Critics complain about LDS proxy ordinance work, saying we are forcing their deceased ancestors to become "Mormons" after they are dead.
In Mormon ritual and practice, members of the LDS Church believe that baptism is an earthly ordinance and must be performed for everyone who has lived on this earth. Therefore, they perform proxy ordinances for those who have died without the opportunity to accept or reject the Church in this life. However, it is important to understand that a proxy baptism does not in and of itself have any efficacy unless and until it is accepted by the person on whose behalf the ordinance is performed. We believe in complete freedom of the individual's will even in the hereafter. Therefore, if the person for whom the ordinance is performed does not choose to accept it, the ordinance is without merit.
Baptisms for the dead are not understood in the same sense as convert baptisms for the living. Thus, vicarious baptism is completely meaningless unless a deceased person accepts that baptism. An unaccepted baptism no more makes a deceased person a "Mormon" than a rejected invitation to join the Church while alive. A simple ordinance performed by another on your behalf obviously cannot obligate you to "become a Mormon." But it can give you the opportunity to accept a vicarious required witness that you have accepted Christ as your Savior and open the door to the blessings God has in store for those who do accept the Savior.
Non-members who do not believe that the Church has any special authority to perform such ordinance should have nothing to fear. If the Church has no authority, then those performing the ordinances for those who have died are simply wasting their time, and have no influence whatsoever on the dead. On the other hand, if the Church does have such authority, such baptisms will still have no affect on the dead, unless the dead decide to accept the offered ordinance.
Occasionally, the question is asked how a person can have proxy work removed for a deceased ancestor. There is no ceremony for "undoing" a proxy baptism for the dead. This would be unnecessary as the individual, by simply refusing to accept the offer, can accomplish the same result.
