Apart from religious reasons (discussed below), some people find they prefer cremation to traditional burial for personal reasons. The thought of a long, slow decomposition process is unappealing to some;[52] many people find that they prefer cremation because it disposes of the body immediately.[53]
Other people view cremation as a way of simplifying their funeral process. These people view a ground burial as an unneeded complication of their funeral process, and thus choose cremation to make their services as simple as possible.
In agriculturally dependent countries such as India, it was realized quite early that burial led to the bodies rotting and very soon, the soil around the region would become infertile.[citation needed] This is why cremation was preferred initially, even before it was introduced into the Rigveda.
The cost factor tends to make cremation attractive. Generally speaking, cremation is cheaper than traditional burial services
Religious views on cremation[edit]
Religions such as Hinduism, Jainism, and Sikhism, mandate cremation. In these religions, the body is seen as an instrument to carry the soul. Many examples are in the Bhagavad Gita.
In Buddhism cremation is acceptable but not mandated. The founder, Shakyamuni Buddha was cremated. For Buddhist spiritual masters who are cremated, one of the results of cremation are the formation of Buddhist relics.
According to Hindu traditions, the reasons for preferring to destroy the corpse by fire, over burying it into ground, is to induce a feeling of detachment into the freshly disembodied spirit, which will be helpful to encourage it into passing to its next destination, lest it remain near its former body.[60] Hindus have 16 rites of passage(Saṃskāra); i.e. A Hindu undergoes 16 rituals during their lifetime, like Naming ceremony, Thread ceremony: beginning of student life, Marriage, etc., and the last being cremation. Cremation is referred to as antim-sanskara, literally meaning "the last rites." At the time of the cremation or "last rites," a "Puja" (prayer) is performed. The holy text of Rigveda, one of the oldest Hindu scriptures, has many Ruchas (also written and pronounced as Richas) (small poems) related to cremation, which state that Lord Agni (God of Fire) will purify the dead body, also known as the Parthiv one of the 5? types of fire.
Open air cremations are becoming less frequent in urban areas. There are crematoriums in most major cities, which are in effect indoor electric or gas based furnaces. Most cremations take place in these indoor crematoriums.[61]
In Hinduism, during cremation the eldest son, the adopted son, or the younger brother put first fire on the dead person's body. Bodies of holy men are however sometimes buried or sunk in rivers and children are buried not cremated.[62]
- Sati
The act of sati is when widowed women throw themselves onto their husband's funeral pyre. This practice has its origin in a legend in which the goddess Sati self-immolated because she was unable to bear her father Daksha's humiliation of her (living) husband Shiva. By 10th CE, this tradition had gained foothold in Indian subcontinent and was spreading. This practice was made illegal in 1829.[63] After gaining independence from British colonial era, India passed a series of additional laws. The Prevention of Sati Act of India makes it a criminal act to support, watch, allow, glorify Sati; the crime is punishable by life imprisonment, while glorifying Sati is punishable with 1–7 years in prison. The law also allows for seizure of the property, organization, temple and assets used to attempt or allow Sati.[64] In modern India, the last known case of Sati was in 1987, by Roop Kanwar in Rajasthan. Her action was found to be a suicide, and it led to the arrest and prosecution of people for failing to act and prevent her suicide during her husband's cremation.[65][66]
Bali[edit]
Balinese Hindu dead are generally buried inside the container for a period of time, which may exceed one month or more, so that the cremation ceremony (Ngaben) can occur on an auspicious day in the Balinese-Javanese Calendar system ("Saka"). Additionally, if the departed was a court servant, member of the court or minornoble, the cremation can be postponed up to several years to coincide with the cremation of their Prince. Balinese funerals are very expensive and the body may be interred until the family can afford it or until there is a group funeral planned by the village or family when costs will be less. The purpose of burying the corpse is for the decay process to consume the fluids of the corpse, which allows for an easier, more rapid and more complete cremation.
Islam[edit]
Islam strictly forbids cremation.[67] Islam has specific rites for the treatment of the body after death.[68]
Christianity[edit]
Main article: Cremation in Christianity
In Christian countries and cultures, cremation has historically been discouraged, but now in many denominations it is accepted.[69]
Catholicism[edit]
Christians preferred to bury the dead rather than to cremate the remains, as was common in Greek and Roman culture. The Roman catacombs and veneration of relics of saints witness to this preference. For them, the body was not a mere receptacle for a spirit that was the real person, but an integral part of the human person.[70] They looked on the body as sanctified by the sacraments[71] and itself the temple of the Holy Spirit,[72] and thus requiring to disposed of in a way that honours and reverences it, and they saw many early practices involved with disposal of dead bodies as pagan in origin or an insult to the body;[73]
The idea that cremation might interfere with God's ability to resurrect the body was refuted as early as the Octavius of Minucius Felix, in which he said: "Every body, whether it is dried up into dust, or is dissolved into moisture, or is compressed into ashes, or is attenuated into smoke, is withdrawn from us, but it is reserved for God in the custody of the elements. Nor, as you believe, do we fear any loss from sepulture, but we adopt the ancient and better custom of burying in the earth."[74] And while there was a clear preference for burial, there was no general Church law forbidding cremation until 1866. Even inMedieval Europe, cremation was practiced in situations where there were multitudes of corpses simultaneously present, such as after a battle, after a pestilence or famine, and where there was an imminent fear of diseases spreading from the corpses, since individual burials with digging graves would take too long and body decomposition would begin before all the corpses had been interred.
Beginning in the Middle Ages, and even more so in the 18th century and later, rationalists and classicists began to advocate cremation again as a statement denying the resurrection and/or the afterlife,[75]although the pro-cremation movement more often than not took care to address and refute theological concerns about cremation in their works.[76] Sentiment within the Catholic Church against cremation became hardened in the face of the association of cremation with "professed enemies of God."[76] When some Masonic groups advocated cremation as a means of rejecting Christian belief in the resurrection, the Holy See forbade Catholics to practice cremation in 1886. The 1917 Code of Canon Law incorporated this ban, but in 1963, recognizing that, in general, cremation was being sought for practical purposes and not as a denial of bodily resurrection, the choice of cremation was permitted in many circumstances.[77][78] The current 1983 Code of Canon Law, states: "The Church earnestly recommends the pious custom of burial be retained; but it does not forbid cremation, unless this is chosen for reasons which are contrary to Christian teaching."[79]
There are no universal rules governing Catholic funeral rites in connection with cremation, but episcopal conferences have laid down rules for various countries.[77] Of these, perhaps the most elaborate are those established, with the necessary confirmation of the Holy See, by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and published as Appendix II of the United States edition of the Order of Christian Funerals.[80][81]
Although the Holy See has in some cases authorized bishops to grant permission for funeral rites to be carried out in the presence of cremated remains, it is preferred that the rites be carried out before cremation, in the presence of the still intact body. Practices that show insufficient respect for the ashes of the dead such as turning them into jewelry or scattering them are forbidden for Catholics.[77]
Anglicanism and Lutheranism[edit]
In 1917, Volume 6 of the American Lutheran Survey stated that "The Lutheran clergy as a rule refuse" and that "Episcopal pastors often take a stand against it."[82] Indeed, in the 1870s, the Anglican Bishop of London stated that the practice of cremation would "undermine the faith of mankind in the doctrine of the resurrection of the body, and so bring about a most disastrous social revolution."[83] In The Lutheran Pastor, George Henry Gerberding stated:
As to cremation, This is not a Biblical or Christian mode of disposing of the dead. The Old and New Testament agree and take for granted that as the body was taken originally from the earth, so it is to return to the earth again. Burial is the natural and Christian mode. There is a beautiful symbolism in it. The whole terminology of eschatology presupposes it. Cremation is purely heathenish. it was the practice among the Greeks and Romans. The mass of the Hindoos thus dispose of their dead. It is dishonoring to the body, intended for a temple of the Holy Ghost and to bear the image of God. It is an insidious denial of the doctrine of the resurrection.[84]
However, Protestant churches welcomed the use of cremation at a much earlier date than the Catholic Church; pro-cremation sentiment was not unanimous among Protestants, however.[85] The first crematoria in the Protestant countries were built in 1870s, and in 1908, the Dean and Chapter of Westminster Abbey—one of the most famous Anglican churches—required that remains be cremated for burial in the abbey's precincts.[86] Today, "scattering", or "strewing," is an acceptable practice in many Protestant denominations, and some churches have their own "garden of remembrance" on their grounds in which remains can be scattered. Other groups also support cremation. Some denominations, like Lutheran churches in Scandinavia, favour the urns being buried in family graves. A family grave can contain urns of many generations and also the urns of spouses and loved ones.
Eastern Orthodox and others who forbid cremation[edit]
On the other hand, some branches of Christianity oppose cremation, including some minority Protestant groups and Orthodox.[87] Most notably, the Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox Churches forbid cremation. Exceptions are made for circumstances where it may not be avoided (when civil authority demands it, or epidemics) or if it may be sought for good cause, but when a cremation is willfully chosen for no good cause by the one who is deceased, he or she is not permitted a funeral in the church and may also be permanently excluded from liturgical prayers for the departed. In Orthodoxy, cremation is a rejection of the dogma of the general resurrection, and as such is viewed harshly.[88][89]
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints[edit]
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) has, in past decades, discouraged cremation without expressly forbidding it. In the 1950s, for example, Apostle Bruce R. McConkie[90] wrote that "only under the most extraordinary and unusual circumstances" would cremation be consistent with LDS teachings.
However, more recent LDS publications have provided instructions for how to dress the deceased when they have received their temple endowments (and thus wear temple garments) prior to cremation for those wishing to do so, or in countries where the law requires cremation. Except where required by law, the family of the deceased may decide whether the body should be cremated, though the Church "does not normally encourage cremation."[91]
Jehovah's Witnesses[edit]
Jehovah's Witnesses publications have stated, "Cremation is not condemned by Jehovah. ...Something that might influence a person’s decisions in making these arrangements, however, is the way that the local community views funeral customs. Those who abide by Bible principles would certainly not want to do anything that would cause unnecessary offense to their neighbors."[92]
Judaism[edit]
Judaism traditionally disapproved of cremation in the past (it was the traditional means of disposing the dead in the neighboring Bronze Age cultures). It has also disapproved of preservation of the dead by means of embalming and mummifying,[93][94] a practice of the ancient Egyptians. During the 19th and early 20th centuries, as the Jewish cemeteries in many European towns had become crowded and were running out of space, cremation became an approved means of corpse disposal amongst the Liberal Jews. Current liberal movements like Reform Judaism still support cremation, although burial remains the preferred option.[52][95]
The Orthodox Jews have maintained a stricter line on cremation, and disapprove of it as Halakha (Jewish law) forbids it. This halakhic concern is grounded in the upholding of bodily resurrection as a core belief of traditional Judaism, as opposed to other ancient trends such as the Sadduccees, who denied it. Conservative Jewish groups also oppose cremation.[96][97]
Some secular Jews may reject cremation perhaps in reaction to the Holocaust, in which the Jewish victims of Nazi genocide were disposed of by cremation at the death camps. At many former Nazi death camps, mounds of ashes are present beneath a shallow layer of dirt.[citation needed]
In Israel there were no formal crematories until 2007 when B&L Cremation Systems Inc. became the first crematory manufacturer to sell a retort to Israel. In August 2007, the predominantly orthodox ZAKAmembers in Israel were accused of burning down a secret crematorium.[98] ZAKA spokespersons denied any involvement, but its founder, Yehuda Meshi Zahav, applauded the act of arson, calling the existence of the crematorium a "desecration of the dead" and that the crematorium was "destined to disappear in flames". Since that incident, The cremation retort was replaced and cremation takes place in Israel without interruption. .[98]
Other[edit]
Baha'i[edit]
The Baha'i Faith forbids cremation, "He feels that, in view of what ‘Abdu’l-Bahá has said against cremation, the believers should be strongly urged, as an act of faith, to make provisions against their remains being cremated. Bahá’u’lláh has laid down as a law, in the Aqdas, the manner of Bahá’í burial, and it is so beautiful, befitting and dignified, that no believer should deprive himself of it."
Zoroastrianism[edit]
Traditionally, Zoroastrianism disavows cremation or burial to preclude pollution of fire or earth. The traditional method of corpse disposal is through ritual exposure in a "Tower of Silence", but both burial and cremation are increasingly popular alternatives. Some contemporary adhererents of the faith have opted for cremation. Parsi-Zoroastrian singer Freddie Mercury of the group Queen was cremated after his death.
China[edit]
Neo-Confucianism under Zhou Xi strongly discourages cremation of one's parents' corpses as unfilial.
Traditionally, Buddhist monks in China exclusively practiced cremation because other Chinese detest cremation, refusing to do it. But now, the atheist Communist party enforces a strict cremation policy on Han Chinese. However, exceptions are made for Hui who do not cremate their dead due to Islamic beliefs.[99]