People who are of the LDS faith have specific religious reasons why they do genealogy. One reason is so a posthumous baptism can be preformed on an ancestor who was not baptized when he or she was alive. Recently, someone did a proxy baptism for the parents of Simon Wiesenthal. He was Jewish, and a Holocaust survivor. This has led to controversy. Genealogy is the study of family. Everyone who wants to learn more about their ancestors, or to fill in missing pieces of their family tree, is welcome to partake in this hobby. One doesn’t necessarily need to be … Continue reading →

Helen Radkey is not a professional genealogist, but her research has gotten quite a bit of attention anyway. She has been keeping track of the names that are entered into the LDS proxy database, and making some of those names public – particularly the names of Holocaust victims. She has also taken an interest in the ancestry of Mitt Romney. There is a controversy involving the LDS church, and the proxy baptisms of people who were Jewish, and who were Holocaust victims. This is definitely a situation where the practice of genealogy, and religious beliefs, collide. The Church of Jesus … Continue reading →