Discussion 2
to Meditation 956
Unbaptising T. H. Huxley
by: JT
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T.H. Huxley has been baptised by the LDS Church at least six times. Perhaps they were worried that their earlier efforts did not take as they kept on repeating the ceremony. They may have had good reason for this doubt as the man who coined the word agnostic would not have taken easily to Mormon beliefs.
Thomas Henry Huxley (b. 4 May 1825; d. 29 June 1895) was a self-educated intellectual giant of the 19th century, a pioneering genius whose influence was felt throughout the science, education, and politics of Victorian England. His brilliant career ranged from surgeon's apprentice to England's Privy Council, service on 10 royal commissions, and president of the Royal Society from 1881 to 1885. His many awards included the Royal, Copley, and Darwin medals.
A man of astonishing energy and prodigious talent, Huxley had a sharp wit and a brilliant, questioning mind (traits no doubt passed on to his grandsons, including novelist Aldous Huxley [Brave New World, etc.]). He invented the term “agnostic” to describe his own religious view, and the term’s widespread, immediate acceptance freed intellectual discourse from the “belief”-versus-“disbelief” straightjacket, in and out of theistic contexts. And yet while he was never one to sacrifice principle for propriety, he vigorously defended his ideas but always treated his opponents with respect and sometimes-astonishing courtesy. (From THE ATHENÆUM)
Huxley was aware of the LDS Church and wrote:
There is complete consensus of testimony that the founder of Mormonism, one Joseph Smith, was a low-minded ignorant scamp, and that he stole the "Scriptures" which he propounded; not being clever enough to forge even such contemptible stuff as they contain. (Collected Essays, Volume 5: Science and the Christian Tradition, p258)
And still they baptised him at least six times after death. All his LDS baptisms to date are hereby revoked and any future ones the LDS Church may conduct are rendered invalid.
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Further submissions of Unbaptismal Certificates are welcome.