My friends having her sons templework done. I know it doesnt mean anything but it bothers me that someones work is done after they rejected in when alive. It really feels wrong.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/18/2016 06:48PM by scootergirl57.

I agree. A few months ago I attended a different ward for a baby blessing, and someone testified about the temple. Her sister is tbm, but BIL hated the church. He died, so they were finally able to get his baptism and other "work" done. It really made me mad.

You're right, it doesn't mean anything. Nobody is magically sealed to anyone because of it.

But it bothers me too sometimes. Not the actual woo woo, but the total disregard for the other persons beliefs, choices and ideas.

They seriously don't care about another's wishes. I know they think they are doing something wonderful for that person, but it seems so 'off' now.

Being dead has its perks, like no taxes, but you can't stop people from doing your temple work.

At least they're not digging up graves.

In my experience a lot of folks don't respect each other when they're alive, so it's no surprise they continue the insult when one of them is dead.

People live in their own little worlds. It's really hard to break out of one's own ego long enough to cut somebody else some slack--to say, "Hey, maybe he's right and I'm WRONG! Wow, who knew??"

I only dead-dunked one person I knew (my father). I also dead-dunked a bunch of guys I'd never met. Some guy at the temple handed me a bunch of index cards with names on them and told me to give them to the guy in charge of the dunk tank. He read off the names while his buddy helped me rinse my hair a few times by dipping me in the Clorox-scented water. Too bad Mel Brooks never made a film about this--it screams out for Mel Brooks.

So, yeah: I'm sure after I'm dead lots of peeps will urinate all over my memory, all the while thinking they're watering the roses.

In a way, this issue strikes my funnybone. For a church that lays claim to be guided by revelation from Jesus, they sure don't pay much attention to his teachings. Let us lay aside for the moment as to whether he existed and was what he was reputed to be. A person who has read about his life in the N.T. can't help but come to the conclusion that Jesus never worried himself about what other people felt or did. He didn't drag their baggage around with him. As a Rabbi (teacher) and a Magi(healer) he only dealt with those who requested his assistance. As a Rabbi he at times took other priests to task, but only when they stuck their noses in his business.

So for religious people who seek to emulate his life by adopting his teachings, wouldn't it be well to give up worrying about what other people do or say or feel because of their beliefs? Unless they are causing harm by their actions, let them "worship" how, where, or what they may. It's just not worth a grain of salt. For those who are not of a religious bent (metaphor intended), life is a lot more delightful.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/18/2016 10:36PM by stokars.

Maybe someone should start a no-proxy-ordinances registry. The way it would work is that the law would prevent any proxy ordinances being performed on your behalf after your death, per your own request, until you revoke that request.

If the mormon priesthood is capable of resurrecting me, I'll consider using my own signature in the flesh, to allow those proxy ordinances. Of course, then I won't need them to, because I can then let them rebaptise me for real in that case, instead of having someone else doing it for me. If they can't ressurect me, than they have lied to me anyway. I was told that all of us get resurrected. In they can't resurrect me, then they never get my signature to allow the proxy ordinances on my behalf. I don't understand the rush other than the salesman's 'today only' trick to close the sale. That won't work on me.

If everyone who resigned from the church did this, the living might realize the stupidness that is inherant in proxy ordinances.

When my BIL was dying, I was the only one who he could be honest with about how he felt about the church. He did not believe and would not go to the temple. At his funeral, they talked about how he left his widow with no debt, neglecting to say that it was because he refused to pay tithing. They said the he said he was "just not ready" but I knew the truth. I never said a word. His family did his proxy work a year later. It doesn't matter.

I don't know. I think it can be a very thoughtful and loving exercise to do something for a dead person that you think is necessary for their salvation, but which they can't do for themselves. In that spirit, by the power of the Priesthood, for and in behalf of Joseph Smith through Gordon B. Hinckley, and various and sundry apostles, I hereby confess that the LDS Church is a massive fraud and resign as a member.

"My friends having her sons templework done. I know it doesnt mean anything but it bothers me that someones work is done after they rejected in when alive. It really feels wrong."

Agreed. My TBM mother and non-Mormon father were married for 53 years. He steadfastly declined to join up, and he told me several times when I was a TBM and a ward leader that he didn't want his temple work done. But when he died in 1990, my mother waited the year, and she traipsed off to the temple to get sealed to him. She wanted me to act as my dad's proxy, but I declined, citing my dad's repeated wishes. My oldest sister's hubby, who was a former bishop, SP, and regional rep, stood in for him. Even though I was still a TBM at the time, I thought the whole thing was pointless foolishness, seeing as how only about half of my parents' 12 kids were still Mormon at the time. But Mormon culture is all about checking off the appropriate boxes and fulfilling the expected ordinances, whether they mean anything or not.

There should be a legal way to put an end to the practice of doing proxy ordinances for those who strongly objected in life, but who are now dead and not around to put a stop to it when eventually, proxy ceremonies are done on their behalf then.

Yes, it doesn't count if you're in the afterlife and object from there. But that's not the point. I don't want to have anyone use my life as fuel for a cult, even after I die. I want to rain on their false parade if it involves my life story, living or dead. What part of "no" don't they understand?

If they can't get my consent in life to remain a church member, what is wrong with their religion that they're not addressing? Even Joseph Smith said "the religion that can't bring a person happiness in this life, can't be counted on in the hereafter". They needed to fix their broken religion before I resigned from it, not plug me back in to it against my will after I die, as a supposed faith building tool to others after I can no longer object.

The church won't do anything about it, because anything that eliminates reasons to go to the temple eliminates the pressure to pay 10%. Respecting the wishes of the dead costs the church money. That's a non-starter unless civil laws prevent it.

Sadly, azsteve, there is no legal way to do so.
Mainly because the law explicitly recognizes that such 'rites' are meaningless.

Your survivors can prevent someone using your name or image or works to *profit* from after you die.
They can't legally prevent anyone from pretending to do some ritual for you.
Because the ritual is meaningless, and hence not actionable.

Yeah, all anyone can do is to show disapproval, like several Jews did when the church was proxy baptising holocost victems. The law isn't set up to give any rights to the dead. If you think about it, a resurrected person can have no legal rights, since your rights and your legal estate end with your death. It's just more proof that the church sells snake oil. Even they don't respect the rights of the dead.