A recent post on VA-ROOTS included this paragraph:

"Some of my 'cousins' were members of the LDS church, and were a great
help to me, as were the holdings of the church made available to me via
microfilm.  However, other members of the LDS church who were also in
this family have essentially destroyed much of the value of my work by
placing much of it on the Internet and also into the AF, contributing
it to Ancestry, etc.  They not only did this without my permission, but
against my expressed wishes.  I've frankly wondered if the church
encourages that kind of behavior in accomplishment of its greater
goals."

As a long-time member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints and a long-time genealogist, I'd like to assure everyone that
there's no such encouragement from the church.  There is no
encouragement to post one's genealogy on the Internet or otherwise to
disseminate genealogical information.  (I have not, for example,
contributed my data to the Ancestry File or the Pedigree Resource File,
and have no intention of doing so.)  We are, however, encouraged to be
honest and ethical in all of our dealings.  Anyone who would share
information contrary to the wishes of the originator is departing from
the teachings of the church.

The same posting included this comment:

"Ancestry's original owners were members of the LDS church, and I
suppose there is still a personal connection between that corporation
and the church which creates a close relationship -- in other words,
even the church is, to some degree, 'managed' by Ancestry, Inc."

Do you really think it's fair to attribute to the church, as an entity,
the actions of a private corporation that happens to be based in Utah?
(Would you do so in relation to the Baptist Church and a company based
in Birmingham, or the Catholic Church and a company based in Boston?)
There is no relationship between Ancestry, Inc. and the Church of Jesus
Christ.  And the idea that a worldwide church with more than 11 million
members (more than half of them outside the U.S.) would let itself be
"managed" by a private corporation like Ancestry ... does that really
make sense?

As anyone knows who has visited my Web site
(http://va.genealogy.tripod.com), I would never grab someone else's
data and add it wholesale to my own
(http://va.genealogy.tripod.com/sources.htm).

Scott


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