Row Over Crematorium Heating For Swimmers

[danielf]

Originally Posted by Maggy J

The thing is a funeral isn't for the deceased it's for the living and therefore I feel it should be aimed at giving comfort and help in accepting the death of a loved one to those still surviving.The best services I've been to gave a real feel of the deceased and therefore gave comfort to those attending the service.

Yes. When I said comfort and reassurance, I meant in the sense of 'it's alright, the deceased is in a better place right now, and so will you be when you die', since I presumed that was the sense of comfort and reassurance that Chris intended. Obviously there is a purpose to a funeral, which you could decribe as 'comfort'.

The reason I said what I said is that it seems perverse to me to replace the religious content of a funeral with specifically Atheist content. What's the point? Why is there any need to have preaching of any sort at a funeral? I certainly would not be tempted to invite someone from the BHA at my funeral or the funeral of any of my beloveds. Why on earth would you want to invite someone who didn't know the deceased to bang on about his or her take on the meaning of life?

Originally Posted by danielf

I'm not sure why an Atheist funeral would need someone preaching that this was the end. It seems a little perverse to me. Is there any need to make up for religious content with specifically Atheist content? If people want comfort and reassurance they should go to mass. Not to a funeral.

None of the funerals I've been to had any religious content. Speeches were about the deceased. Not about whether there is an afterlife or not.

Nobody chooses to go to a funeral. Your loved one dies, you get out your black tie. It's just what happens. You wind up in a room full of people who are just as torn up about events as you are, and at some point many of those in the room are going to wonder about the meaning of life (and death). Culturally we are accustomed to airing those questions, and their possible answers, at funerals. The hope of seeing your loved one again is comforting, even in the midst of grief.

So no, people don't get up in the morning feeling like they need a comforting day and then going looking for a funeral to attend. But when they get up in the morning and they have a funeral to attend, they may well go to that funeral hoping for some comfort.

They didn't get any from the smug atheist at the funeral I was at recently. Sadly, he made a basic error that I have seen many like him make - assuming that a lack of commitment to a religion equals a commitment to atheism. His world view (which, to be fair to him, he was invited to share) served only to cause further anguish to the immediate family, whereas he seemed to assume he was in like-minded company.

[danielf]

Originally Posted by Chris

They didn't get any from the smug atheist at the funeral I was at recently. Sadly, he made a basic error that I have seen many like him make - assuming that a lack of commitment to a religion equals a commitment to atheism. His world view (which, to be fair to him, he was invited to share) served only to cause further anguish to the immediate family, whereas he seemed to assume he was in like-minded company.

Yes, that's pretty much what I meant. None of the funerals I've been to had any religious content, but none of them had any Atheist content either. It was never touched upon, and I would have thought it very strange if it was. I struggle to understand the mindset of the person who invited someone from the BHA.

It was either the deceased or his wife ... neither of whom I knew/know well enough to say. If it was the wife, then her mindset during the week or two it took to organise was, well, shall we say a-typical. I think perhaps it seemed like a good idea at the time.

[budwieser]

I Really Think That This Threads Come To A Dead End!