My Grandmother's Funeral

Ahnimus

5 minus 9 plus 4 that's none, that's zero, it's the absence of life, it's a blank scroll.

bigmuzz

hmm.......reading all this im trying to work out what religion i am.

technically im 'church of england', but i dont go to church or believe in most of what the bible preaches........so i may be considered an atheist by some, yet when i do go to church for the odd funeral or wedding or communion i participate in all the religious traditions, no matter what religion it is......

i have always quite liked the idea of reincarnation though.........


anyway, funerals dont HAVE to be had in a church........most of the funerals ive been to have been in funeral homes, where the preachers can be left right out of the equation if thats your wishes.

i think if the funeral is to be held IN A CHURCH a bit of preaching would be expected.

funeral homes are better, theyre more laidback...........

Ahnimus

I can see that, this was actually a funeral home.

bigmuzz wrote:

hmm.......reading all this im trying to work out what religion i am.

technically im 'church of england', but i dont go to church or believe in most of what the bible preaches........so i may be considered an atheist by some, yet when i do go to church for the odd funeral or wedding or communion i participate in all the religious traditions, no matter what religion it is......

i have always quite liked the idea of reincarnation though.........


anyway, funerals dont HAVE to be had in a church........most of the funerals ive been to have been in funeral homes, where the preachers can be left right out of the equation if thats your wishes.

i think if the funeral is to be held IN A CHURCH a bit of preaching would be expected.

funeral homes are better, theyre more laidback...........

Ahnimus

Ahnimus wrote:

5 minus 9 plus 4 that's none, that's zero, it's the absence of life, it's a blank scroll.

it's nothing, my existence is exactly the sum, of 5 minus 9 plus 4, that's none, that's zero, it's the absence of life, it's a blank scroll, it regurjitates worth, it takes the first lost soul, it searches on the verge of destruction, it just grows, fuck being a star, I want to be a black-hole.

a compilation record's like your life, you got some good times and some other shit you might not like, well that's the beauty of the beast, you gotta be blind, but we believe you just appreciate the peace, you see you gotta pass before the beast, you gotta last longer than your girl when you work between the knees,it seems to me you gotta squeeze and squeeze until everything gets released out your brain, then you see finally, your mind will be silently smiling, your filing out the bullshit and compiling your style, a reason to rock your manifesto, now I'm obsessed, there I said, I confess yo, and man I know I'm too old for these kids, they all be yu-gi-oh and I be pokemon and shit, but until my mic is broken I'll be hopin' for a hit, I'm choken on the words, yo fuck it then I quit.

Credit to Optimus Rhyme for those lyrics, may be slightly wrong, as I had to figure them out myself. Still pretty cool stuff, it's kind of how I feel about this whole issue and some others.
http://www.optimusrhyme.com/musicplayer/compiler.mp3

onelongsong

Collin wrote:

I'm an atheist and when a loved one dies I attend his funeral. I don't think I will ever see him again. He's gone forever.

Why do I go to the funeral? Because he's a loved one. Because I'm not a heartless bastard, as you seem to think atheists are. This is a person I loved and I want say goodbye (yes, saying goodbye to nothing). It helps me get over it. Closing a chapter of my life. Taking time to realise this person is actually gone and I will never ever see him or her again. We're not robots. A deceased loved one isn't like an old candy wrapper because during my life I have never loved a candy wrapper, never talked to a candy wrapper, never laughed with a candy wrapper...

i only brought it up because we had a family member that was athiest and asked not to be included in the religious portion of the ceremony. they waited outside and we respected their wishes. when i was a young teen i asked about it and they explained that if they entered the church; they would be a hipocrate. this was the first time hipocracy was explained to me.
so this is why i'm questioning it. so to enter the church; chapel; courtyard; or anywhere a religious service is being held is one thing; but to complain about what you heard inside is unbelievable. to say i didn't like it because i'm an athiest is unbelievable because there's no place in church for an athiest.
i don't care if he puts on a dress and does a dance at funerals. it's his choice. but to complain that a religious service is religious?

Ahnimus

onelongsong wrote:

i only brought it up because we had a family member that was athiest and asked not to be included in the religious portion of the ceremony. they waited outside and we respected their wishes. when i was a young teen i asked about it and they explained that if they entered the church; they would be a hipocrate. this was the first time hipocracy was explained to me.
so this is why i'm questioning it. so to enter the church; chapel; courtyard; or anywhere a religious service is being held is one thing; but to complain about what you heard inside is unbelievable. to say i didn't like it because i'm an athiest is unbelievable because there's no place in church for an athiest.
i don't care if he puts on a dress and does a dance at funerals. it's his choice. but to complain that a religious service is religious?

It wasn't a church.

Heineken Helen

bigmuzz wrote:

funerals dont HAVE to be religious, it all depends on the person whose funeral it actually is.

and if you do go to a funeral and it is ultra religious, its probably polite not to sit and whinge and complain about it (especially if its someone in your own family!!!) but rather just show your respects by being there. its not about you, its about the deceased.

i mean sorry to hear about your loss and all, but personally im not religious or anything, but i can sit still in a church for an hour or so and not complain.

I agree totally and I think we all have to respect the beliefs of others... you obviously did ahnimus to a certain extent or you wouldn't have been there. I come from a small community in quite a 'political' town, however the Catholics and Protestants all get along. I recall a couple of protestants dying when I was young and Catholics would attend the protestant funeral too. We may not have had a clue what to say or when but we tried and followed everyone else. Why? Because it's a place of worship, whether it's mine or not and whether or not I believe... and because they were funerals and I only went to pay my respect to those people. Unless they had made alternative arrangements for their death, this was the way they wanted it to be, so we just need to respect that.

Heineken Helen

onelongsong wrote:

then you have no hiprocracy. you are true to your beliefs.
but in this case he said his grandmother no longer exists. so if he went to say good bye to his grandmother; then he admits that she exists in another form. this admits to life after death.
christians cry and mourn; then celebrate with a big party; as do many religions.
he also posted a poem i see at a lot of catholic funerals. it's meaning to catholics is not to cry for me; i am a part of God now. so that's where i saw the hipocracy in the post.

Ok I know ahnimus is from a different place to me but where I come from, until recently (with the exception of a small minority of protestants) we're all brought up catholic. A funeral is the normal thing to be done when someone dies and I believe it's as much tradition as it is anything to do with religion... in my culture that is. Somebody who has not gone to mass their entire life STILL has a funeral. For the priest to preach about conversion during a funeral is just him being a BAD priest. Most priests will serve the mass as a celebration of that persons life and not see it as a recruitment opportunity.

While I was brought up Catholic, I'm quite a spiritual person but NOT religious... however, it's very difficult to shake off what has always been a part of Irish life. I still want a funeral when I die because that's all I know. If an athiest dies, do his athiest friends just leave the body to rot? I'm sure they still have some kind of 'service' whether it's just saying a few words or whatever. A funeral is the same thing, it just happens to be held in a religious place and said by a religious leader. I don't think he was being hypocritical by going into the church, he was being respectful, but probably coming from a more 'religious' community than him, I would find it disrespectful to not go along with it. When the priest says 'let us pray', you don't really have to pray, you can bow your head and contemplate. Nobody's forcing you to be there but if you go just be respectful.

RolandTD20Kdrummer

Ahnimus wrote:

Why can't funerals be priestless? Why they got to talk religion at a funeral?

Because they were the first ones to make a big deal out of the life and death process and use heaven and hell as a means to control

It's all become diluted into sheer social habit and mindless regurgitation over the centuries.

Byrnzie

I want to have a Sky burial after I perish.

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

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

Jeanwah

Green burial for me.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_burial

chime

Byrnzie wrote:

I want to have a Sky burial after I perish.

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

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

I have a Zoroastrian friend who has told me about these. It's one of things that the Zoroastrian's in this country have a problem with as it can't be done here.

Byrnzie

Chime wrote:

I have a Zoroastrian friend who has told me about these. It's one of things that the Zoroastrian's in this country have a problem with as it can't be done here.

I'm sure there are a few remote peaks in Wales or Scotland, or even our own Lake District where this could be done?

Jeanie

Heineken Helen wrote:

Ok I know ahnimus is from a different place to me but where I come from, until recently (with the exception of a small minority of protestants) we're all brought up catholic. A funeral is the normal thing to be done when someone dies and I believe it's as much tradition as it is anything to do with religion... in my culture that is. Somebody who has not gone to mass their entire life STILL has a funeral. For the priest to preach about conversion during a funeral is just him being a BAD priest. Most priests will serve the mass as a celebration of that persons life and not see it as a recruitment opportunity.

While I was brought up Catholic, I'm quite a spiritual person but NOT religious... however, it's very difficult to shake off what has always been a part of Irish life. I still want a funeral when I die because that's all I know. If an athiest dies, do his athiest friends just leave the body to rot? I'm sure they still have some kind of 'service' whether it's just saying a few words or whatever. A funeral is the same thing, it just happens to be held in a religious place and said by a religious leader. I don't think he was being hypocritical by going into the church, he was being respectful, but probably coming from a more 'religious' community than him, I would find it disrespectful to not go along with it. When the priest says 'let us pray', you don't really have to pray, you can bow your head and contemplate. Nobody's forcing you to be there but if you go just be respectful.

Thank you Helen. Beautifully put.

Jeanie

A funeral is a ceremony marking a person's death. Funerary customs comprise the complex of beliefs and practices used by a culture to remember the dead, from the funeral itself, to various monuments, prayers, and rituals undertaken in their honor. These customs vary widely between cultures, and between religious affiliations within cultures. In some cultures the dead are venerated; this is commonly called ancestor worship. The word funeral comes from the Latin funus, which had a variety of meanings, including the corpse and the funerary rites themselves.

Funeral rites are as old as the human race itself.[citation needed] In the Shanidar cave in Iraq, Neanderthal skeletons have been discovered with a characteristic layer of pollen, which suggests that Neanderthals buried the dead with gifts of flowers. This has been interpreted as suggesting that Neanderthals believed in an afterlife, and in any case were aware of their own mortality and were capable of mourning.

Here's the link which has further explanation

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

catefrances

when i die
burn my body
take my ashes
over the mountains
and the seas
to the places i have lived
sprinkle some
among the people i used to know
who i loved
and who loved me
for there my soul shall rest at ease
let some linger in the breeze
blowing them
to distant places
where my shadow
will hide all my
doubts and sorrows
leaving only
all the love
my heart has carried.

Jeanie

Byrnzie wrote:

I want to have a Sky burial after I perish.

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

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

WOW!! Byrnzie, that's really interesting! Thanks for posting the links.

Jeanie

Jeanwah wrote:

Green burial for me.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_burial

Jeanwah!! That's awesome!! I've just added the link to my favorites so I can read up the rest later, but that sounds like something I would like.

Guess I have to research now whether or not it's available in Australia.