Posted on 03/27/2014 11:44:44 AM PDT by Graybeard58
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP) -- Cremation may be the new American response to death, according to a survey by LifeWay Research.
The study, which surveyed 1,036 Americans, shows that about 4 in 10 (41 percent) say they plan to be cremated.
Six in ten (58 percent) say being cremated won't keep you from being resurrected to live in heaven. And few (14 percent) say cremation is wrong.
The LifeWay online survey reflects the growing acceptance of cremation, which has become common in the United States.
About 4 in 9 (43.5 percent) Americans who died in 2012 were cremated, according to the Cremation Association of North America (CANA). That's nearly double the rate from 1996 (21.8 percent).
LifeWay researchers found that few Americans have qualms about the practice.
More than 7 in 10 (71 percent) disagree with the statement, "I believe it is wrong to cremate a body after someone dies."
Only 3 in 10 (30 percent) disagree with the statement, "I plan to have my body cremated when I die." Forty-one percent agree, while 29 percent do not know.
Scott McConnell, vice-president of LifeWay Research, said cremation fits the way most Americans live these days.
"Few people stay in the same place all their lives, so they don't have strong connection to a place they want to be buried," he said. "Cremation is also often less expensive than burial. And many of the social taboos about cremation are fading."
The survey found that few Americans think cremation has any consequences for the afterlife. Fifty-eight percent disagree with the statement, "If someone's body is cremated, there is no way for them to be resurrected to live in heaven." Only 8 percent agree. One in 5 (20 percent) don't know. Fourteen percent say there is no resurrection to live in heaven.
Evangelical Christians have been wary of cremation in the past. And the practice does remain less common in the Bible belt. In Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi and Tennessee, the cremation rate is among the lowest in the country, at 23.9 percent, according to CANA. By contrast, in Alaska, California, Hawaii, Oregon and Washington, the cremation rate is 60.3 percent.
In LifeWay's survey, self-identified born-again, evangelical or fundamentalist Christians are most likely (27 percent) to say that cremation is wrong and to disagree (42 percent) when asked about being cremated. They're also (70 percent) most likely to disagree when asked if cremation would keep someone from being resurrected to live in heaven.
Methodology: The online survey of adult Americans was conducted September 6, 2013. A sample of an online panel representing the adult population of the U.S. was invited to participate. Responses were weighted by region, age, ethnicity, gender and income to more accurately reflect the population. The completed sample is 1,036 online surveys. The sample provides 95 percent confidence that the sampling error from this panel does not exceed plus or minus 3.1 percent. Margins of error are higher in sub-groups.
I've always wanted to go to the rally but realize I'll never make it now.
A couple of years ago I considered contacting Sturgis about the possibility. It could be a money maker for somebody.
Maybe one of the bars could keep a small vial of ashes in a back room and when family members visit it could be brought out.
Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. God is certainly capable of putting one’s mortal remains back together for resurrection.
That’s the term; Mausoleum. I used to hear it a lot in Vincent Price movies, but never knew exactly what it meant. This is one of those conversations I cannot have with my adult siblings. It’s just a matter of time before my dad goes. Nobody wants to talk about ‘necessary arrangements’ now but me, so I let it drop, before I leave the wrong impression. Many folks are still rather superstitious about the inevitability or eventuality of death, not choosing to address the topic directly. I don’t have to make them uncomfortable about it, not now anyway.
If you are a veteran or the spouse of a veteran you are entitled to a free grave. My parents grave in a veterans cemetery overlooks the Pacific. They are surrounded by heroes. There is a lot more space available for cremated remains. The reason that I mention this is because I had a cousin who was a veteran. When he died his widow did not know that. I did not say anything because it was not my place to butt in.
Aren’t you concerned about the huge carbon footprint you leave behind?
Think of the chiiiiiiiiiiildren.
Put my ashes in either one of these.
A sermon outline (breif) on the subject of cremation.
http://executableoutlines.com/top/cremate.htm
Can a Christian chose cremation? Sure. But is it best?
Nope.
I could end up in a place that is very hot, and I don't want to get a head start.
I want to be cremated.
I want my ashes formed into golf balls and every A-hole who wants to take one last whack at me can fire my remains into Monterey Bay...
Thanks for the link.
Pretty much sums up what I believe.
Winnuh!
Your comment is just toooooooo funny. Brightened my day. Thank you.
My dad is buried in Kansas, my mom in Missouri and my daughter in Texas. Have never been back to my parent’s sites since their death and not really even sure where they are buried. Do visit my daughter’s burial site and place yellow tulips there once a month.
I have already told my son to have me cremated and put half of the ashes on the top of the mountain at Lionshead in Colorado and half in the Gulf of Mexico. Then go out and celebrate the fact that I had a good life, great friends, and know that they will see me later. Also remind him and my grandsons that although I may not be on this earth any longer, I can see everything they do!
My husband is going through the same issue with the death of his father.
When his dad died, the man asked for his ashes to be tossed in a river and my husband honored those wishes.
And that was that, until about ten years later. Out of the blue, the grief of his gather’s death finally hit my husband. (I think that it was because he was going through issues with our own son and he desperately wished for his father’s counsel.)
At that time, he desperately needed his dad. And I mean that the need to speak with his father crushed this man. But there was nothing. Nowhere to go. Not even a grave.
He told me several times that this is all he needed. A grave. A headstone. Any tangible way to touch the man who made him. Had there been anything left, he would’ve flown there in a minute.
That killed him for several years. The ache to visit his father’s grave was soul-deep and wouldn’t go away. It took a very long time for him to come to terms with that. That pain lasted longer than the initial death of the man himself. (shock protects us from a lot... until it wears off)
My dad was killed by an illegal back in 1992. At first, I went to the funeral, grieved, then moved on. In 2002, I finally absorbed the loss and went (half way around the world) to visit the cemetery to find his grave to grieve. The cemetery had lost the plot in their records. I wandered for more than 15 hours, searching for my father. In the end, I placed the flowers on a stranger’s grave and asked if they would please tell my dad that I loved him. I curled up and bawled for days after. I’d lost my dad.
I’m not against cremation, but I am against the loss of a ‘final resting place’. There needs to be somewhere for our loved ones to go. I’ve seen and felt that need and it can’t be denied.
I know that it may sound weird to those who haven’t experienced it, but there’s something about a loss that hits you many years later. Then, there is a desperate need to ‘touch’ the one who meant so much to you. To be denied that is almost as painful as experiencing that loss all over again.
Give the grieved a place to go.
Bkmk
Or a diamond. For my girls. But I can’t be an earring. They’d lose me inside of a week.
You’re not morbid. You’re right.
After my family’s experienes with the loss of ashes, we’ve all made a pact and I’m the one who’s agreed to carry it out.
I’m building a crypt on our land that has shelves. Each shelf will carry the ashes and the remembrance book of every individual in there. A lock of hair, a photo, good stories, videos, etc.
When hubby and I die, or if the land is sold, my daughter has agreed to build a crypt for all of us on her land.
The family will stay together. Everyone will have a place to go.
Part of out motivation is that we’re a military family and there are no ‘roots’. We know that things have to stay mobile.
You may not value your moral remains once you’re finished with them, but someday, someone you love may need to touch base. Don’t deny them that.
Im even cheaper. Both myself and my late wife are/were anatomical donors. When the university is done with our bodies they are cremated. No cost to us.
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