Can you excommunicate someone who's not a member of your religion?

Or can you only do that once you've posthumously baptized and converted someone who's already dead?

As a minister of The Universal Life Church, could I posthumously baptize and convert Brigham Young to my church, and then excommunicate him?

Could I excommunicate George W. Bush who is-- by most accounts-- unfortunately still alive? Or should I start small and excommunicate St. Louis Archbishop Raymond Burke?
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1991345


For an example of posthumous conversions, See also:

Jews press Mormon officials over posthumous baptisms
BILL GLADSTONE
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
TORONTO -- Jewish and Mormon officials met this week to discuss allegations that church members are still posthumously baptizing many deceased Jews, including thousands of Holocaust victims.
http://www.jewishsf.com/bk021213/i50.shtml

For what it's worth, my own Last will and Testament states that I may not be posthumously baptized into any religion after I am dead.

no pun intended. This is why people think Mormons are nutjobs. This boggles my mind. It's actually boggling right now, as I speak :(

you leave behind who think they can be the boss of you after you have moved on to a different gig.

Hey, I can have a special ceremony and call a lion a lamb, but it doesn't make him a vegan.

certain Mormons have gone to genealogical websites, culled information, and done wholesale baptisms of entire family trees, without informing the genealogist who compiled the information. What's worse, they have used such information to garner the names of living relatives who they have decided must be deceased and have gone ahead and baptized them too. This happened to my family tree and to my mother, who, at 87, is very much alive and hopping mad. I emailed the perpetrator, and of course never received a reply. Complained to the website, but they said nothing could be done except what I had done. I complained to the LDS Church, and they said that such things were not their policy, but THEY couldn't do anything about it either. If any of them knew my Unitarian/liberal Methodist/Spiritualist ancestors, they would have thought twice about doing this.

1) Re-baptize to her own (or a new) religion
2) Follow-up by re-baptizing all the Mormons in that family tree into her chosen religion.
3) Notify the perpetrators that they are now all Unitarians or Pastafarians or whatever.

As a duly ordained minister of The Universal Life Church, I would be glad to aid in re-baptizing that particular family tree of Mormons.

about how they are gonna honor religious diversity ;) It's a hoot:

Secret Wal-Mart Memo Intercepted
by Blue Tail Fly

Wal-Mart

Classified Memo

To: All Wal-Mart Managers

From: Corporate Headquarters
Bentonville, AK

Subject: The Employment Manual will be revised as of December 1, 2005 to accommodate the religious practices of the following groups of Wal-Mart associates (workers).

Christian fundamentalist working in the pharmacy are no longer required to dispense the morning-after pill, birth control medications or devices, performance enhancing drugs or any item they view as abortive or contrary to their personal religious beliefs.

Scientologists may refuse to dispense anti-depressants.

Vegans may refuse to sell wallets, shoes, and motorcycle vests.

Baptists can refuse to sell mouthwash, vanilla extract, or anything with an alcohol content over 1%.

Pentecostals may refuse to sell women’s slacks or to ring up nail polish, lipstick, or other offensive cosmetics.

Seventh-Day Adventists will not be required to sell, advise customers, or stock shelves before sundown on Saturday evening.

Because of their lack of commitment to the product, Quakers will not be assigned to the ammunition and firearms area.

Orthodox Jews will no longer be serving the pork barbecues in the food court or slicing ham products in the deli.

Jehovah Witness members will not be required to sell flags, shirts, and decals displaying the American flag.

Zoroastrians are exempt from selling fire extinguishers.

Humanists may refuse to work within 100-feet of offensive literature, including any books by Bill O’Reilly, Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, or Phyllis Schafly.

Muslims may place their prayer rugs in aisles 24 and 27, the areas blocked off for morning, midday, and afternoon observances.

A 16-foot reclining Buddha, wind chimes, and ceremonial candles will be placed in the garden department for those who prefer meditation in lieu of a lunch break.

Wiccans are entitled to be off on Halloween, but must work Christmas and Easter.

Ancestor worshipers are entitled to two peyote breaks a day in the park lot wigwam. Evangelizing is strictly prohibited.

Before making a sale of religious materials, Creationists and Certified Christians can remove those portions of the Bible that might be misinterpreted or censor books that are contrary to their beliefs.

Atheists may wear symbols of their faith so evangelicals will know whom to target during the smoke break.

A thorough screening of potential employees will reduce the number of “restricted workers” or “conscientious objectors,” thus making it easier for us to perform our primary retail function.

Careful attention to the above policy will assure that we are not disrupted by demonstrators, lawsuits, bad press, religious whackos, or union agitators during our high volume season.

Please be advised that upon arriving in the store during December, customers will be tagged with the greeting they wish to hear from Wal-mart workers. Customers may choose from the following options:

Merry Christmas

Happy Holidays

Happy Chanukah

Happy Kwanza

Happy HalloThanksMas

Merry Festivus, or

Bah-hum-bug

Adherence to the above stated policy will insure a prosperous New Year—at least for our owners and managers . . . if not for our employees.

which is what makes it so ironic! But thanks for the offer!

I just don't understand.

How is it any different than a Christian or a Jew, when they hear something bad has happened saying they'll 'Pray for you'? As an Agnostic Atheist, I could certainly say, 'Don't waste your time, I don't believe in it', but instead I take it for what it is meant to be: A gesture of sympathy or their way of reaching out to me. I don't take it as insulting, and I'm going to assume that the Mormons doing this are doing it out of good faith - believing that they are "saving souls" or whatever - I am pretty ignorant on the Mormon faith.

Anyway, the point of the matter is I don't see why anyone would care one way or another. If a Mormon did this for me, I'd simply thank them and walk away. If someone's faith doesn't recognize another faith as legitimate, why do they care what they do? How is it any different than me claiming to worship a deity, then going out and performing some ritual, and then saying 'I just baptized the entire world'? What would it matter?

Am I missing something here?

because of this rather unique belief they have the most amazing genealogical database in the world and genealogy wouldn't exist in its present form without them.

my own overinflated ego, I declare all people (past, present, and future) who posthumously try to change others religions to be DEVIL WORSHIPERS!
:evilgrin:

...here's the scoop on LDS baptisms for the dead.

Y'all will remember that up unit the mid-seventies, black people were generally, shall we say "not encouraged," to join the mormon church. The whole geneology thing started out by people having to search their ancestry as far back as they could to prove they had no black ancestors. As black people couldn't be baptised into the church, the whole thing about baptising your ancestors was basically a cover story for proving you didn't have black ancestors.

in "communication" in the first place, i.e. taking Communion.

If you're excommunicated from the Roman Catholic church, you're not allowed to take Communion. In medieval times, this was how Popes punished kings they didn't like. The most extreme measure was Interdict, which meant that no one in the king' whole country was allowed to perform any of the sacraments.