toldailytopic: Burial vs. Cremation: does it matter what happens to your physical bod

[Nathon Detroit]

The TheologyOnline.com TOPIC OF THE DAY for March 15th, 2012 09:33 AM

toldailytopic: Burial vs. Cremation: does it matter what happens to your physical body after you die?

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[Sum1sGruj]

I'm not sure if cremation is immoral, but I know that being buried is the Abrahamic way.

 

[elohiym]

It matters to me now, but will not matter to me then. :chuckle:

I'd prefer to buried according to Jewish tradition rather than be burned up in fire.

 

[MaryContrary]

The only places I see it condemned (that I'm aware of!) is when it's done as an insult or curse. Moab condemned for digging up the king's bones and burning them, for example.

From common sense: lots of people die, and have died, in that matter. With their bodies reduced to ash. I can't imagine that matters to the big picture so I can't see cremation in and of itself as a bad thing. For those of use whose bodies will be raised up again, perfected, I don't see how this could be any kind of obstacle, else you'd have to worry about those folks. For those whose bodies won't be raised up again, obviously immaterial.

Like most things then, I suppose it comes down to the intent behind it.

 

[chrysostom]

a tattoo is worse than cremation

 

[Cracked]

a tattoo is worse than cremation

But what if it is at tattoo of the pope? Eh? Gotcha there, don't I...

j/k

Cremation seems fine to me--and it is generally much cheaper than the modern process of burial.

 

[MaryContrary]

a tattoo is worse than cremation

:think: Agreed, actually. Though you imply here that cremation is bad as well, merely less so.

 

[Granite]

I see no moral issues with either method provided of course you follow the wishes of the deceased. I prefer cremation.

 

[MrDeets]

:think: Agreed, actually. Though you imply here that cremation is bad as well, merely less so.

Scripture please??


I have lots of ink AND I plan on having this fine body cremated. What's the point in all the expenses of burying an empty, tattooed shell??

 

[elohiym]

a tattoo is worse than cremation

Weren't the tattoos mentioned in the Bible for a specific purpose, i.e. for the dead? Seems to me their markings were for ancestor worship or some other form of idolatry that followed the death of another.

 

[elohiym]

I have lots of ink AND I plan on having this fine body cremated. What's the point in all the expenses of burying an empty, tattooed shell??

Good question.

My children have been raised with a Bible that states explicitly and implicitly in many places that the wicked will be burned up. In contrast, they have seen in the Bible that God's people are buried. I prefer to have my children see their father buried like all our ethnically Jewish ancestors and not be burned (to reinforce the Bible narrative).

 

[Nick M]

I can't see taking up more space than a shoe box in the earth. The all powerful God almighty will not have a problem resurecting me like that any more than the bones of Simon bar Jonah which are long gone.

 

[Tambora]

I have a burial plot next to my late husbands'.
But the truth be told, I couldn't care less if they threw my empty shell in a creek!
(The fish might need some food!)

 

[Rusha]

My *personal* preference is cremation. The main reason is for me has to do with the trauma of viewing the deceased body of someone I cared about. I choose to remember individuals, especially those I love, when they are still alive.

I have also made my wishes known to my children and other relatives that I want to be cremated as well.

 

[MaryContrary]

Scripture please??

:idunno:

There are some, as I understand, but I'm using common sense here. It's a form of self-mutilation.

I have lots of ink...

Me, too.

...AND I plan on having this fine body cremated. What's the point in all the expenses of burying an empty, tattooed shell??

Yup, same. :thumb:

 

[King cobra]

There is a third option; donate your body to science. There is much value in the good that can come of this. And at the end of generally two years, what remains is cremated and the ashes sent to the family if they so choose. And, I understand that it is completely free.

I very seriously considered this until I asked a doctor friend if he thought it was a good idea. He said yes, but he would never do it because he witnessed the disrespect shown. He added that he believed that the disrespect wasn't for the sake of disrespect but mostly a defense mechanism for young students/doctors to cope with the subject.

I'm still undecided.

 

[Dena]

Being Jewish cremation is out of the question for me but I don't think there is anything immoral about it. I don't know how it's done either so I have no idea if it's bad for the environment. Being buried uses up resources (wood, etc) and in many cases requries a bunch of chemicals so it probably doesn't make a difference.

For me, it's important to be buried in a plain wooden box and allowed to decompose naturally into the earth. There won't be a viewing with me caked in makeup. Nobody will have to look at me. I think all funerals should be done that way. I hate the open casket thing. Years ago a childhood friend of mine hung herself. Her family chose to have an open casket. They put a hankerchief around her neck but still...it was just too much.

 

[PureX]

I feel like it would be selfish of me to take up space on the Earth for my dead carcass. I don't even like funerals, where dead people oblige the living to 'commemorate' them. To me, it seems like they're making demands even from the grave. And I like the idea that the material that I am made of will get reused and become other things. So I prefer, and believe it to be somewhat a better moral choice, to be cremated and the ashes scattered back into the universe from which my body came. Burn my carcass, scatter the ashes, and then forget about me. Enjoy your lives.

That's how I feel about death.

 

[ebenz47037]

There is a third option; donate your body to science. There is much value in the good that can come of this. And at the end of generally two years, what remains is cremated and the ashes sent to the family if they so choose. And, I understand that it is completely free.

I very seriously considered this until I asked a doctor friend if he thought it was a good idea. He said yes, but he would never do it because he witnessed the disrespect shown. He added that he believed that the disrespect wasn't for the sake of disrespect but mostly a defense mechanism for young students/doctors to cope with the subject.

I'm still undecided.

My mom's doing that. I asked her where she wanted to be buried and she told me that she didn't because it had already been taken care of. When she dies, her body will be donated to Stanford medical school.

 

[MrDeets]

:idunno:

There are some, as I understand, but I'm using common sense here. It's a form of self-mutilation.

More so with burning than have all my innards surgically removed before they box me up? I believe evisceration is SOP for burials...