How Religion Plays a Role in Funerals

When thinking about religion and dying, those can be very similar or very different. Each religion has their own view about what you should do with a body after it dies. I looked at an article from a very conservative Christian writer called “To Bury or To Burn”. The writer asks three questions on how you should develop your own religious thought about cremation or burial. The first question is “what moral norm(s) apply in this situation”? This says that in the commandments it says not to steal and respect material goods. The article says that this applies to caring for yourself at all and cremation is not necessarily the most moral one. My response is that if it is the most feasible option for the family then that may be best. The second question is “which method best demonstrates love of God and love of neighbor”? In this question the author says that your body is in the image of God and when you are cremation a body you are basically cremating God. Once we die our spirit is no longer in our body, but our body should still be respected. The final question is “which method would bring the most glory to God”? It says that biblically speaking burials bring the most glory to God. Recently there has been a shift to cremation because of it being a cheaper option. For me personally, I think that when planning a funeral religion does play a huge part in it. Your choices are influenced by the questions asked previously and also how the ceremony will take place.

http://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/to-bury-or-to-burn-cremation-in-christian-perspective