the local authorities worked very hard at getting my grandmother to change my grandfathers funeral plans to be cremated.(they both were planning on cremation because it cost alot less) They even went as far as "give" her the money to have a "normal" funeral instead of cremation. And while she was still alive they convinced her to also go for a normal funeral, of course "giving" her the money for that also.
Fast fwd to a few weeks after my grandmother died and the church was all over my family members in the area to make good on that "loan" they say my grandmother took out with them for the two funerals.. It was a mess. So instead of having a money left from my grandparents death, or most of their possessions... we had to have a huge sale to pay back the church. Well my aunt did anyway. I was mad. I said it was wrong what they did. I was already very disenchanted with the church at this point.So I could see what they were pulling, unfortunately my family still loves the church.
I think I want my ashes mixed with plaster, then used to make a life like bust of myself. That way I can stay on a shelf, starring judgmentally at relatives for all eternity, or at least until one of their kids breaks me. Which ever comes first.
The new CHI still discourages, but also makes provision for local custom and law. I recall in 1980, the church sent out a little notice saying no cremation. Very shortly thereafter, they "clarified", making allowance for local law. For example, in Japan, burial is just not an option. I don't see the difference. On the other hand, I don't get the focus on white shirts. Who cares??
After all, God's got a hard enough job to fix up yer body after it's been moldering in the ground for 100 years. Ashes gotta be nearly impossible to reassemble.
"When he returns he plans on cremating millions of people. If it is good enough for Jesus then it is good enough for me :)"
I'm using this one the next time I'm on the subject with my mom! She's always taught that she didn't think you would be able to be resurrected if you were cremated. Even when I was younger I'd ask her, what about people missing a limb? What if you died in a fire? What about cultures where that's the norm? And she'd say,"well I just don't know what HF will do".
When I die and I'm cremated she'll just have to deal with it, I just don't like the idea of my body rotting underground when I could donate my parts and burn the leftovers and take up less space!
I have never wanted to be buried, it creeps me out. In any case, I will be donating my MS/diabetes riddled shell to the nearest medical school anatomy lab (currently the U of U), and they cremate the bodies when they are done with them.
Mormons believe cremation makes it more difficult for God to ressurect your body. I don't know who invented that particular myth, but I guess they haven't seen many bodies that have been underground for 100+ years.
(as I understand) Burial IS ALLOWED in Japan; the thing Used to be that 'there wasn't enough land for cemetaries'. I think that's easily disproven, it's more of a cultural item.
As usual, ChurchCo will Slowly adapt to circumstances, Usually kicking & screaming; but when it's over/accepted, they'll say: Oh, that wasn't official!
...if your family insists on burying you, it's only for 25 years. Then they dig up your remains (which haven't been embalmed, so there's not much left) move them to a communal pit, and make the plot usable for someone else. Any headstones are moved to the side of the graveyard and propped against the wall.
As for myself, I'm looking into becoming a cadaver. Might as well be useful.
As it was explained to me by my parents, "you don't want to be cremated because it just makes Jesus' job harder at the resurrection when he has to put you back together again - especially all those people who are cremated and have their ashes spread on the ocean."
My response, "what about all those poor souls who have gone down in ships, those poor soldiers who have been blown to bits, all those countries who don't give an option, etc..."
Their response, "that is why you shouldn't be cremated. you are adding to work he already has to do."
In my mind - I can see Jesus sitting down at a table, piles of ashes and bones behind him, slowly putting together body after body, sometimes resurrecting someone that just doesn't look quite right.
Just think of the hard time he is going to have putting Osama Bin Laden back together, since Mormons believe he will put Osama Bin Laden back together. Shot through the head, brains and blood scattered in one spot, then tossed into the ocean hundreds of miles away, where his flesh and soft organs were turned into various forms of fish poop, and his bones and marrow turned into crab meat.
Or Hitler, who had half his body cremated, then the bones from the other half stored in various warehouses across Russia.
Before my mom passed away she had mentioned that maybe she wanted to be cremated but she was not sure. (She was a member) I felt that it might be that it was her way to have "the last word" against the cancer. It was going to kill her but she was going to "kill it" (methaphoricaly) with the fire of cremation. Anyways, since it was not sure what she truely wanted, the family decided to bury her. Well, we talked about it with some friends who are members (and some in leading positions) and it came to the idea that the reason the church discourages it, is because it meant BURNING TEMPLE CLOTHES!!! So actualy the temple stuff is more important than the person him/herself.. which would not surprise me in the least it that were the real reason.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/31/2012 04:08PM by quebec.
On the morning of the 1st resurrection, after Joseph Smith, Jr & Co. have been resurrected, the creator of the universe sits down with a reverse-cremation resurrection instruction manual. He reads the following:
Step 1: Individually bless all 5,323,476,123,098.85 specks of dust one by one.
Temple clothes already incinerated. If I can give my life to Jesus, he can spend a little bit of time sticking me back together. I hope the second time is an improvement. In my opinion he needs the practice.
I was just asked this question by a nonmember friend of mine whose inactive wife has cancer. She doesn't want to be buried, but still worries about what the church thinks. I told him I didn't think the church said too much about it. Then I wondered what they really thought, so I looked it up on lds.org. It says in the Handbook 2: Administering Church policies that the church does not normally encourage cremation, but the family of the deceased must decide. Also taking into account local laws. It also states that the bodies of members that are endowed should be placed in the temple clothes when cremated.