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Old 08-27-2014, 09:19 AM
 
Location: Not.here
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I ran across this blog, and there was something I found interesting told by the author about her mother that I've heard a few people in my own family express in the past....... a fear of cremation because they might somehow feel the burning. Is this something more common than we think?

The other part of the story has to do with the idea that the soul might not survive the cremation. If you believe in the idea of a soul, what makes you think that cremation can destroy it?

Any thoughts?

Are there any spiritual consequences to cremation?
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Old 08-27-2014, 10:17 AM
 
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How much does formaldehyde and the embalming process preserve?
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Old 08-27-2014, 10:31 AM
 
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If you can feel the burning, then you're not dead. It's as simple as that.

I know it's difficult to imagine having no contact with your physical body. That's a tough one to relate to. I would think "feeling" being buried alive would be no less horrifying than burning (which would at least be quick). If you can feel the fire, then you would feel the six feet of earth above you and experience the impenetrable darkness.

But when you're dead, you're dead. You aren't going to feel a thing. At least not through your body.

I've heard also that ridiculous idea that God is going to throw open everyone's grave and resurrect our physical bodies - which means you need to have a physical body or else you don't get resurrected.

What a plodding train of nonsense that kind of thinking is. Even assuming any of that is true, that would be saying that God is incapable of reconstructing your physical body unless he has a corpse - or pile of bones - to work with. What kind of "omnipotent" god would THAT be?

Even so, the idea of God resurrecting your physical body is laughable. Does that mean you come back as the same age and physical condition that you died in? It'd be like my grandfather being raised from the dead and shouting, "Yay, I'm alive and 92 again ... and ouch, my back! And crap, I can't breathe because of this lung cancer and ...ahhhh!"

Ridiculous.

You'll be just fine if you're cremated, and whatever your beliefs are about the afterlife, I don't think God is going to toss you into the lake of fire for being cremated. What does God care about your physical body?
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Old 08-27-2014, 11:39 AM
 
Location: Sitting beside Walden Pond
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Quote:
Originally Posted by nezlie View Post
a fear of cremation because they might somehow feel the burning.
Actually, it might not be all that bad. Here is a story about a guy who actually enjoyed being cremated. I think it is true.

The Cremation of Sam McGee by Robert W. Service : The Poetry Foundation
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Old 08-27-2014, 12:04 PM
 
Location: In a little house on the prairie - literally
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Quote:
Originally Posted by hiker45 View Post
Actually, it might not be all that bad. Here is a story about a guy who actually enjoyed being cremated. I think it is true.

The Cremation of Sam McGee by Robert W. Service : The Poetry Foundation
My FAVORITE poem.. had to memorize it in grade 8.

And I don't like most poetry.
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Old 08-27-2014, 03:05 PM
 
Location: Not.here
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Shirina View Post
You'll be just fine if you're cremated, and whatever your beliefs are about the afterlife, I don't think God is going to toss you into the lake of fire for being cremated. What does God care about your physical body?

Btw, some religions disapprove of it. Others that have traditionally been against it have started coming around to it (at least their more liberal factions have). Here's a good writeup on that...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cremat...s_on_cremation
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Old 08-27-2014, 03:54 PM
 
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You hear about these rare cases in which people sit up alive in the morgue when they're supposed to be dead. That's the only way you'd feel anything. In that case I'd much rather be burned than wake up in a coffin six feet under.

Maybe the best thing to do is to leave instructions to jab your body with a straight pin a few times to make sure you're dead.

Spiritually, I don't think it matters. If you believe in God, I don't think ashes will perplex Him. If you don't believe, you shouldn't care.
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Old 08-28-2014, 12:55 AM
 
888 posts, read 451,094 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by nezlie View Post
I ran across this blog, and there was something I found interesting told by the author about her mother that I've heard a few people in my own family express in the past....... a fear of cremation because they might somehow feel the burning. Is this something more common than we think?

The other part of the story has to do with the idea that the soul might not survive the cremation. If you believe in the idea of a soul, what makes you think that cremation can destroy it?

Any thoughts?

Are there any spiritual consequences to cremation?
If you or a loved one has real fears about this, I'd wait a few days to make sure the person is really dead. That way you know the person won't wake up in the morgue or funeral home. People declared dead do wake up. (We don't call it rising from the dead, at least not anymore.)

I was half joking and half serious when I posted my earlier comment about formaldehyde. If you're worried about someone not being quite dead, then embalming also isn't the way to go until you are sure.

The Roman Catholic Church is well known for not liking cremation. Even though they allow it, whole body burial is the preferred method. I find this ironic because of how they turned saints' bodies into relics by dividing the body up so lots of different people in different places could have a piece of it. It's kind of hard to take the Vatican's preference for a whole body burial seriously without their trying to reunite the pieces of the bodies of the saints. I wouldn't worry about cremation, even if you're Catholic.
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Old 08-28-2014, 07:14 AM
 
Location: West Virginia
16,586 posts, read 15,510,172 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TransplantedPeach View Post
If you or a loved one has real fears about this, I'd wait a few days to make sure the person is really dead. That way you know the person won't wake up in the morgue or funeral home. People declared dead do wake up. (We don't call it rising from the dead, at least not anymore.)

I was half joking and half serious when I posted my earlier comment about formaldehyde. If you're worried about someone not being quite dead, then embalming also isn't the way to go until you are sure.

The Roman Catholic Church is well known for not liking cremation. Even though they allow it, whole body burial is the preferred method. I find this ironic because of how they turned saints' bodies into relics by dividing the body up so lots of different people in different places could have a piece of it. It's kind of hard to take the Vatican's preference for a whole body burial seriously without their trying to reunite the pieces of the bodies of the saints. I wouldn't worry about cremation, even if you're Catholic.
How long should you wait to make sure the person is really dead? Three days? A week? Three weeks? Should the body be refrigerated while you wait? I mean, a body could get pretty skanky laying around a funeral home for a couple of weeks without embalming. As a matter of fact, a guy I know who is an embalmer said he prefers to get the body as soon after death as possible (as in hours, not days). Do you think he has embalmed anybody that was still alive?


Another question: If a priest comes in a perform the last rites and the person doesn't die, does he need last rites again later on when he really dies?
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Old 08-28-2014, 09:01 AM
 
Location: Not.here
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I tried to explain that just like a person's dead cells (hair, skin, intestinal cells, old blood cells, etc.) which are shed continuously and feel no pain, it will be the same after death for the remaining body. Between 50 and 70 billion cells die each day due to apoptosis in the average human adult. Btw, have you ever stopped and thought where all your beloved cells that you've shed might be scattered?

But, explanations do not seem to help someone that is truly scared about cremation. I think too much conditioning has gone on in their minds, and that groove has become a little too deep.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apoptosis

p.s. We know that those ancient scripture writers had no knowledge of apoptosis and expected the whole package to be neatly delivered for a final resurrection. Cremation would have destroyed their notion of a tidy resurrection.

Last edited by nezlie; 08-28-2014 at 09:12 AM.. Reason: Added the p.s.
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