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Re: What do people think of ancestry.com?

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From:
Ron Savage
Date:
July 19, 2011 19:10
Subject:
Re: What do people think of ancestry.com?
Message ID:
1311127764.13656.96.camel@zigzag.savage.net.au
Hi Lewis

On Tue, 2011-07-19 at 20:55 -0400, Lewis Kirk wrote:
> I have become queasy about the whole online genealogy thing. Ancestry would not let me go even after I ended my membership. I finally retired the email address they had for me. (I have a lot of email addresses just for that reason!). The gedcom format was developed by the LDS. Ancestry and just about all the other genealogy sites are based out of Utah and owned by Ancestry.

I had no idea LDS were involved, but then I hadn't investigated it too
deeply yet. I thank you for this information.

I've never been to church myself :-) (I'm 61) so I'm certainly not
pro-religion. Rather I'm a great believer in Freudian psychoanalysis,
and see these 2 phenomena as mutually exclusive.

Pity about the email address thing. I've encountered this elsewhere and
it never fails to infuriate me.

> The LDS church has a peculiar habit of posthumously baptizing people. The gedcom records for my family that were on Ancestry.com had posthumously baptized a number of my ancestors. I know it's really put me off of using those services.

I was aware they did this posthumous thing, and don't like it. Of course
it could be argued it's the 'cost' of access to their huge record
analysis results.

Mind you, it's difficult to attach any real meaning to the process, for
the deceased that is, although it's understandable it would distress
some people.

> I really am not posting this to start a great debate or flame war or whatever. Do your own research and come up with your own conclusions if you care to. Wikipedia has a good article on the company and on posthumous baptism.

Agreed re the debate...

Wikipedia here I come.

> Contact me off-list if you have a comment.

Nuff said.


-- 
Ron Savage
http://savage.net.au/
Ph: 0421 920 622


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