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@Birdie - I would agree with you that this practice of baptizing the dead seems dishonest, and a kind of violation.
Wiki has the following paragraph about it;
"is currently practiced by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), where it is performed only in dedicated temples, as well as in several (but not all) other current factions of the Latter-day Saint movement. Those who practice this rite view baptism as an indispensable requirement to enter the Kingdom of God, and thus practice Baptism for the Dead to give those who have died without ever having had the opportunity to receive baptism the opportunity to receive it by proxy. The LDS Church teaches that those who have died may choose to accept or reject the baptism done on their behalf."
Note that last sentence - The LDS magnanimously offer the dead the chance to reject the baptism - its comedic in its nonsense :)
As to mormons and allegations of racism - well, the policy against ordaining black ministers was in force until 1978. The policy against racial restrictions was not lifted until around 1978, following a supposed "revelation" - which was convenient, I guess.
I am no expert on the Mormon religion, but it is difficult to see how a culture that reveres a holy book so much, cannot fail to be influenced, even subconsciously, by what is such a clearly racist attitude.Lets hope there are plenty of prophets and revelations to amend the holy text.....