For Those Who Don't Know--------

[Seeker630]

As a few of you know, for the last 3 years and a bit I've been working on a genealogy project on my family. My primary source of online information is Ancestry.com. One of the most widely known such sites available today. Your local public library may have a subscription to it. Much of the information I can access in there was originally generated by the Mormon Church. I knew this all along, but was never sure just why they did it, other than that it had something to do with their doctrines. So I finally researched it and found this:

http://lds.about.com/od/basicsgospel...tized_dead.htm

Bizarre, but I'll take advantage of it as long as I can.

[Alex Bragi]

Yes, I've often wondered why they do it too, so thank you for that link.

I agree it's interesting and quite bizarre.

And good luck tracing your family tree. I believe it's something people can get quite happily hooked on.

[homo hirsutus]

Good stuff. I love to see how new religions find new ways to bilk money out of their people.

[Godless Dave]

I tried to use Ancestry.com and was really frustrated with it. I paid a monthly fee that only gave me access to certain sources. Additional sources cost additional money. I was able to find some information I didn't previously have (my great-grandfather's first name and date and place of birth, and also the date of his marriage to my great-grandmother - which, interestingly, is three years after the birth of their son, my grandfather.)


I don't know what the LDS incentive is for keeping track of that information, but it sure is handy.