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Cremation vs Burial - is either acceptable?

Sophrosyne

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Not watching the video I believe either is acceptable but if someone dies that the cause is unknown I recommend not cremating them so as if there is information in the future of foul play the body can be exhumed and rechecked. I've seen a lot of crime shows where they got DNA from dead people to solve crimes or tested their tissues to find poison or heavy metals.
 
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Sophrosyne

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My father was cremated as is often usual for people who die from cancer. I see no problem with cremation as people die in fires and God can still give them new bodies. I think it is more of a personal preference and culture. I would be open to what is the most convenient and cheapest for those who would have to deal with my death. I see no reason to throw away thousands more for either choice if nobody objects to the other choice.
I'm not sure however what is cheapest method as cremation costs and casket costs and grave/internment costs have to be evaluated and with burying a corpse can come more expense especially to buy the plot of land and in most cases take care of the land in a graveyard.
 
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Kobo

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This 3 minute video deals with this topic.
Is there anything against cremation? Is cremation okay?
Do you agree with what the presenter says in the video?
Jesus Christ, the New Covenant, gave His followers no commandments as far as burials are concerned, as a result, we are free to choose the method that best suits us and our taste.
 
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Kobo

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Which method would be more benevolent in giving back to that from which we came?
You assume God is concerned with what happens to our bodies when we are done with our time on this earth. According to Jesus Christ, when we are done here, we sleep, awaiting His return. The way you choose to sleep is up to you.
 
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timothyu

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The way you choose to sleep is up to you.
Agreed. But what is more natural and beneficial to the rest of God's creation of which we are stewards, worm food or vapour and more CO2? Compost and calcium or just calcium. :)
 
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Sophrosyne

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Agreed. But what is more natural and beneficial to the rest of God's creation of which we are stewards, worm food or vapour and more CO2? Compost and calcium or just calcium. :)
That would be good if caskets were designed to decay but they typically aren't and likely 100 years later what is in the box may be inaccessible to anything outside of it. Decaying stuff often produces methane another one on the hit list for environmentalists (get rid of cows to solve globals warming).
 
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timothyu

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That would be good if caskets were designed to decay but they typically aren't
That is the fault of the consumer who has fallen for the notion of fancy this and embalmed that, none of which are necessary. A cardboard box or canvas bag, or just a simple wooden box are a simple and cost effective alternative to the capped teeth mentality of the funeral industry. Respect is a matter of the heart, not the pocket book.
 
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Sophrosyne

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That is the fault of the consumer who has fallen for the notion of fancy this and embalmed that, none of which are necessary. A cardboard box or canvas bag, or just a simple wooden box are a simple and cost effective alternative to the capped teeth mentality of the funeral industry. Respect is a matter of the heart, not the pocket book.
Yeah but often people won't accept a cheap box to bury people in they end up buying an expensive casket instead. When I die a cardboard box or a trash bag is fine with me and if people feel guilty about being cheap just give the savings to charity instead.
 
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DragonFox91

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Cremation is the big thing nowadays, but I'm traditional so lean towards burial.

I understand more often then not, it's a money thing more than anything that's affecting people's choices to cremation, so I suppose that's understandable, but I hate dumb reasons like 'I don't want to be worm food', 'I don't want to rot', or 'I want my ashes spread on the beach b/c I love beaches.'
 
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Sophrosyne

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Cremation is the big thing nowadays, but I'm traditional so lean towards burial.

I understand more often then not, it's a money thing more than anything that's affecting people's choices to cremation, so I suppose that's understandable, but I hate dumb reasons like 'I don't want to be worm food', 'I don't want to rot', or 'I want my ashes spread on the beach b/c I love beaches.'
I think in some deaths cremation may be either recommended in the case of death of those with infectious diseases. I also think that some gruesome deaths where an open casket in a funeral is not an option preserving the body is waste of effort even. My father was ravaged by cancer when he died he looked very bad and we had a closed casket funeral for him and his wish was to be cremated. A huge advantage of cremation is you don't need to have a graveside service and/or promptly inter the body. We buried the urn his ashes were in about 4-5 months later as it was that long before we could get everyone together to drive to where he was finally buried.
Some people have kept ashes for years in their house, If I were cremated I would not want my ashes to "haunt someone's house for years, get rid of me and move on, forgetting me if it makes your life better even.
 
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DragonFox91

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I think in some deaths cremation may be either recommended in the case of death of those with infectious diseases. I also think that some gruesome deaths where an open casket in a funeral is not an option preserving the body is waste of effort even. My father was ravaged by cancer when he died he looked very bad and we had a closed casket funeral for him and his wish was to be cremated. A huge advantage of cremation is you don't need to have a graveside service and/or promptly inter the body. We buried the urn his ashes were in about 4-5 months later as it was that long before we could get everyone together to drive to where he was finally buried.
Some people have kept ashes for years in their house, If I were cremated I would not want my ashes to "haunt someone's house for years, get rid of me and move on, forgetting me if it makes your life better even.
I like the idea of burying the ashes more then spreading them (& definitely more than housing them) when it comes to cremation. Is that still pretty expensive?
 
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timothyu

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Is that still pretty expensive?
It can be when cemeteries insist you use their 'official' diggers and charge up to thousand to dig a little hole you could do yourself with a post hole auger in about 5 minutes.
 
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Sophrosyne

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I like the idea of burying the ashes more then spreading them (& definitely more than housing them) when it comes to cremation. Is that still pretty expensive?
It depends on how you do that. My dad's ashes were buried in a public cemetery and a headstone made for it. I've not been to see where his ashes were buried but all we did was dig a hole about 3 feet deep and put the urn in there and bury it. The problem however is if you go to a cemetery that you have to buy a place it may likely be that there is only casket sized plots of land there and they may require that they dig the hole and after you toss the ceremonial dirt on top they fill the hole itself. I guess you could save money if you can buy a smaller plot or get a headstone in some sort of wall. I think in a movie I saw almost like small lockers where people put the urns of those cremated in them and it had some sort of plaque on the locker like a headstone. That could be cheaper but then it may not lend as much privacy as a piece of land like a burial plot where you can all stand around.
Again the advantage of cremation is ability to transport the "remains" (ashes) anywhere you desire at a future time instead of having to almost immediately have a casket hauled to wherever (usually local) to be buried and all this requires making several arrangements often aligning funeral times with the internment directly following it.
My mother was buried out of state and it was done the next day and it was damn cold outside and almost raining.
My father died in winter but we buried his ashes mid spring when it was nice and sunny outside.
 
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Sophrosyne

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Come to think of it, another advantage I just thought of is when it comes to casket burials often you have to make allowances for an audience and a preacher etc and have to deal with all sorts of relatives and friends there or tell them only certain people are "invited" etc. My mom's internment we had about 2 dozen or so there and it took about 45 minutes and hard to "go through knowing a real body is being buried. My dads ashes (for me) we had time to "prepare" ourselves for the emotions and had already somewhat come to grips with his passing.
To contrast the two my moms burial was traumatic and hearbreaking while dads was peaceful and even though sad we were a lot more "braced" and didn't have but a very few of us there, very close family and it was not quite enjoyable but wasn't nearly as emotionally charged for me.
I however think for some people one may be "better" than the other for many reasons like immediate burying of the body (ashes) can for some people put a hard start to the grieving process while cremation in a sense until you deal with the ashes you may put off grieving although this varies by person some associate the burying with the disconnection of them as "living" vs plain death itself vs the body seen tossed into a hole and covered up (for good).
 
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Sophrosyne

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I don't like the idea of making the choice based off convenience.
You may not "like" it when you are thinking about it when nobody has died but trust me the chaos of an unexpected unprepared for death of a loved one can make your life a huge mess in so many ways and not having to deal with the extra problems of casket type burial may "help" you cope with it all. Like I said in the last post to some people they sort of compartmentalize the loss of a loved one in totality with the burial ceremony and some not quite ready to grieve a cremation gives them a little more time to "adjust".
If your loved one has a messy estate that has to be immediately addressed the extra hassle of an unprepared for burial of them can be like tossing an elephant on a pile of monkeys and trying to carry it all where it needs to be.
 
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ViaCrucis

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I believe that traditional Christian burial offers a more robust confession of the hope of bodily resurrection. But as far as what "should" be done, the matter of the body decays back into the earth--cremation expedites the process. And this should be reserved as a matter of individual choice and conscience.

Personally, I've tried to tell people in my family that when I pass I want a burial--I've also argued that I would prefer a natural burial--if at all possible to do so.

-CryptoLutheran
 
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Sophrosyne

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Personally, I've tried to tell people in my family that when I pass I want a burial--I've also argued that I would prefer a natural burial--if it weren't (as far as I'm aware) illegal to do so.

-CryptoLutheran
I did a quick (not in depth) search on the topic and as far as I can see there is no laws mandating cremation but rather recommendations for it in some cases. One thing that I just thought of is if you die in another country it may be a lot cheaper to be cremated and your ashes shipped home than have a casket sent home on a plane.
 
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