Funeral Customs In America

Dead?" AlterNet. In this article, Frankie Colmane looks into how dead bodies are treated in the United State even after Mitford's expose of the funeral industry was published. The article takes both a philosophical and scientific issue with the procedure of embalming sighting proven negative effects to human beings and the environment. Colmane shows that even though people are aware of the malfeasance and misappropriations of the funeral industry following pieces like Mitford's, very little has changed. Therefore problems that have been discussed in earlier works should not be forgotten. Rather they should be continually brought up until the issue is solved. During the 1800s, embalming became common practice because the dead family member would lie in state within the home for a period of days or weeks until it would be buried (Colmane 2010). The article shows the duplicity such as when "funeral directors were arguing forcefully against charges that their mediation between the living and the dead translated into social obstruction that barred the stricken from facing death with maturity, realism, and honest" (page 2). This article will be used to illustrate that things have not changed with funereal practices despite the publication of Mitford's essay.

Mankind’s history of burial practices and funeral customs are as old as civilization itself. There is no specific way to planning a funeral. Every civilization and culture has provided for their dead in different ways. Religion and personal beliefs play an important role in the burial practices and funeral customs of a given culture or civilization. Furthermore, each civilization and cultured ever studied have three things in common: some type of funeral rites, rituals, and ceremonies; A sacred place for the dead; and memorialization of the dead. As far back as the time of Christ, burials have been noted to take place. In time burial and funeral customs have become very distinct, interesting and

At some point in our lives, we all come to realize that death is a part of life. Cultural diversity provides a wide variety of lifestyles and traditions for each of the unique groups of people in our world. Within these different cultures, the rituals associated with death and burial can also be uniquely diverse. Many consider ritualistic traditions that differ from their own to be somewhat strange and often perceive them as unnatural. A prime example would be the burial rituals of the Native American people.

Today the society is looking for ways to ease life and to find solutions for problems which oppress our lives and make it hard to live through. Because of many reasons, the traditional burials in this century are becoming a problem. (Prothero,2001). The fact that they cover a lot of land to build cemeteries and other things that are attached to these traditional burials is enough for us to search for a practical solution. About a century ago the term "cremation" was unknown to many people. It is believed that it began to be practiced during the early Stone Age and still exists today. Since that time cremations have been made all

In the funeral world there are a lot of different styles of funerals. For example, Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic funerals. Both very different, but at the same time they have several things in common. In funerals there is an abundance of things to compare and contrast. We will be looking at different ways the notification of death is handled in both of these religions, removal, embalming, dressing/casketing, visitation requirements/rituals, and interment or cremation.

In Islam, the body is brought home from any hospice facility the ill may have been in. The family members of the deceased then wash the body and have it buried as soon as possible. It is also important to bury the body in the country in which the death occurred. For instance, if the death has occurred in Canada, the body must be buried in Canada. It is also important to note that if a male in the family has died, then the male family members wash the body and if it’s a female death, then the female family members wash the body. The religion is very strict with regards to this. In Islam, it is preferable to bury a woman at nighttime because the night acts as an extra cover out of respect for the woman. As this woman walked into where her mother was lying, the other aunties and other female family members in the room

There are some similarities when it comes to putting the deceased to rest, however, it is the last rites of passage that we give the dying that differs when it comes to different cultures. Every culture has their own rituals and beliefs in spirituality which plays a large role in the last rites of the dead, influence how they are treated in everyday life, and how they are buried. In this paper two different cultures will be compared side by side: American and Japanese. The American and Japanese rites to the passage of the dead differ significantly and will be discussed throughout the paper.

The term “embalming” is a familiar one in today’s society; however, many people are unaware of what happens during its process. Depending upon the family’s wishes, a body may or may not be embalmed. Culture can also play a part in making that decision. Embalming is a simple process with rich history that does wonders for a body and families.

Ever since the beginning of mankind, civilized cultures all have one specific thing in common. They all practice a dignified disposition of their loved ones who die. In fact, Robert G. Mayer, author of a widely used embalming text book writes in his text that "the art and science of embalming has been performed, in one form or another, for well over 5500 years." Of course the methods of embalming have varied greatly over course of time; however one important aspect for many of these practices is the ability for our species to scientifically preserve the remains of the dead human body. In more modern times, mankind has come to understand this process to be known as embalming.

Family members will wear clothing made of a course-type material. The body will be thoroughly washed and incense is burned around the body. It is customary for those who are mourning the death to bring gifts of money to the family for coverage of funeral costs. The person is buried with items that were important in life, and a priest of Buddhism or Taoism will preside over the funeral service and burial ritual. There is a death procession to the burial ground or graveyard and mourners carry a willow branch as a symbol of the deceased’s soul.

In Japan, funeral arrangements and ceremonies are conducted after reviewing a strict set of rules or beliefs. Many people in Japan practice different religions such as Shintoism, Buddhism, Confucianism and even Shinto-Buddhism. Even though everyone has a different belief system, many death ceremonies in Japan are approached in a Buddhist practice. The majority of the population practices Buddhism, so the ceremonies are conducted according to Buddhist beliefs. Many people question how these ceremonies are planned out and want to know what happens

in China, the practice of Ancestor veneration or worship is a common practice. In doing such it recognizes their male ancestor by placing his name on a rectangular tablet. In the meanwhile, it provides their ancestor’s world of spirits happy, in which they would bless- not- haunt their living descendants(Van Voorst, 2017). Daoists and Confucianists, does not believe in cremated a body because it destroys the qui found in the bone of the dead corpse. However, Chineses Buddhist recognizes cremation in which the male, infants, and children will receive a similar funeral. Upon the arrival of supporter to the deceased family will cover all the status of the gods in their home. These procedures will keep them from exposing the body or coffin(Van

However, when burying a body, people are restricted to cemeteries. Cremation is a simpler process that saves ground space and once someone has been cremated and their ashes have been placed in an urn, loved ones are able to take the ashes and spread them almost wherever they please. “Cremation is becoming the new normal, primarily because people can personalize the way they want to memorialize friends and family.” said Sheri Stahl, the Board President of Cremation Association of North America. The remains of the body only weigh about 3 to 7 pounds. This gives someone the opportunity of taking the urn with them without any major difficulties. Cremating a body also gives family members more time to figure out what they want to do. When burying a body, there is only so much time the body can stay presentable. “With cremation, families have more flexibility in the timing and locations of memorial services, and many options for creativity and personalization in and how and where their loved one’s remains will be placed.” said Timothy R. Borden, who is Cremation Association of North America’s president-elect. Burning a body may seem morbid to some people. However, it can be a beautiful process to

The Catholic Funeral Rite is divided into three major parts. The vigil (wake) is the family and friends of the deceased come together and mourn for their lost one. They come together and pray (usually a rosary) for the soul of the deceased. As the soul will feel God's judgment and be within his grace. The family prays for God to have mercy on their soul, so they may be able to spend the rest of eternity with God. This is done on the night before the funeral.

Funerals and the accompanying ceremonies and rituals are as diverse as the people who perform them. I was raised Roman Catholic and have had first-hand experience with the tradition of receiving the Sacrament of Last Rights before a person dies. When I was seven years old, I had an emergency appendectomy that was done laparoscopically. Ten days after surgery, I became very ill with a high fever, vomiting, and intense abdominal pains. My mother rushed me to the hospital where I was admitted and taken to the operating room for an emergency surgery. While in surgery, they discovered I had a surgical infection in my lower right quadrant. They ran my bowel and found a lump in my mesentery, but they could not biopsy it because it was too close to a major artery. After surgery, I was recovering well and looking forward to going home. On my third day post-operation, I was difficult to rouse and eventually became unresponsive with my heart rate dropping to eight beats per minute. I was rushed to the Intensive Care Unit where I was given Last Rights by the hospital priest because they did not think I was going to make it through the night. I do not remember receiving the sacrament that night, but I do remember the second time. Things got a little better, but then I started hemorrhaging from my nose. That, combined with my blood loss from surgery, resulted in me needing a blood transfusion. I received Last Rights for a second time after the central line was placed. I remember the priest making a cross on my forehead and the palms of my hand. He prayed and blessed my soul so that if I were to die, I could go to Heaven. I remember feeling a sense of calm, but that could have been the narcotics. The idea of blessing someone before death to ensure that they get to heaven is interesting to me. It almost seems as though you can live your life as sinfully as you want to but when the time comes, if you confess and repent, then all is forgiven. That is quite odd to me. It is interesting to have had Last Rights twice and still be alive. It makes me wonder if God decided it was not my time. Despite the priest’s best attempts to bless my soul for the journey to heaven.