The media continues to treat a genealogical researcher as a celebrity.

Helen Radkey likes to unearth misguided proxy baptisms performed by LDS Church members. This one-time church member said she believes LDS proxy ordinances are intrusive and she frequently distorts how the church proxy baptism system operates.

She has made it her vocation to research and then release her sensationalized findings to the media. The media in turn often print whatever Radkey has to say, drop in a quote from church public affairs and call it good journalism. Much, if not all, of Radkey's research appears to be unquestionably accepted by journalists.

The Society of Professional Journalist's Code of Ethics reads: "Test the accuracy of information from all sources and exercise care to avoid inadvertent error. Deliberate distortion is never permissible."



While Radkey's facts may be accurate, it's her spin that often goes unchallenged.

As a member of the church, I find it disheartening that fellow members would submit names of unrelated people, including Holocaust victims and President Obama's mother, for sacred temple ordinances.

However, those decisions are based on misguided individual choice and action. For better or for worse, the church does not operate a centralized clearinghouse for submitting names for temple work.

Instead, it's an honor system that requires members follow policy.

Doctrinally, Latter-day Saints also believe that the proxy ordinances have no effect unless a deceased person agrees to accept the ordinance.

Those nuances are often lost on journalists. Radkey plays to that ignorance and deliberately makes statements that distort the truth.

Radkey would have the world believe that there is some church conspiracy directed from church headquarters. That often turns into headlines that read "Mormon church baptizes Obama's mother." Take, for instance, her recent comment about her allegations in the Salt Lake Tribune that proxy baptisms were performed for deceased polygamist group leaders:

"The LDS Church appears to be reinventing its polygamous history, as it ushers excommunicated Mormon fundamentalists back into the LDS fold through a postmortem back door."

This is a pretty outlandish statement that indicates some systematic pattern rather than some isolated incidents.

Anti-Mormon group really news?

It's interesting that a reporter at the Colorado Springs Gazette thought an evangelical group that seeks to rattle the faith of Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses is newsworthy. Why does religious bigotry get ink? I guess if you organize your bigotry and give it a name, then it's news. At least the reporter got a comment from the local stake president.

"Mark McConkie, president of the Colorado Springs Stake of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, respects (Phillip) Naugle's views. 'A bedrock principle of our faith is to allow all people the privilege of worshipping God according to their own consciences,' McConkie said in a statement. 'This principle even applies to former members who have become disaffected.'"

Newspaper: Mormons "outward looking"

The Asia Times reports that officials in Beijing are tickled with the choice of Jon Huntsman Jr. as U.S. ambassador to China. The article gives an interesting perspective on the LDS Church:

"The 49-year-old Utah is a Mormon of the Church of the Latter Day Saints, a religious group whose members have had a disproportionate representation in foreign policy circles in Washington because they are in many ways the most outward looking group in the US."

It continues: "Beijing has responded enthusiastically to the nomination of an envoy with proven sensitivity to Chinese culture and an appreciation of the nation's importance. The People's Daily hailed the appointment of 'Hong Bopei,' his Chinese name, as 'good steel being used where it is needed most,' and noted the importance of Obama securing Republican consensus for its China policy."