Heneghan states: “Church members are told to focus on their ancestors, a rite understandable in a relatively new denomination founded in 1830. But so many now perform the rituals for celebrities, heroes and perfect strangers that the practice has spun out of control.”

Spun out of control? Our goal is to baptize all those who have lived before and did not have an opportunity to hear or accept the true gospel of Jesus Christ.

Heneghan states that baptism for the dead has “…outraged Jews and baffled Christians who see it as usurping the memory of their departed relatives. The Church says it cannot stem the tide of dead baptized in its own temples.

“usurping memories”, “cannot stem the tide” this type of emotional button pushing by Reuter’s is both wrong and misleading. They make it sound like the world is in an uproar over baptism for the dead and that the churches temples have been overrun and are now being controlled by church member bent on saving Elvis and every Jew who ever lived.

It’s puzzling that people are offended by baptism for the dead and taking actions against it when they don’t even believe in the merits of the practice. I guess some people have a lot of time on their hands.