Yup. I very much want the Mormons to posthumously baptize me!
I mean, it will probably do absolutely nothing. But, if it does have an effect, I will be eternally (literally) grateful for their help in the afterlife.
I mean, it will probably do absolutely nothing. But, if it does have an effect, I will be eternally (literally) grateful for their help in the afterlife.
This is Pascal's Fallacious Wager, the idea that (as you've instantiated it here) Mormonism is the only religion that might potentially be correct. Either the Mormons are right, or everyone is wrong.
But if you believe the Mormons might be right, you have no way to exclude the possibility that the Mormons are wrong, but somebody else is right. In which case the baptism might cause you eternal harm.
But with posthumous baptism, it is someone else doing the thing. And multiple different religions can all claim me as their own. There can be overlap, maybe. (Or maybe not, who knows? We're in angels on the head of a pin territory here)
So, if the Mormons baptizing me causes me eternal harm, then both of the following would be true:
1. They do have supernatural powers after all. (i.e. Mormon rituals have an effect on souls, deities, etc.)
2. But their belief system is wrong.
I guess one can construct a system where both #1 and #2 hold, but I don't see it as being nearly as likely as either one in isolation.
Even if that's in the realm of possibility, it sounds pretty unreasonable in the context of deciding one's eternal fate.
I know I invited 'unlikely' in but let's not make it too welcome or we'll be here all week, or until dang tells us to knock it off.
Edit:
Well actually, Mormonism is a Christian faith that teaches that salvation comes in and through Jesus Christ, so it really isn't your actions or their actions- but the actions of Jesus Christ- taken on your behalf, that leads to salvation- if you accept it. But it isn't so much a reward as it is an act of mercy.
That same being endorsed baptism by undergoing it himself.
This may seem contradictory, but becomes much more tractable if you're open to the idea that "redemption" is just an abstraction, with multiple inputs, some provideable by Providence, some provideable by others, and some provideable only by the subject in question.
The very common beliefs that your soul might be damaged by someone mutilating your corpse, or stepping on your grave, aren't noticeably different from the belief that your soul might be damaged by someone anointing your corpse or a representative of your corpse.
"What pendulum swing can we ride on going 'WHEEEEEEE' today?"
He says sarcastically, uncomfortably eyeballing the JAMStack bookmarks he has queued up to read...
I would be very interested to be educated on such beliefs.