New Burial Method: ‘Liquefaction’

[OLD fashioned preacher]

I've also known of funeral directors doing a burial "gratis". One in particular did a "freebie" for an infant and one for an elderly disabled man with no know family in the same year.

[JerryNumbers]

My Aunt Clara, bless her soul, was married to a man that spent most of his money on fishing & drinking. She worked out just a few years during her life, did not even have a high school diploma, worked menial jobs, & saved up enough money to bury her, & her husband, & to buy tombstone for them, with no help from her husband.

I know for I had to take care of everything, in fact after her death & burial there was less than fifteen dollars left in her savings account, & about ten dollars left in her checking account.

I loved both of them very much, in my early years they were the only people that I would spend the night with, & if they came by our house & or we happen to go to their's, I would beg to spend the night with them. Aunt Clara was a God fearing woman, Uncle Coy could care less about God. If it had not been for them I would have never gone many places, nor never gone camping while I was growing up, never rode in a boat, or gone fishing.

Both Uncle Coy & Aunt Clara were so good to me & I loved both of them very much, I just wish my Uncle Coy would have been a God loving man.

I believe my wife & I have just barley enough money to bury us, But I will have to bury my sister, right now I only have about $1100.00 towards that goal. I'm just nearly 65, she is 69, I've got a ways to go, & it want be easy.

[swathdiver]

I missed out on the days when we could be buried in our church yard or in our own backyards! Now it's too expensive.

[OLD fashioned preacher]

I missed out on the days when we could be buried in our church yard or in our own backyards! Now it's too expensive.

In Colorado you still can

[John81]

There are still Catholic cemetaries (I don't want to be buried there), and in a few places there is a bit more freedom for burial so long as all the State burial rules are followed.

I'm not sure what all the rules here are except the body has to be embalmed and placed in a coffin and the coffin must go inside a vault, but it can be an inexpensive vault that doesn't have a top on it.

[no name joe]

I have a coworker whose cousin died, and mailed himself to my co-worker. Upon instructions, the cousin was creamated, and my co-worker received the ashes in the mail one day with instructions to bury his ashes next to his mother in a graveyard not too far from my co-workers house. So this guy took a shovel, and buried the ashes as reqeusted!

I thought this was a great story. We all got a good laugh out of someone mailing himself to a family member after he died.

[John81]

Not overly funny when a human body has been desecrated.

[JerryNumbers]

One can put someone away quite a bit cheaper than many do. A person does not have to be embalmed if buried within 24 hours in my state, Most churches around here if they have a cemetery the members of that church gets a burial plot free of charge for their family members.

There is no doubt, funeral homes do play on peoples sentiments without really trying, & many people spend much more on burial of their loved one than they can afford. To me its what you do for a person while they are still living that counts, what one does for them after their death is really for them.

And yes, I know many people look down on those that do not put their loved ones away in fancy coffins & vaults and will talk about them behind their backs. I've heard that done and I have shamed a few people for doing that.

And actually a plain pine box would be just as good, or even wrapped in a blanket.

[John81]

One can put someone away quite a bit cheaper than many do. A person does not have to be embalmed if buried within 24 hours in my state, Most churches around here if they have a cemetery the members of that church gets a burial plot free of charge for their family members.

There is no doubt, funeral homes do play on peoples sentiments without really trying, & many people spend much more on burial of their loved one than they can afford. To me its what you do for a person while they are still living that counts, what one does for them after their death is really for them.

And yes, I know many people look down on those that do not put their loved ones away in fancy coffins & vaults and will talk about them behind their backs. I've heard that done and I have shamed a few people for doing that.

And actually a plain pine box would be just as good, or even wrapped in a blanket.

I told my wife when I die she should buy a new refrigerator and bury me in the box it comes in.

[JerryNumbers]

I told my wife when I die she should buy a new refrigerator and bury me in the box it comes in.

They do sell coffins that are made of pasteboard & cloth.

A plain pine box probably would be cheaper than a new refrigerator, why a new one, how about an old one, many of the old ones looks like new!

[Wilchbla]

The human body is just like garbage. You either bury it or burn it.

[John81]

They do sell coffins that are made of pasteboard & cloth.

A plain pine box probably would be cheaper than a new refrigerator, why a new one, how about an old one, many of the old ones looks like new!

We've never owned a new refrigerator. I told her to take my insurance money and instead of wasting it on expensive funeral stuff, get herself a new refrigerator that should last the rest of her life.

Of course I was only joking, but I was trying to get across to her that when it comes time to bury me, if she's still living I would prefer having an inexpensive funeral so there would be some money left over for her.

Funeral homes tend to keep their more higher priced coffins up front, but they do have less expensive ones available though sometimes a person might have to ask before they will show them.

[John81]

The human body is just like garbage. You either bury it or burn it.

Actually, the human body is a precious creation of God and something we are told to care for. Examples from Scripture makes it clear that upon death the body is to be respectfully treated and then buried.

[heartstrings]

People die in earthquakes, autmobile accidents, explosions and other horrible ways in which bodies become mutilated. In a fire, people are sometimes burned to the extent that nothing is left but dental records to identify them. I think the whole point of it being a sin to "burn the bones of the King of Edom" was that it was done in hatred. A dead body being cremated with respect is an entirely different thing from intentionally mutilating or desecrating it out of vile hatred. I have no problem with anyone who chooses to be cremated. It's just not an essential doctrine of our faith. The Bible says our bodies go back to the dust ....and just what is a cremated body? Ashes....A tiny pile of minerals.....Dust. Think about this: All of those people incinerated to ashes in the twin towers and every single person who was vaporized in the city of Hiroshima will be resurrected for judgement by God one day; He knows where every single molecule of their bodies is right now and He isn't going to have one bit of trouble reassembling them. He will even have to put Bin Laden back together, because I suspect that the fishies have consumed him by now.

Having said that, when my Grandpa, my Grandma and my Dad all died, we took their embalmed bodies to a cemetery and we buried them with respect. If we had just taken a backhoe, dug out a hole and nonchalantly shoved them in to fall like some animal and covered them up, it would still be burying but it sure wouldn't have been done with love and respect. I 'm not going to condemn someone who wants their body to be burned to ashes and then treated with reverence and respect, Because it's the heart and attitude of the living that really matters

Edited September 22, 2011 by heartstrings

[John81]

God knows about various accidents and disasters and doesn't hold one accountable for what they can't avoid. However, we are held accountable for what we do have a measure of control over.

The examples of the proper dealing with the bodies of the dead in Scripture are burial. Burning of bodies has been a pagan ritual, often tied with pagan concepts of that being the means with which the dead "travel to the afterlife".