In the West Coast, where cremation
rate is the highest in states like Caliorinia, and in south Florida,
for example, cremation has risen from less than 10% to more than 60%
in two decades. (For more information, see the diy funeral resources
link to the left)
In most states a container for cremation is not required, more
update on this later There are several choices if one wishes a
container- such as a wicker casket.
From the Bible we read
of the burning of a dead body too. However the preferred method was
burial - even carrying Joseph's bones out of Egypt. "Even in
difficult circumstances God's people in olden days practiced burial.
For example, Joseph's body was kept for over 400 years in Egypt and
then his coffin was carried through the 40 years of wilderness
wanderings before being buried in Palestine, the promised land. "And
Joseph said unto his brethren, I die: and God will surely visit you,
and bring you out of this land unto the land which he sware to
Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. And Joseph took an oath of the
children of Israel, saying, God will surely visit you, and ye shall
carry up my bones from hence." (Gen. 50:24-25). "And Moses took the
bones of Joseph with him: for he had straitly sworn the children of
Israel, saying, God will surely visit you; and ye shall carry up my
bones away hence with you." (Ex. 13:19). "And the bones of Joseph,
which the children of Israel brought up out of Egypt, buried they in
Shechem, in a parcel of ground which Jacob bought of the sons of
Hamor the father of Shechem for an hundred pieces of silver..."
(Josh. 24:32). PALESTINE FACTS Tomb today.
Cremation is reducing a body by fire to “expedite” the process of
turning a body (sometimes called a corpse (human) or cadaver) into
dust. In America, it is required one body at a time, never even
consider mixing or "comingling" the ashes of one deceased person
with those of another. Put in a retort and burnt at a temperature of
1400° to 2100° Fahrenheit (760° to 1150° Celsius) "A commercial
crematory operator will burn a body for an extended period to remove
all traces of carbonized flesh, i.e., to whiten the bones. Time to
consume the body is about an hour and a half, although the larger
bones require further processing afterwards. Even so, such processes
only extend the total cremation time to between two and four hours."
Ř It is estimated that less than 5
percent of American families choose cremation, but in Japan and
England over half the families take this option.
For services at the Catholic church - research shows "preference of
the body to be present at the funeral liturgy, with cremation and
committal of the remains taking place afterward. If cremation has
occurred before the funeral, the preference is for the cremated
remains to be present at the liturgy, then committed. Third in order
of preference is committal followed by the liturgy. Cremated remains
should receive the same respect and reverence as a body in their
carrying and disposition in a final resting place, always in a
cemetery or mausoleum, never scattered or kept in a home. ( I am not
Catholic, however this is the first I had heard this.)
As they make their final pilgrimage from life through death to
fullness of life in God, Catholics today who choose cremation can
find their place in the words of the church's funeral liturgy: "In
the sure and certain hope of the resurrection to eternal life
through our Lord Jesus Christ, we commend to Almighty God our
sister, and we commit her earthly remains to their resting place,
earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust. . . ."
Many other religions permit cremation as well. It ends up
being a really personal choice, one's own preference for final say
of what happens to the body -
below or above ground burial of
the body, or not.
And, if cremation, many prefer to keep the
ashes at home, until a burial of spouses can occur together. (Or
funds to have burial and marker as one wants). Or sometimes, there
is the consideration of perhaps a move in the future, then a wait
for burial or internment happens then.
List of religions that permit cremation
Baptist Church,
Buddhism, Calvinism, Christian Science, Christian Churches of
England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales, Hare Krishna, Hindu, Jehovah's
Witnesses, Liberal Judaism, Lutheranism, Methodism, Moravian Church,
Mormons, Presbyterianism, Roman Catholicism, Salvation Army, Seventh
Day Adventists, Sikhs, Society of Friends (Quakers).
List of
religions that forbid cremation
Greek Orthodox Christianity,
Islam, Orthodox Judaism, Parsees, Russian Orthodox Christianity,
Zoroastrianism. We understand the Bahai Faith also is a religion
that does not permit cremation and also has a special way of burial.
Perhaps a more common trend is that some people are opting for
cremation over traditional interments. A practice employed in less
than one in 10 funerals only 25 years ago, cremation is now favoured
by more than a third of Canadians.
|
|
Be sure your
loved one knows what your choices are, and more than in just a
will. Talk about your funeral wishes so you can
prevent disputes or unfullfilleded desires. No one can fight
from the grave - and in many states, the 'rights' of that
person dies with them.
|
Shipping of
cremains Cremated human remains may be mailed if they are packed in
a sift-proof container or other type of container that is sealed in
a durable outer container. The U.S. Postal Service requires that the
package be sent as registered mail with return receipt services.
Cremated remains cannot be sent by overnight express mail, regular
mail, or certified mail (United States Postal Service 1999). United
Parcel Service (UPS) and Federal Express prohibit the shipping of
cremated human remains.
|
