the parents of Earl Dennison Woods, Sr., and the grandparents of Tiger Woods, were baptized and confirmed members of the LDS Church by proxy on November 6, 2009 in the Las Vegas Nevada Temple. They were “sealed” for eternity by proxy in the Las Vegas Nevada Temple on November 9, 2009. Miles Woods (1873-1943) is recorded in LDS files as Miles Woods, born 1911, Kansas, United States. His correct year of birth is 1873, not 1911. His Mormon listing gives his year of death as 1986, with no death location. Miles Woods died in 1943, not 1986. Maude (Carter) Woods (1893-1947) is described on LDS lists as "Maude" (with no surname), born 1915, United States. Her year of death is shown as 1990, with no location of death. Maude Woods was born in 1893, not 1915. She died in 1947, not 1990. The inaccurate birth and death years for this couple were probably invented by the submitter. Miles and Maude Woods deserve more honest genealogy than fudged Mormon records.
In their misguided attempts to offer Mormon-style redemption to all dead non-Mormons, some Mormons are grabbing names, any names, from any family line, and creating false “family history” records for lineages they have no right to be claiming for religious rites.
As members of the LDS Church perform proxy rituals in Mormon temples for names from non-Mormon bloodlines-such as the family of Tiger Woods-the LDS Church is now concealing the evidence of this unorthodox practice from the public. Details of all ongoing “work” for the dead-including the identities of deceased individuals who are currently receiving LDS temple ordinances by proxy-are off-limits to outsiders. Only an accredited Mormon with a special user log-in can access this information online at:
© Copyright 2010, Helen Radkey-Permission is granted to reproduce, provided content is not changed and this copyright notice is included.
| Hail Holy Queen
Mary (the mother of Jesus) was a Jewish woman of Nazareth in Galilee, identified in the New Testament as the wife of Joseph and the mother of Jesus of Nazareth. Christians believe Mary conceived Jesus miraculously by the agency of the Holy Spirit. For twenty centuries, Christians have cherished Mary and given her titles that reflect their love and admiration-such as the Blessed Virgin Mary, Theotokos (Mother of God), Our Lady, and Queen of Heaven. As the most celebrated woman in Christendom, Mary is considered the epitome of virtue by Christians, especially Catholics and Orthodox. Protestants generally perceive Mary as an outstanding example of a life dedicated to God. Over two thousand years after she gave birth to Jesus Christ-who is recognized by Christians and Mormons as the Redeemer of mankind-Mary of Nazareth was offered "eternal salvation" through The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS.)
Mary, a Mormon by proxy
"Mary Mother of Jesus," the spouse of "Joseph „of the House of David?…" was baptized and confirmed a member of the LDS Church by proxy on December 9, 2009 in the Idaho Falls Idaho (LDS) Temple. She was subjected to initiatory temple ordinances on December 16, 2009; an endowment ceremony on December 26, 2009; and a sealing to parents on January 7, 2010-all rites occurred in the Idaho Falls Idaho Temple.
Until recently, a description of those LDS temple rituals for Mary could be found in the "Search for Ancestors" section of New FamilySearch-the genealogy database of the LDS Church that contains updated details of proxy temple ordinances that have been done for dead people-online at: https://new.familysearch.org/en/action/unsec/welcome .
Only an accredited Mormon with a special user log-in can currently access this website.
The New FamilySearch listing for "Mary Mother of Jesus" with "personal identifier" KJPL-STD disappeared as an individual record in that database, after April 2, 2010, which is the date of my most recent copy of that entry. Record KJPL-STD for "Mary Mother of Jesus" has now been merged into a single record with numerous other blocked listings for Mary. LDS ordinance details on this combined record are all unavailable. The
standard LDS procedure for blocking LDS ordinance information, which is attached to controversial records, is to mark ordinance details on those listings as "Not available."
Notes linked to the original entry for "Mary Mother of Jesus" reveal that the source used for that submission was: http://www.josephsmithsr.com/lucymack/d0014/I149103.htm .
Mary's "Husband #1" is identified as "God the Father" on the Smith "family tree" which the submitter used as the source for the "Mary Mother of Jesus" submission. The fictional marriage relationship between Mary and "God the Father" from the Smith link is also defined in the notes on the original New FamilySearch record for "Mary Mother of Jesus," record KJPL-STD. However, there was no LDS temple marriage sealing performed for "Mary Mother of Jesus" and "God the Father," according to the (now blocked) LDS ordinance section of that temple listing. Instead, Mary's spouse was correctly shown as "Joseph…" But the marriage sealing of Mary and Joseph on that record was marked "Needs more information" (before this ritual can be performed.)
LDS teachings about Mary
Mary is somewhat important in Mormon theology. LDS tradition more or less honors her. Mormons believe Mary was chosen for her role as the mother of the Savior prior to her birth. Although there is little about her in Mormon literature, she is often used as an example of a woman of faith, sacrifice, and obedience to God. Even so, Mormons believe Mary was susceptible to sin because she was mortal. The baptism of Mary is not specifically mentioned in the Bible. More than a few Mormons today seem to think Mary needs to be "washed clean" in order to receive posthumous "redemption" because her name has been submitted numerous times into the LDS temple system for proxy rites.
An extreme Mormon teaching that separates the LDS faith from historic Christianity is the unofficial LDS view about the virgin birth. Unlike Christians, many Mormons do not believe Jesus was conceived through the power of the Holy Spirit. The LDS Church teaches that God the Father is an exalted man who has a glorified body of flesh and bones as tangible as man's. While not doctrinally binding, Mormonism advocates the idea that the conception and birth of Jesus were the result of "natural action" between God the Father and Mary-that God the Father had sexual intercourse with Mary to beget Jesus.
This bizarre perception of the "relationship" between God the Father and Mary would explain why some Mormons have listed Mary on LDS records as the "wife" of God the Father, whom Mormons refer to as "Heavenly Father," or by the name-title, "Elohim."
New FamilySearch records for Mary
There is no way to know how many times Mary has been subjected to LDS proxy rituals. While there are multiple listings for her in New FamilySearch, most of these entries show any attached LDS ordinances as "Not available." Numerous submissions, which have been contributed by different Mormons, have been merged into the previously mentioned
combined record with various descriptions of Mary's identity, including record KJPL-STD for "Mary Mother of Jesus." Other listings for Mary appear individually. Some "…Virgin Mary" entries indicate "Needs more information." The sizeable array of New FamilySearch records for Mary were submitted by a large number of Mormons-evidence that the idea of contemporary baptism for her is not limited to just a few people.
On March 2, 2010, "Heavenly Father" was named as Mary's only spouse on a New FamilySearch entry for her with "personal identifier" 9HFF-PVQ. She is described on that record in double sets of brackets as "[The Virgin] Mary [The Virgin]." The "family tree" on record 9HFF-PVQ currently indicates Mary is the mother of "Jesus the Christ," and also originally stated she was the mother of "(First Man) Adam (-3170 BC)."
There was a separate listing in New Family Search, on March 2, 2010, for "Heavenly Father" with his "personal identifier" given as 21JV-899. Details of any marriage sealing of "Heavenly Father" to "[The Virgin] Mary [The Virgin]" were marked "Not available." Individual LDS ordinances for "Heavenly Father," like baptism, confirmation, initiatory and endowment rituals, were tagged "Needs more information."
By March 10, 2010, roughly a week later, the name of "Heavenly Father" had vanished from record 21JV-899, and "Heavenly Father" was no longer listed as Mary's spouse on record 9HFF-PVQ for "[The Virgin] Mary [The Virgin]." Also removed from that entry for Mary was the name of "(First Man) Adam (-3170 BC)," previously listed as her son.
Record 21JV-899 for "Heavenly Father" now shows "[Unknown Name] (-) Living." The LDS ordinance section of this entry currently reads:
"This individual is living, and his or her ordinances cannot be displayed. To obtain this information, have the person contact his or her ward or branch clerk."
Was the name of "Heavenly Father" removed from record 9HFF-PVQ for "[The Virgin] Mary [The Virgin"] because he is presumed to be alive, or because this was an off-the-wall entry? Why was "Heavenly Father" listed in New FamilySearch-not only as the spouse of Mary-but as a living being who could possibly need LDS ordinances?
Why Mormons perform "saving" rituals for the dead
It is a fundamental Mormon objective that the entire human race, both living and dead, should be subjected to LDS temple rites. Mormons believe this process offers the opportunity of eternal families, "godhood," and "exaltation" in the afterlife to those deceased who died without accepting the Mormon gospel while they were alive on earth.
LDS temple ordinances are performed by living church members as proxies for the deceased. "Temple work" for the dead includes: baptism, confirmation, priesthood ordination (for males), initiatory and endowment ceremonies, sealing to spouse, and sealing of children to parents. As for the living, baptism for the dead is primarily done for the remission of sins. Mormons believe water baptism by immersion cleanses the soul of sin, prior to the recipient receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost-when he or she is confirmed a member of the LDS Church. For the dead, this will always be by proxy. 4
The Salt Lake Tribune protects the interests of the LDS Church
Toward the end of December 2009, Salt Lake Tribune news editor, Dave Noyce, informed me that the Tribune had been saturated with reports about proxy baptisms. It was unlikely they would be running future stories about those whom the LDS Church had posthumously baptized. Nevertheless, the LDS baptism of Mary is a story that deserves press coverage. Mary is revered by billions as a cornerstone of traditional Christianity.
On February, 11, 2010, I decided, regardless, to give the Tribune details of the proxy rites for "Mary Mother of Jesus" which had occurred in the Idaho Falls Idaho Temple in December 2009, and January 2010. Evidently, the Tribune decided that information did not deserve Tribune coverage because it was not a new angle on baptism for the dead.
Five days later, I mailed a letter to the Public Forum of the Salt Lake Tribune. My letter contained four pages of evidence from New FamilySearch to support my claims that "Mary Mother of Jesus" was posthumously baptized in a Mormon temple in Idaho:
[To the] Public Forum February 16, 2010
The Tribune regularly publishes reports that present temples of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in a flattering light. Whenever the LDS Church announces a new temple, [the renovation of an existing temple,] an open house, or the dedication and opening of a temple, the Tribune runs these announcements as though they are prime news.
However, when it comes to the publication of articles that disclose controversial information about LDS temple practices the Tribune is not as generous. Tribune staff ignored the news that LDS Church members "posthumously" baptized "Mary Mother of Jesus" in the Idaho Falls Idaho (LDS) Temple in December 2009.
Mary is revered by Christians, especially Catholics and Orthodox, for being the mother of Jesus, and especially because she always and only said yes to God.
Although Mary is generally regarded as a pure vessel of God by Christians, apparently some Mormons think she needs to be "washed clean" of "sin" and offered "salvation" through Mormon proxy rites. Two thousand years after she lived on Earth, LDS temple "ordinances," including baptism, have been performed for Mary, the Mother of God. Isn't that outrageous news worthy of the Tribune?
Helen Radkey 5
A slightly amended version of the same letter was emailed to the Public Forum on February, 18, 2010. About two hours later, I received an email in error from Elbert Peck, the editor of the Public Forum. Peck's "Dearest Peggy" message was intended for Peggy Stack, a Tribune religion reporter, whose journalism is geared toward the LDS faith:
Dearest Peggy,
I'm not running this letter. I suspect that the posthumous baptism of Mary the Mother of God was a set up. If Jesus' baptism by John was valid, then I think it's fair to assume that Mary's occurred and was valid, too. If she wasn't baptized before the resurrection, she undoubtedly was after. Still, her contemporary baptism is silly. Doesn't someone in the temple name bureaucracy read these names? And was she sealed to Joseph?
Elb
Peck's email demonstrated unexpected collaboration between himself and Stack. I had sent a letter to the Public Forum. I had expected that communication to be treated with confidentiality, courtesy, and respect, and not to be forwarded-with a certain degree of hostility regarding its content-to other Tribune staff, and then sent back to me.
In a later phone call to Peck, he apologized for sending me the email that was intended for Stack. Peck also informed me that my (emailed) Public Forum letter did not refer to a published Tribune article in its content, presumably as a reason for its rejection. At the time, Peck had not received the hard copy of my letter with enclosed copies. If he had, he would have realized that Joseph was not "sealed" to Mary in the series of proxy rites for her that occurred in the Idaho Falls Idaho Temple in December 2009, and January 2010.
The copies I mailed Peck of the New Family Search record for "Mary Mother of Jesus" indicate that the Mormon submitter, who is named on the record, was probably sincere about his submission. The entry was unlikely to be a "set up," as Peck stated in his "Dearest Peggy" email. The submitter supplied well-detailed information, including the submittal source, which was the questionable Smith "family tree." The submission was a likely reflection of the Mormon theology that would insist that the entire non-Mormon world, dead or alive, should be baptized, irrespective of secular or biblical stature.
Shortly after noon, on February 18, 2010, I emailed details of Elbert Peck's "Dearest Peggy" faux pas to Dave Noyce and Peggy Stack. The information was also sent to Vern Anderson, editor of the Tribune's editorial page; and Kristen Moulton, Tribune religion reporter. In that message, I voiced my objection to Peck, as the editor of the Public Forum, "squishing" my effort to be heard concerning the recent LDS baptism of Mary. 6
Less than a week later, on February 24, 2010, the Tribune ran an article by Stack: "Madonna mural: Downtown Salt Lake City painting is catching eyes, lifting spirits": http://www.sltrib.com/faith/ci_14463976 .
Stack's story gave me a very good reason to submit another letter to the Public Forum. On February 28, 2010, as Peck had suggested, I linked my next Public Forum letter to a Tribune article-Stack's report about the mural of Mary in downtown Salt Lake City:
[To the] Public Forum February 28, 2010
It seems appropriate that "Ave Maria," an iconic 44 feet high image of the Virgin Mary, is now prominently displayed in downtown Salt Lake City: "Madonna mural: Downtown Salt Lake City painting is catching eyes, lifting spirit," by Peggy Fletcher Stack, Tribune, February 24.
Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ, is the most hallowed and celebrated woman in Christendom. Over two millennia after she gave birth to Jesus, who is recognized by Christians and Mormons as the Redeemer of mankind, Mary was offered posthumous "salvation" by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
According to her LDS ordinance record from the new FamilySearch, "Mary Mother of Jesus" and spouse of "Joseph…" was baptized and confirmed a member of the LDS Church by proxy on December 9, 2009 in the Idaho Falls Idaho Temple. Initiatory and endowment rituals were also performed for Mary in the same Idaho temple in December 2009, along with a sealing to parents in January 2010.
Therefore, why not display a large mural of Mary, Mother of God, in the heart of Mormon-dominated Salt Lake City-perhaps with an inscription giving details of the LDS temple rites that were recently done on her behalf?
Helen Radkey
My second Public Forum letter was also rejected. The publication of its contents by the Tribune would, no doubt, have caused a public relations stir for the LDS Church.
What is questionable about the Stack story concerning the painting of Mary is the timing. "Ave Maria" was created in November [2009], as Stack stated in her article, and this web link: http://mac-arte.blogspot.com/2009/11/mac-retna-mural-in-salt-lake-city-ave.html . 7
The Tribune does not wait three months to run LDS news. Those reports are usually published without delay. Why did it take three months for the Tribune to feature the story about the mural? Why did that article appear directly after I reported Mary's baptism to the Tribune? With all due respects to the mural artists, El Mac and Retna, who created the exquisite "Ave Maria" image of the Virgin Mary, was Stack's belated effort an attempt to present a story about Mary that would be acceptable to Utah's Mormon population?
Stack's article suggests the mural of Mary is a universal piece that can be appreciated by people of different faiths to promote religious understanding. Christians and Mormons believe the biblical perspective that Mary was chosen by God to be the mother of Jesus of Nazareth-and she was obedient to the divine calling. The buck pretty well stops there.
Christians should not be expected to understand or tolerate LDS temple activities that would appear to demean the untarnished reputation of Mary, the mother of Jesus-including any baptismal rite that implies Mary needs to be "cleansed" from sin-or fictitious record-keeping that claims God the Father is Mary's literal and eternal spouse.
The Salt Lake Tribune should have published the details of the recent LDS rites for Mary, or one of my letters to their Public Forum. By not reporting on a news item that would have damaged the reputation of the LDS Church, the Tribune shrugged off information that could have generated a flood of complaints from their Mormon readership. It was easier to keep quiet-bow to what was in the best interests of the LDS Church-and keep Tribune readers uninformed. It is no excuse that the evidence came from a genealogy database, built and maintained by the LDS Church, with blocked public access.
Had the Tribune investigated further it would have found that the New FamilySearch record for "Mary Mother of Jesus" was not necessarily a "set up," or an isolated example of an errant submission for Mary by a "whacko" Mormon. The LDS Church can indicate that its new program, the New FamilySearch, is a technological deterrent to improper submissions. The LDS Church can say that its New FamilySearch, will halt, or slow down, the submission of incorrect, inappropriate, or dubious information that is being fed into its temple system by "overzealous" Mormons. That does not make it so.
Behind closed temple doors, Mormons quietly perform private rites that are intended to offer "salvation" to all "unsaved" dead, including, for the record-Mary, Mother of God.
© Copyright 2010, Helen Radkey-Permission is granted to reproduce, provided content is not changed and this copyright notice is included.
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