Shalom,
I had a long conversation with an Orthodox Rabbi on this subject concerning the Mormons who converted dead Jews to the Mormon belief. The Rabbi explained that the Jewish law (Halacha) states simply, "Once a Jew, always a Jew. A Jew is G-d's Chosen people." I tried to make it difficult, so I asked, "What if the Jew converts?"
The Rabbi emphasized, "It will not help him/her. G-d Has Chosen him/her and he  or she can not backtrack on G-d's Decision. This is the law (Halacha)." To clinch this argument. He pointed out to me, "So even if he/she converts, they can be buried in a Jewish cemetery in full Jewish ceremony when they die. All the best,
Shana Tova and may we all enjoy this coming new Year in very good health.
Aizic Sechter from the Lone Magen David State of Israel 

I have many non-Jewish friends who have used this.  Some complain because others changed their information.  It is a collaborative tree much like Geni and wikitree.  I would suggest either of those as alternatives.  I would also suggest looking into Tribal Pages (if it still exists) or doing a google search for "free hosting".  Then put up your own tree.  I believe that I spent between $30 and $40 for TNG the next generation to run my online tree (https://sarahsgenies.com).  Now I did opt to pay for hosting but there is free hosting out there.   I do have a statement about privacy - I include names but no data for the living - and will make people completely private upon request.  Those people do not even show up in an index or name list or search.   
--
Sarah L Meyer
Georgetown TX
ANK(I)ER, BIGOS, KARMELEK, PERLSTADT, STOKFISZ, SZPIL(T)BAUM, Poland
BIRGARDOVSKY, EDELBERG, HITE (CHAIT), PERCHIK Russia (southern Ukraine) and some Latvia or Lithuania
https://www.sarahsgenies.com

Jeff Malka wrote:

I remember looking up some prominent Jewish individuals and to my surprise
retrieved their 'baptismal dates'.

Huh? Where and when was this? All iterations of the FamilySearch website that I've dealt with over the past decade have (carefully) not shown any LDS-specific data, such as posthumous rites, to non-LDS.

Barbara Sloan wrote:

I would not and do not house my family tree online anywhere, because I believe in privacy.

I agree that living people do not belong on online trees, anywhere, but the dead neither have nor need privacy.

Julia
./\ /\
.>*.*<

At 02:07 03/08/2020, EdrieAnne Broughton wrote:

Actually we all, Jews and non-Jews alike, have a great deal to thank
the LDS church for. Without their obsession with record keeping
lots of the records Americans and world citizens depend on today for
genealogy would have been lost when counties decided to save space
and chuck records back in the 1920s-1970s. It wasn't that long ago
that I heard stories of people dumpster diving to preserve records.
EdrieAnne Broughton
Vacavillle, California
_._,_._,_

How right!!!

Not only did the Mormon Church spend its money freely to preserve our
heritage, but they made it freely available to us.

Members of the Church actually have a deeper access to records that
the general public does. So befriending one of them can greatly
enhance your genealogical reseach.

I have never understood why some people feel such animosity towards
the LDS Church. The Church's beliefs and practices are entirely
theirs. They do not force anybody to convert while still alive. Of
course they want us to convert. What human organisation does nor
want that? If they hope that my soul will join them after I have
died - let them!! They case me no harm, and they allow me to
benefit enormously!

David Lewin
London

Besides the religious aspects, there are other problematic aspects. One of them is simple implied misinformation. I remember looking up some prominent Jewish individuals and to my surprise retrieved their 'baptismal dates'. To me at the time (and to unsophisticated future researchers 100 years from now) the logical assumption was that they must have converted! I'm sure there is some clarification somewhere and experts know better but to the casual observer, the logical conclusion is that the person had converted and did not die a Jew. Definitely misinformation. 

I know the LDS has changed its policies about such baptisms as a result of the resulting angry outcry. They can just as easily change it again. But the recorded date of 'baptism' remains forever in the records. 

In my opinion it is insulting and a form of identity theft. These involuntary baptisms need to all be expunged from the records.

Jeff Malka
Too many names to list.

I would not and do not house my family tree online anywhere, because I believe in privacy.  The deceased may not care but the living do.  I prefer to house everything on my own computer and backup. 
--
Barbara Sloan
Conway, SC

On Mon, Aug 3, 2020 at 10:08 AM, Sally Bruckheimer wrote:

They baptize their ancestors and random others from records, but not Jewish
records.

As far as I know, the LDS church has discontinued all extraction-program-based "temple work" (or whatever you want to call it). Mormons can no longer submit random names from an index; they have to show that they're related to the people whose names they're submitting in order to proceed with the process. (And it is my impression that for relatively-recent people, they have to show that they're either the closest living relative, or that they have permission from the closest relatives.)

I find the concept of the Almighty as Supreme Bureaucrat ... amusing. But whatever the theology, the result is the availability of a vast repository of genealogical records that I could otherwise never hope to access, plus a free collaborative tree that links easily with said records. I am grateful for them, and make extensive use of both, and try to return some of the favor by indexing and working on FS's places database.

And if putting someone's profile on FamilySearch's Family Tree should result in some random LDS member submitting that information for some religious rite or other, I don't actually care. I don't believe in those rites, my deceased relatives never heard of those rites, and chances are that they would not have believed in them if they had, so it's all meaningless and really not worth any worry.

But if despite the logic you still object to Mormons, there's WikiTree. The interface is not particularly user-friendly (familiarity with markdown/coding a definite plus), the handling of names is Anglo-centric and illogical, and proper citing of one's sources gets tediously convoluted, but there's an active community of helpful users, there are all sorts of tools available to display and analyze data, and the developers are constantly working on improvements.

Julia
./\ /\
.>*.*<

" Mormons no longer baptise the deceased."

Mormons no longer baptize deceased Jews unless they are their ancestors. They baptize their ancestors and random others from records, but not Jewish records.

But since it is a wasted effort, why do we care? They are doing us a big service by providing us records and a free internet genealogy site. I know that some people are sensitive, but they aren't accomplishing anything by waving their hands over dead people's records.

Sally Bruckheimer
Princeton, NJ

A number of years ago when I was Chairman of the Jewish Genealogical Society of Great Britain, we raised this subject with the Mormon Church here in the UK.  We received an absolute assurance that the Mormons no longer baptise the deceased.  I do hope that this is still the case.
For my part I find Family Search very useful.

Perhaps someone could now ask the Mormon Church whether the assurance they gave to us, still applies?

Martyn Woolf
London 

I'm aware of this, and you have a right to accept that at face value.  For the record, I do.  But I also know that there are a lot of Jews who would *not* be okay with that, and suggesting to Jews that they post their family trees on FamilySearch without letting them know as well the use that may be made of that information is unfair.  I don't know why anyone would want to keep that information from people.

Lisa

What do you mean, Lisa?

Are you worried about posthumous baptism? The purpose is to ensure that ancestors can join church members in the afterlife. Individual Mormons submit to the church the names of persons they wish to have baptized, then undergo baptism“by proxy.”  The LDS believe that the baptism must be accepted by the person baptized, so if you know that your ancestors would not accept being baptized, you have no concerns.  

From the LDS (https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/gospel-topics/baptisms-for-the-dead?lang=eng)   

    "Each individual has agency, or the right to choose. The validity of a baptism for the dead depends on the deceased person accepting it and choosing to accept and follow the Savior while residing in the spirit world. The names of deceased persons are not added to the membership records of the Church."

Barbara Mannlein

Tucson, AZ

On Aug 2, 2020, at 8:08 AM, Lisa Liel <lisa@...> wrote:

Or, you know, don't, if you have any concerns about what the Mormon Church will do with records of your ancestors.

_._,_._,_

Build your family tree on Family Search's Family Tree site.  This LDS collaboartive tree site is totally free and claims it's the largest family tree and still growing. James Castellan Rose Valley, PA

Or, you know, don't, if you have any concerns about what the Mormon Church will do with records of your ancestors.

Harold,

Build your family tree on Family Search's Family Tree site. This LDS collaboartive tree site is totally free and claims it's the largest family tree and still growing.

James Castellan
Rose Valley, PA