LDS Church may have posthumously baptized Obama's African ancestors

Oh come the freak on. First his mother and now any damn random relative you can find?

Washington » Mormons have not only posthumously baptized President Barack Obama's mother into their faith, but they may have performed the ritual for the president's African ancestors as well, including his father, grandfather and great-grandfather, according to researcher Helen Radkey.

She has uncovered records in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saint's new FamilySearch database that include personalized identification numbers for Obama's relatives, including his father, Barack Obama Sr.

The president's father was Muslim, but later in life became a nonbeliever, according to the family.

Records in the FamilySearch database do not indicate if the "baptism for the dead" ceremony was actually performed in an LDS temple, saying only that the information is "not available."

Radkey, a Salt Lake City-based researcher critical of the practice, provided The Salt Lake Tribune with the documents. Earlier this year, Radkey found records that confirmed the "baptism for the dead" of Stanley Ann Dunham, Obama's mother, who died in 1995, took place on June 4, 2008, in the Provo temple.

"Baptizing Obama's African relatives, or putting their names in the LDS temple system for them to be posthumously baptized, is offensive because it sends a wrongful message that Obama's ancestors were of inferior religious stock," Radkey said.

h/t Ben.

Utah kiss-in shows support of gay couple

By GottaLaff

It's 2009, but sometimes you have to wonder:

A participant in a Salt Lake City kiss-in says the event was organized to support a gay couple allegedly targeted for kissing at a Mormon church.

Salt Lake City resident Isabelle Warnas said she and her husband kissed at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints's Salt Lake Temple because Derek Jones, 25, and Matthew Aune, 28, were detained by church security guards, The Salt Lake Tribune reported Monday.

Jonas and Aune allegedly were detained by church security guards last Thursday after one of the men kissed the other on the cheek.

Jones and Aune were cited for trespassing after arguing with security guards.

"My husband and I cannot understand the discrimination," Warnas said of the incident. "This is not right."

Neither can I. And no, it sure isn't. Bravo, Warnases!

Confirmed, Mormon Web site shows Obama's mother as baptized after death

By GottaLaff

I leave for a couple of hours and come home to this:

A Provo, Utah newspaper has confirmed our earlier story - a Mormon geneological Web site does in fact list President Obama's mother, Stanley Ann Dunham, as having been baptized into the Mormon faith after her death (and presumably without her, or her son's, consent). The Mormon church has yet to confirm to numerous reporters' inquiries whether they did in fact baptize the President's dead mother last year in the middle of the presidential campaign. If true, and it's looking increasingly likely, this could cause the Mormons quite a bit of trouble politically and in the public relations sphere.

Still unanswered is whether the Mormons also baptized Obama's father.

More from the Provo Herald Extra:

At the same time that Barack Obama sealed the Democratic nomination for president last year, someone in the Provo LDS Church temple was performing a baptism and temple rites for his dead mother.

The move is a serious breech of protocol for church members, who in the past have been criticized for performing such proxy baptisms for victims of the Holocaust.
"Church members are specifically instructed not to submit the names of persons not related to them," reads a statement on the LDS Chuch Web site. "Before performing temple baptisms for a deceased family member born within the last 95 years, members are instructed to get permission from the person's closest living relative."

Officials of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have yet to confirm the incident, but records on their FamilySearch.org genealogical site clearly show that Stanley Ann Dunham received proxy rites in the Provo temple on June 4 and June 8 of 2008. The birth and death dates of the person for whom the rites were performed match those of Obama's mother.

Californians Against Hate file suit against Mormon church re: Prop 8

By GottaLaff

Ruh-roh! The spread the hate movement hit a snaggy-waggy. They apparently forgot to report "various non monetary contributions", and managed to commit a legal no-no, according to Californians Against Hate. And they targeted non-members, which requires transparency. You all remember transparency, don't you?

The LDS church only reported $2,078 in these contributions. By contrast, Dobson's Focus on the Family reported nearly $84,000, and the National Organization for Marriage reported over $210,000 in non-monetary donations. Yet the LDS -- who led the Yesapalooza on 8, only reported about $2,000? Oooops:

Fred Karger, Founder of Californians Against Hate, today filed a Sworn Complaint with the Enforcement Division of the Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC). In the complaint he accused The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) of not reporting numerous non monetary contributions to ProtectMarriage.com – Yes on 8, A Project of California Renewal I.D. # 1302592.

Karger contends that The Mormon Church organized phone banks from Utah and Idaho, sent direct mail to voters, transported people to California over several weekends, used the LDS NewsRoom to send out News Releases to promote their activities, walked precincts, ran a speakers bureau, distributed thousands of lawn signs and other campaign material, organized a “surge to election day,” had Church leaders travel to California, set up very elaborate web sites, produced at least 9 commercials and 4 other video broadcasts and conducted at least 2 satellite simulcasts over 5 Western states. All of these actions were geared toward nonmembers.

In addition to the formal FPPC complaint, a letter was also sent today to FPPC Chairman Ross Johnson, California Attorney General Edmund G. Brown, Jr. and Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff expanding on the complaint. [Go here to read the letter]

In the letter, a copy of which is below, Karger stated that 2 other organizations that were also involved in the Yes on Prop 8 campaign, reported substantial non monetary contributions to ProtectMarriage.com. The National Organization for Marriage (NOM) of Princeton, New Jersey reported $210,634,75 and James Dobson’s Focus on the Family of Colorado Springs, Colorado reported $83,790.00. No non monetary contributions could be found from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

In addition to spreading hate, it looks like they were spreading the non monetary wealth a little too. What would Joe the Plumber say? Excerpts from the letter:

All of these unreported contributions by the Mormon Church were on top of its massive fund-raising effort; the largest ever undertaken on a social issue ballot initiative. [...]

Under California Election Law organizations such as the Mormon Church are not required to report activities if they strictly constitute “member communication.” We will explain why we feel that the activities of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints went far beyond “member communication,” and were instead specifically targeted at California’s 17 million voters. By not reporting any of these non monetary contributions, the Mormon Church violated the Political Reform Act.

This stuff doesn't sound very do unto othery to me.

Say No To A Church Taking Over Your Government

Hell no.

VIDEO-- Ooo, gay marriage is scary: Mormon Church rejects 16,935 signatures

By GottaLaff

Here in California, Prop 8 is driving me crazy (changing the California constitution to include a ban on gay marriage). Since when is a lifetime commitment to the one you love a bad thing?

The polls have the Yes's and No's tied. I still haven't figured out one teensy weensy way my marriage has been affected by same-sex couples exchange wedding vows. Watch the Mormons run away from Rick Jacobs (of the Courage Campaign) and send his group on a wild goose chase: