How do you like to be remembered?
Repost on Cremation from Report of Cynthia Cartago chief of Holy Gardens Greenhills
Religious views on cremation
Indian
religions
Crematorium in Bangkok, Thailand
The Indian religions, such as
Hinduism and Buddhism, mandate cremation. In these religions the body is seen
as an instrument to carry the soul. As an example the Bhagavad Gita quotes
"Just as old clothes are cast off and new ones taken, the soul leaves the
body after the death to take a new one". Hence the dead body is not
considered sacred since the soul has left the body. Hence, the cremation is
regarded as ethical by the Eastern religions. In Sikhism, burial is not
prohibited, although cremation is the preferred option for cultural reasons
rather than religious.
According to Hindu
traditions, the reasons for preference of destroying the corpse by fire over
burying it into ground, is to induce a feeling of detachment into the
freshly-disembodied spirit, which will be helpful to encourage it into passing
to 'the other world' (the ultimate destination of the dead). This also explains
the ground-burial of holy men (whose spirit is already 'detached' enough due to
lifelong ascetic practices) and young children (the spirit has not lived long
enough to grow attachments to this world). Hindu holy men are buried in lotus
position and not in horizontal position as in other religions. Cremation is
referred to as antim-samskara, literally meaning "the last rites". At
the time of the cremation or "last rites" a "Puja" is
performed. A "Puja" is a Hindu prayer to assist the spirit to
transcend into the after life.
Christianity
Columbarium
niches built into the side of St. Joseph's Chapel Mausoleum at the Catholic
Mount Olivet Cemetery, Key West (rural Dubuque), Iowa.
Today, cremation is an
increasingly popular form of disposition of the deceased. This is true even in
the Christian world, which for many years was opposed to cremation, but has
come to a greater acceptance of cremation over the past century.
In Christian countries,
cremation fell out of favour due to the Christian belief in the physical
resurrection of the body, and as a mark of difference from the Iron Age
European pre-Christian Pagan religions, which usually cremated their dead.
Beginning in the Middle Ages,
rationalists and classicists began to advocate cremation. In Medieval Europe,
cremation was practised only on special occasions when there were many corpses
to be disposed of simultaneously after a battle, after an epidemic or during
famine, and there was an imminent danger of disease spread. Much later, Sir
Henry Thompson, Surgeon to Queen Victoria, was the first to recommend the
practice for health reasons after seeing the cremation apparatus of Professor
Brunetti of Padua, Italy at the Vienna Exposition in 1873. In 1874, Thompson
founded The Cremation Society of England. The society met opposition from the
Church, which would not allow cremation on consecrated ground, and from the
government, who believed the practice to be illegal.
Cremation was forced into
British law when a Welsh doctor, William Price burned his infant son, named
Jesus Christ, in a Pagan ritual shortly before 1883 in the historic town of
Llantrisant. The doctor was a well known eccentric whose cremation ceremony was
initially stopped by people coming home from church. The police returned the
partially burnt body of his son on condition that it would neither be buried
nor burned. Later that year, Dr. Price reneged on his promise and burned his
son's remains. The townsfolk, unhappy with this sacrilege, went in an angry mob
to burn out Dr. Price, but were turned back when they discovered only his wife
armed with pistols. Dr. Price had already left the building. Dr. Price was
arrested and tried in an 1884 court case which resulted in an amendment to
legalize cremation in February of that year. An Act of Parliament for the
Regulation of burning of human remains, and to enable burial authorities to
established crematoria was passed in 1902.
The Roman Catholic
Church
For most of its history, the
Roman Catholic Church had a ban against cremation. It was seen as the most
sacrilegious act towards Christians and their God, not simply blaspheming, but
physically declaring a disbelief in the resurrection of the body. In 1963, the
Pope lifted the ban on cremation, and in 1966 allowed Catholic priests to
officiate at cremation ceremonies. The Church still officially prefers the
traditional internment of the deceased. Despite this preference, cremation is
now permitted as long as it is not done to express a refusal to believe in the
resurrection of the body. Until 1997, Church regulations used to
stipulate that cremation has to take place after a funeral service. Such
funeral services are conducted in the same manner as traditional burials up to
the point of committal, where the body is taken to the crematorium instead of
being buried. A burial service is performed after the cremation is completed.
In 1997, the funeral rite was
modified so that church funerals can take place when the body has already been
cremated before the ashes are brought to the church. In such cases, the ashes
are placed in an urn or another worthy vessel, brought into the church and
placed on a stand near the Easter candle. During the church service, and during
the committal rite, prayers that make reference to the body are modified. Any
prayers that refer to the "Body" of the deceased are replaced with
"Earthly Remains."
Since the lifting of the ban,
even with the official preference for burial, the Church has become more and
more open to the idea of cremation. Many Catholic cemeteries now provide
columbarium niches for housing cremated remains as well as providing special
sections for the burial of cremated remains. Columbarium niches have even been
made a part of church buildings. The Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in Los
Angeles, California has a number of niches in the crypt mausoleum. However,
church officials still tend to discourage this practice because of concerns over
what would happen to the niches if such a parish closes or decides to replace
the current building.
The Church requires reverent
disposition of the ashes which means that the ashes are to be buried or
entombed in an appropriate container, such as an urn. The Church does not
permit the scattering of ashes or keeping them at home, though some Catholics
have done so despite the ban.
Traditional Catholics have
objected to the practice of allowing cremation, which sedevacantists believe to
be one of the many reasons why the post-Vatican II church is no longer the true
Catholic Church.
Protestant
Churches
The Protestant Churches
approved cremation earlier than the Catholic Church with the rationale being
"God can resurrect a bowl of ashes just as conveniently as He can
resurrect a bowl of dust." The development of modern crematoriums also
helped to differentiate Christian cremations from Pagan rites of burning the
body on pyre. The first crematorium in Stockholm, Sweden was built 1874; in
Finland, the Helsinki Lutheran Parish Union built its first modern crematorium
in 1926 which is still in use. Nowadays in Lutheran Scandinavia, approximately
50 to 70 percent of the dead are cremated, and in large towns up to 90 percent.
In Scandinavian Lutheran
doctrine, the ashes are to be dealt with the same dignity as any earthly
remains. They are either to be interred in an urn or sprinkled on consecrated
ground, "dust returning to dust," and not stored at home or disposed
of in an undignified way. Most large parishes do have crematoriums as part of
their chapels, and urns are buried in the cemetery in the usual manner, or
sprinkled on special consecrated grounds. Some seashore parishes also have
consecrated sea areas where the ashes can be scattered.
The rise in popularity of cremation
has resulted in the resurgence of the old Lutheran tradition of family graves
in Scandinavia. As urns require less space than caskets, the family grave in
the cemetery can now contain the earthly remains of the family members in many
generations.
Protestant
churches were much more welcoming of the use of cremation and at a much earlier
date than the Catholic Church; pro-cremation sentiment was not unanimous among
Protestants, however. The first crematoria in the Protestant countries were
built in 1870s, and in 1908 the Dean and Chapter of Westminster Abbey, one of
the most famous Anglican churches, required that remains be cremated for burial
in the abbey's precincts. Scattering, or "strewing," is an acceptable
practice in many Protestant denominations, and some churches have their own
"garden of remembrance" on their grounds in which remains can be
scattered. Other Christian groups also support cremation. These include the
Jehovah's Witnesses.
Eastern Orthodox and
others who forbid cremation
On the other hand, some
branches of Christianity still oppose cremation, including some minority
Protestant groups. The Eastern Orthodox Church forbids cremation. Exceptions
are made for circumstances where it may not be avoided as in when civil
authority demands it, during epidemics or other similar necessary cases. When a
cremation is willfully chosen for no good cause by the one who is deceased, he
or she is not permitted a funeral in the church and may also be permanently
excluded from liturgical prayers for the departed. In Orthodoxy, cremation is a
rejection of the dogma of the general resurrection, and as such is viewed
harshly.
Mormonism
Leaders of the The Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have typically declared that cremation is
strongly discouraged. This is based on the LDS belief that the body is holy,
and that the body and soul will eventually be reunited. Prominent LDS leader
Bruce R. McConkie wrote that "only under the most extraordinary and
unusual circumstances" would cremation be consistent with LDS teachings.
Judaism
Judaism has traditionally
disapproved of cremation (which was the traditional means of disposing the dead
in the neighboring Bronze Age cultures). Traditionally, it has also disapproved
of preservation of the dead by means of embalming and mummifying, a practice of
the ancient Egyptians. During the 19th and early 20th centuries, as the Jewish
cemeteries in many European towns had become crowded and were running out of
space, cremation became an approved means of corpse disposal amongst the
Liberal Jews. Current liberal movements like Reform Judaism still support
cremation, although burial remains the preferred option.[
The Orthodox Jews have
maintained a stricter line on cremation, and disapprove of it as Halakha
(Jewish law) forbids it. This halakhic concern is grounded in the upholding of
bodily resurrection as a core belief of "mainstream" Judaism, as
opposed to other ancient trends such as the Sadduccees, who denied it. Also,
the memory of the Holocaust, where millions of Jews were murdered and their
bodies disposed by burning them either in crematoria or burning pits, has given
cremation extremely negative connotations for Orthodox Jews. Conservative
Jewish groups also oppose cremation.
Zoroastrianism
Traditionally, Zoroastrianism
disavows cremation or burial to preclude pollution of fire or earth. The
traditional method of corpse disposal is through ritual exposure in a
"Towers of Silence," but both burial and cremation are increasingly
popular alternatives. Some contemporary figures of the faith have opted for
cremation. Parsi-Zoroastrian singer Freddie Mercury of the group Queen was
cremated after his death.
Neopaganism
According to Feminist
interpretations of the archaeological record, cremation is the usual means of
corpse disposal in Patriarchal religions, the rising smoke symbolizing the
deceased's spirit ascending to the domain of the Father deities in the heavens,
while Matriarchal religions are speculated to have favoured interment of the
corpse, often in a fetal position, representing the return of the body to
Mother Earth in the tomb which represents the uterus. Of modern Neo-Pagan
religions, Ásatrú favours cremation, as do forms of Celtic Paganism.
Other religions that permit cremation
Ásatrú, Buddhism, Christianity
(containing Church of Ireland, Church in Wales, United Church of Canada,
Jehovah's Witnesses, Lutheranism, Methodism, Moravian Church, Salvation Army,
Scottish Episcopal Church), Christian Science, Church of Scientology, Hinduism
(mandatory except for sanyasis, eunuchs and children under five), Jainism,
Seventh-day Adventist Church, Sikhs, Society of Friends (Quakers), and
Unitarian Universalism all permit cremation.
Other religions
that forbid cremation
Islam and Zoroastrianism forbid
cremation. Neo-Confucianism under Zhu Xi strongly discourages cremation of
one's parents' corpses as unfilial. In Egyptian Reconstructionism it is
believed the Ka will be killed with cremation but it is not forbidden and
during ancient times, was a practice of desposing of criminals who were
executed in order for them to be deprived of an afterlife.
Ancient
Cremation dates to at least
26,000 years ago in the archaeological record with the Mungo Lake cremation.
Alternative death rituals
emphasizing one method of disposal of a body, inhumation (burial, cremation,
and exposure), have gone through periods of preference throughout history.
In the Middle East and Europe
both burial and cremation are evident in the archaeological record in the
Neolithic. Cultural groups had their own preference and prohibitions. The
ancient Egyptians developed an intricate transmigration of soul theology, which
prohibited cremation, and this was adopted widely among other Semitic peoples.
The Babylonians, according to Herodotus, embalmed their dead. Early Persians
practiced cremation but this became prohibited during the Zoroastrian Period.
Phoenicians practiced both cremation and burial. Ancient Greeks and Romans
practiced both with cremation generally associated with military honours.
In Europe, there are traces of
cremation dating to the Early Bronze Age (ca. 2000 BC) in the Pannonian Plain
and along the middle Danube. The custom becomes dominant throughout Bronze Age
Europe with the Urnfield culture (from ca. 1300 BC). In the Iron Age,
inhumation becomes again more common, but cremation persisted in the Villanovan
culture and elsewhere. Homer's account of Patroclus' burial describes cremation
with subsequent burial in a tumulus similar to Urnfield burials, qualifying as
the earliest description of cremation rites. This is mostly an anachronism, as
during Mycenaean times burial was generally preferred, and Homer may have been
reflecting more common use of cremation in the period in which the Iliad was
written centuries later.
Criticism of burial rites is a
common aspersion in competing religions and cultures and one is the association
of cremation with fire sacrifice or human sacrifice.
Hinduism is notable for not
only allowing but prescribing cremation. Cremation in India is first attested
in the Cemetery H culture (from ca. 1900 BC), considered the formative stage of
Vedic civilization. The Rigveda contains a reference to the emerging practice,
in RV 10.15.14, where the forefathers "both cremated (agnidagdhá-) and
uncremated (ánagnidagdha-)" are invoked.
Cremation remained common, but
not universal, in both Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome. According to Cicero, in
Rome inhumation was considered the more archaic rite, while the most honoured
citizens were most typically cremated, especially upper classes and members of
imperial families.
Christianity frowned upon
cremation, both influenced by the tenets of Judaism, and in an attempt to
abolish Graeco-Roman pagan rituals. By the 5th century, the practice of
cremation had practically disappeared from Europe.
In the Middle Ages
Throughout parts of Europe,
cremation was forbidden by law, and even punishable by death if combined with
heathen rites. Cremation was sometimes used by authorities as part of
punishment for heretics, and this did not only include burning at the stake.
For example, the body of John Wycliff was exhumed years after his death and
cremated, with the ashes thrown in a river,. explicitly as a posthumous
punishment for his denial of the Roman Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation.
On the other hand, mass cremations were often performed because of necessity,
when there was a danger of contagious diseases, such as after a battle,
pestilence or famine. Retributory cremation continued into modern times. For
example, after World War II, the bodies of the 12 men convicted of crimes
against humanity at the Nuremburg trials were not returned to their families,
but were instead cremated, then disposed of at a secret location, as a specific
part of a legal process intended to deny their use as a location for any sort
of memorial. In Japan, however, a memorial building for many executed war
criminals, who were also cremated, was allowed to be erected for their remains.
Many Communist countries used similar obliteration as an aggravated capital
punishment: the bodies of the executed were cremated and the ashes
ignominiously disposed, thus humiliating the families even further.
Even today, cremation bears the
stigma of "human waste disposal" in many ex-Socialist countries and
is considered ignominious or shameful.
The modern era
In 1873, Paduan Professor
Brunetti presented a cremation chamber at the Vienna Exposition. In Britain,
the movement found the support of Queen Victoria's surgeon, Sir Henry Thompson,
who together with colleagues founded the Cremation Society of England in 1874.
The first crematoria in Europe were built in 1878 in Woking, England and Gotha,
Germany, the first in North America in 1876 by Dr. Francis Julius LeMoyne in
Washington, Pennsylvania. The second cremation in the United States was that of
Charles F. Winslow in Salt Lake City, Utah on July 31, 1877. The first
cremation in Britain took place on 26th March 1886 at Woking.
Cremation was declared as legal
in England and Wales when Dr William Price was prosecuted for cremating his
son; formal legislation followed later with the passing of the Cremation
Act 1902, (this Act did not extend to Ireland) which imposed procedural
requirements before a cremation could occur and restricted the practice to
authorised places. Some of the various Protestant churches came to accept
cremation, with the rationale being, "God can resurrect a bowl of ashes
just as conveniently as he can resurrect a bowl of dust". The 1908
Catholic Encyclopedia was critical about these efforts, referring to them as a
"sinister movement" and associating them with Freemasonry, although
it said that "there is nothing directly opposed to any dogma of the Church
in the practice of cremation". In 1963, Pope Paul VI lifted the ban on
cremation, and in 1966 allowed Catholic priests to officiate at cremation
ceremonies.
Australia also started to
establish modern cremation movements and societies. Australians had their first
purpose-built modern crematorium and chapel in the West Terrace Cemetery in the
South Australian capital Adelaide in 1901. This small building, resembling the
buildings at Woking, remained largely unchanged from its 19th century style and
in full operation until the late 1950s. The oldest operating Crematorium in
Australia is at Rookwood in Sydney. It opened in 1925.
In the
Netherlands, the foundation of the Association for Optional Cremation in 1874
ushered in a long debate about the merits and demerits of cremation. Laws
against cremation were challenged and invalidated in 1915 (two years after the
construction of the first crematorium in the Netherlands), though cremation did
not become legally recognised until 1955.
Negative recent history experiences with cremation
World
War II
During the Holocaust, massive
crematoria were constructed and operated by the Nazis within their
concentration camps and extermination camps to dispose of the bodies of
thousands of Jews, Gypsies, and other prisoners who were killed or died in the
camps daily. In addition to the atrocity of mass murder, the remains of Jews
were thus disposed of in a manner deeply offensive to Orthodox Judaism because
Halakha, the Jewish law, forbids cremation and holds that the soul of a
cremated person cannot find its final repose. Since then, cremation has carried
an extremely negative connotation for many Jews.
The Tri-State
Crematory incident
A recent controversial event
involved the failure to cremate, known as the Tri-State Crematory Incident. In
the state of Georgia in the United States in early 2002, three hundred
thirty-four corpses that were supposed to have been cremated in the previous
few years at the Tri-State Crematory were found intact and decaying on the
crematorium's grounds, having been dumped there by the crematorium's
proprietor. Many of the corpses were beyond identification. In many cases the
"ashes" that were returned to the family were not human remains -
they were made of wood and concrete dust.
Eventually Ray Brent Marsh—who
was the operator at the time the bodies were discovered—had 787 criminal
charges filed against him. On November 19, 2004 Marsh pleaded guilty to all
charges. Marsh was sentenced to two 12-year prison sentences from both Georgia
and Tennessee which he is serving concurrently. Afterwards he will be on
probation for 75 years.
Civil suits were filed against
the Marsh family as well as a number of funeral homes who shipped bodies to
Tri-State. These suits were ultimately settled. The property of the Marsh
family has been sold, but collection of the full $80 million judgment remains
doubtful. Families have expressed the desire to return the former Tri-State
crematory to a natural, park like setting.
The Indian Ocean tsunamis
The magnitude 9.0-9.3 2004
Indian Ocean Earthquake triggered a series of lethal tsunamis on December 26,
2004 that killed almost 300,000 people, making them the deadliest tsunamis in
recorded history. The tsunamis killed people over an area ranging from the
immediate vicinity of the quake in Indonesia, Thailand, and the north-western
coast of Malaysia, to thousands of kilometres away in Bangladesh, India, Sri
Lanka, the Maldives, and even as far as Somalia, Kenya, and Tanzania in eastern
Africa.
Authorities had difficulties
dealing with the large numbers of bodies, and as a result thousands of bodies
were of necessity cremated together. Many of these bodies were not identified
or viewed by relatives prior to cremation. A particular point of objection was
that the bodies of Westerners were kept separate from those of Asian descent,
who were mostly locals. This meant that the bodies of tourists from other Asian
nations, such as Japan and Korea, were mass cremated rather than being returned
to their country of origin for funeral rites.
Laws
The state of California has a
law that forbids scattering human ashes on privately-owned land, including that
of the decedant, although it does allow scattering at sea. Carl Djerassi found
this to be a problem after the suicide of his daughter, Pamela. As he states in
the chapter "A Scattering of Ashes" in his autobiography 'The Pill,
Pigmy Chimps, and Degas' Horse, he solved the problem by scattering Pamela's
ashes into a creek on the family estate that was a tributary to San
Francisquito Creek, which eventually runs to the San Francisco Bay…..by FROST
MEDITATIONS
