In proxy baptism, a living Mormon immerses himself or herself in a baptismal font on behalf of a dead person. A church spokesman, Michael Otterson, said Friday that the ritual was done in the spirit of love, and that people’s souls were free not to become Mormons.
“The sentiment is one of inclusiveness and reaching out, that God loves all his children,” Mr. Otterson said. “We make this offering to them, and they have the agency in the next life to accept or reject the offering.”
That answers the question I had in an earlier post:
Now how would that work, exactly? Don't you need a body for a baptism, or at the very least, a head? I'm sure the Mormons don't dig up dead bodies, so how do they go about baptizing dead people? Is it as simple as finding someone's obituary in the newspaper, lighting a few candles and saying some prayers? That doesn't sound so hard. (Almost sounds like cheating.)
But what I still don't know is, how does Mitt Romney feel about this? When asked if he'd participated in proxy baptisms, the former governor of Massachusetts answered, "I have in my life, but I haven't recently."
Is it really so impolite of me to ask someone who could conceivably be the next president of the United States if he believes in this stuff? (How about magic underwear, or the notion that the Garden of Eden was in Missouri?) Is it too much to ask that our Commander-in-Chief be rational?
I'm reminded of this bit by George Carlin:
Now, Mitt Romney isn't stupid, full of baloney or crazy, so what is he? Does he believe in this malarkey, or doesn't he?
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