Does the Morg now allow cremation or are tales of its prohibition simply more "folk tales of unknown origin formerly taught as doctrine"? If so, do they make silk Temple burial robes?

Why silk? Well silk is one of the few materials that will work with the relatively new process called Bio Cremation. From the site: "Since Bio Cremation™ can only accommodate protein based material; clothing on the deceased must be made of silk, wool or leather which is consumed during the cremation process. To simplify a family’s decision on attire, we’ve designed an attractive silk robe, appropriate for visitation and/or viewing. The robe will be simply consumed along with the body during the bio cremation process leaving only sterile white bone fragments." Yeah, a leather Temple robe would rock too.

http://www.biocremationinfo.com/WhatisBioCremation.aspx

I know nothing about Mormon cremation, but I do know a fair amount about cremation itself. (Through the years, I've dealt with it for five members of my family who died at various times.)

Four of those were "administrated" (in different ways) by different funeral homes, in different states, but the last one--for my father--I, with the help of family members, took care of everything, including delivering his body, in the required cardboard "casket"--two big pieces of flat cardboard with grooves pressed into them for fairly easy assembly--to the door of the crematorium.

His body was cremated as it was delivered, in the cardboard "casket," and what he was wearing was the adult diaper he had on when he died. Nothing else.

I don't understand why someone would be specifically dressed for creamation unless it was required by someone's religious beliefs.

Several days later I went back to the crematorium and picked up my father's ashes.

When my Grandpa (the first of these) died, his ashes were buried in a cemetary close to where we lived because there had been a huge, permanent rift in the family years earlier and my father wanted Grandpa's ashes to be in a specific place in case my father's brother ever wanted to go "visit."

My Grandma's ashes, after she died, were buried next to
Grandpa's, and for the same reason.

My mother's ashes and my father's ashes were scattered (in far different places) according to their wishes: one into a river, and the other into a camp fire.

My aunt's ashes are still in my back bedroom, awaiting my decision on how to best fulfill her wishes. As it happens, I just learned how to do this, and hopefully, I will be scattering her ashes in the way she wished in during the next year. (It will require a camping trip to one of our offshore islands, and they will be scattered into the ocean.)

None of the people cremated were dressed when their bodies entered the crematorium. I find the idea kind of bizarre, but maybe that's just because of the way I was brought up.

My family has always had a very straight-on, realistic, view of death, and never more so than after individuals have died.

I understand that different people, and different families, have different beliefs and sensitivities.

This is the way it has worked for us.

My question was predicated on the Mormon religious practice of disposing of their dead in Temple robes. Traditional thermal cremation will consume any Temple robes without much difficulty I'm sure, but the chemical process of BioCremation can only consume clothing made of silk, wool or leather. Any Mormon choosing this form of cremation would have to be wearing Temple robes made of silk, wool or leather.

Funny that my Spam Prevention code included "BVD" in it.

I always wear my white leather outfit to the temple--good heavens, can you imagine how hot that would get? And by hot, I don't mean "hot" (my white leather assless chaps), but just regular old hot.

Does Dri silque count?

Oh, DriSilque just wouldn't do. From the Morg garment ordering site: "DriSilque (pronounced "dry silk") is a high-filament count nylon fiber that makes into a lightweight fabric." Nylon won't be liquified by the BioCremation chemicals which can only digest clothing of silk, wool or leather. Of course that might be interesting too, a fully articulated skeleton dressed in nylon DriSilque Temple garments - all rendered perfectly sterile by the BioCremation process. I understand, however, that while the bones remain, the BioCremation process renders them rather soft and crumbly, somewhat like chalk.

If the Morg wants to accomodate BioCremation they're gonna have to include silk, wool and/or leather in the Temple garment choices.

I want my ashes flushed down a toilet on the top floor of the COB. I want them to pass by every floor in the way down.

Have you ever thought of getting baked into a loaf of sacrament bread?

I don't think cremationism should be taught in the public schools.

made me laugh

I promised my Dad before he passed away that I wouldn't chose cremation for myself. I will honor that promise, to honor him...personally I could care less what they do to me when I croak...

Tell everyone who died in the world trade center ( or tell their families) that the church doesn't accept
cremation. I would love to be a fly on the wall while someone delivers that message

"But we'll baptize them by proxy, if you want (unless you're Jewish)!"

This is a little OT, but I went to NYC as part of a first responder team to help the NYPD, FDNY. Body parts were on adjacent building for weeks after 9/11. Sea gulls and other scavangers were taking care of things.

About 1/3 of the building debris was hauled to a barge and taken to a land fill call Fresh Kills.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fresh_Kills_Landfill

The material was run on conveyor belts for sorting for personal affects. Cadivar dogs were used to locate human remains. It was reported that there was so much human remains, mainly small pieces, that the dogs couldn't really identify a location, everything had parts.

Yikes.

i think it's got to do with the fact that if you get cremated, your molecules won't be able to find each other during the resurrection. therefore, you'll look like a zombie. or something.

but somehow, if you die in a car accident and your car was caught on fire, you are burned to ashes (so technically you are NO cremated so), you will get resurrected.

it makes perfect sense! i love smith our prophet for these truths and more.

Yeah, I was given that spiel about "getting the atoms together" at the resurrection. My question in response to that was about all the atoms of buried people who were consumed my micro, or macro, organisms and thence forwarded up and down the food chain, perhaps even to other people. If a particular carbon atom is shared by Methuselah, Brigham Young and Thomas Monson, who gets to claim it at the resurrection?

Oh, jeez. It's not like there are a set grouping of atoms together that "belong" to you and only you. We are constantly shedding skin, hair, sweat, etc. We are constantly taking in new matter. The You you are now is literally a different You than the one you were just a few years ago. Nearly every cell has died and been replaced.

I have atoms in me that were once in a carrot. I have atoms in me that were once in a dinosaur. I have atoms in me that were once in a star.

Mormonism is so ridiculous.

And if God could organize all that matter initially, why couldn't he do it again? "I'm tiiiired. I had to rest after six days the first time--do you think I want to do all that AGAIN?!?"

If I have to be buried in a silly outfit, can it at least be a cool looking Halloween costume?

OK, time for the serious answer. From CHI - 2010, p 162. "The Church does not normally encourage cremation. The family of the deceased must decide whether the body should be cremated, taking into account any laws governing burial or cremation. In some countries, the law requires cremation. Where possible, the body of the deceased member who has been endowed should be dressed in temple clothing when it is crematated."

Regarding the local laws, issue, in 1980, the church issued a bulletin to leaders stating members should not be cremated. PERIOD. Sadly, they did not bother to determine if some countries only allow cremation. Global church. Right..... A retraction (update) came out the next month.

They have since dialed back a fair bit on the policy.

Thanks for the definitive (as far as things Mormon can be definitive) answer. The question now is whether or not they'll authorize/produce silk, wool or leather temple clothing to facilitate Bio Cremation.

Back in the '70's I recall a question in The Ensign(?) about cremation, and the answer had the story of Sister Missionaries who were burned alive in a massive fire; apparently that indicated that God was OK with cremation.

Made sense to me then, now it's just kinda creepy.

Actually it can't possibly matter because BY taught that every molecule of a person's body was return in the ressurection. And I thought I was fat now.

The doctrine of "every molecule restored" doesn't make sense since our bodies go through several sets of molecules during our lifespan. Which set of molecules would be restored at the resurrection? What about canibals who might share another person's molecules? Who would get those molecules at the resurrection? Then there's Jesus' foreskin which the Catholic Church claimed to possess well after Jesus was allegedly resurrected. Was Jesus resurrected without his foreskin? If so, then not every molecule was restored. Do eggs and sperm get restored even if they were used to begin another person's body? If so, how does that person's molecules get restored?

Otremer Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The doctrine of "every molecule restored" doesn't
> make sense since our bodies go through several
> sets of molecules during our lifespan. Which set
> of molecules would be restored at the
> resurrection? What about canibals who might share
> another person's molecules? In fact it is a sure bet that millions of carbon atoms in you right now were each once part of some other person's body.

It's not just cannibals. Remember everyone is in a state of flux. We breathe in oxygen and breathe out carbon dioxide. The carbon in the carbon-dioxide comes from the food we eat and the carbon dioxide that we breathe out is breathed in by plants again. Thus any given carbon atom in you may have been part of many people before you.

Of course there are many ways out of the "dilemma." Since protons, electrons and neutrons are identical just having the same ARRANGEMENT is close enough. So now the question becomes exactly which ARRANGEMENT of atoms will be the one that is restored? Given any two moments an hour apart there are literally trillions of atoms difference in your makeup.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/14/2012 07:53PM by baura.

baura Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> So now the question becomes exactly
> which ARRANGEMENT of atoms will be the one that is
> restored? Given any two moments an hour apart
> there are literally trillions of atoms difference
> in your makeup.

Good point, and this brings us to the question of which 'you' is resurrected, the infant, the son, the spouse, the father, the great grandfather? One person, in many different physical forms, may have had all of these roles in his 'forever family'. While Mormons might say that only the "perfect" physical form is resurrected, which one would that be?

Yeah, its all BS, but its still fun to debate.

Folk tales, there is not any offical "Church" position on cremation.