August 23, 2009, The Salt Lake Tribune, LDS may have posthumously baptized Obama's African ancestors; Church declines to say whether rites performed, by Matt Canham,

August 23, 2009, The Salt Lake Tribune, LDS may have posthumously baptized Obama's African ancestors; Church declines to say whether rites performed, by Matt Canham,

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.

LDS Church spokesman Scott Trotter declined to comment about the specifics involving Obama's family, but has previously confirmed the Dunham baptism. At the time, he said it ran counter to the faith's policies. Mormons are only supposed to submit names for baptism for people they are related to.

He promised to investigate what he called "a serious matter."

"While the vast majority of names submitted by church members fall within applicable guidelines, it is virtually impossible to ensure that no improper submissions will be made," Trotter said.

Source: mormoncurtain.com/

img