I recently attended a funeral of a young LDS teenage girl who had died in a car accident. This girl was full of life, athletic, and admired by everybody in the community. The funeral was held at a large Mormon church building. Many non-mormons attended this ceremony.
The funeral lasted for two hours. The young girl’s name was hardly mentioned during the service. Almost nothing was said about her life, who she was, and how much she had accomplished in a few short years.
The LDS bishop high jacked the meeting to expound on Mormon doctrine. Others that spoke focused on sharing that the Latter Day Saint church was true and how Joseph Smith was a prophet of God. They mentioned how this young girl also believed in these LDS teachings, almost implying at times that the young girl should be happy to be dead.
After the meeting my wife was approached by many non-LDS people (because they knew she had once been a Mormon). The non-LDS crowd was bewildered and appalled as to what had just happened. They thought it was creepy and weird that a family would hold a funeral at which there was hardly a word mentioned about the person who had just died. There was no closure.
The LDS people gathered around and congratulated themselves on a beautiful ceremony and how the Mormon seed had been planted in the hearts of so many non-believers.
Post-mortem: I think this is another case of “the emperor’s new clothes”. If the LDS members repeat and tell themselves something enough times, they will eventually believe it to be true.
