Never in my life have I ever hated anyone for his or her culture, ethnicity or religious creed, until now.

Congratulations to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS). You have caused me-for the first time in my life-to start this hate list.

The LDS has a little known practice of baptizing the dead. It is a proxy baptism. A representative is baptized in place of the deceased. This gives the dead a chance to accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.

No big deal, right? It’s just a crazy church practice done by a wacky mainstream cult. However, the problem lies with whom they are baptizing. National Public Radio reported that for almost 15 years since a Memorandum of Understanding was signed in 1995, the LDS has been baptizing victims of the Holocaust. However, proxy baptisms have been part of the LDS church since the 1840 according to Mormonhistoricsitesfoundation.org.

It would be mortifying to find my relatives’ names on the list. My great-grandmother was one of thirteen children. She survived, but most of her siblings, along with their big families, were killed during the Holocaust. These are men, women and children who died because of their race and faith.

For arguments’ sake, let’s just say, “Who cares?” Really, it doesn’t matter. Just because someone else believes in something, that doesn’t make it true. So, honestly, these baptisms are as worthless as Joseph Smith’s magical glasses.

What terrifies me about this is the possible historical alteration that can occur. Millions of people are being baptized NPR reported. If this trend continues, eventually all Holocaust victims will be “Mormons.” Since the church has the most accurate genealogical records, eventually this horrific event will be seen as a Mormon Holocaust. In turn, LDS is rewriting history.

This is not an issue of Jews needing to stand together and fight a new oppressor. This is an issue of respecting the beliefs of others, something with which the LDS has problems.

Throughout history, Jews have died by the sword for their faith. So, after all this time, why would our dead want to change their minds? If the LDS has such a strong belief in family then why does it not hesitate to desecrate the memories of our lost ones?

Join those who have been fighting to stop this practice. Ask the LDS to stop this practice. This is an imposition that cannot be tolerated. This goes beyond the Jewish people.

If LDS is permitted to do this, what will stop other people or organizations from imposing their beliefs on others? After all, Hitler imposed his beliefs on the Jews.

I guess I can just do the next best thing and welcome all dead Mormons to the Church of Satan.

Mikhail Chernyavsky can be reached at [email protected]