A man dies. His community's culture deems that he be buried in holy ground lest the community suffer some catastrophe. He, having always been at odds with his community on this point, has left a provision in his will that he be cremated and his ashes scattered into the ocean. The body waits in the hospital while the community debates the issue. What is to be done?
The elders have asked for a moral opinion. What is one to say? If the belief that the man must be buried is one deeply ingrained in the hearts and minds of the community, then a decision to cremate him would cause an uproar. On the other hand, if there are some who sympathize with the man, either decision might cause a schism within the community. The ultimate action would have to depend on much more than the culture's belief about burial. It would have to take into account the culture's beliefs on individual rights, freedom of belief, and the validity of the man's will. It would also have to take into account the moral implications of carrying out a man's dying wish and the repercussions of violating a sacred social institution. This is not a decision to be taken lightly, but by stepping back and weighing the options carefully, one can come to a conclusion which would be the most moral given the situation. I say most moral because there really is no right choice here. Any action taken will most definitely be wrong to at least one group of people. Here no plea can be made to universal morality because neither belief in its specific sense appeals to any pure moral intuition. People on the other side of the world might have neither the belief that the man should be buried, nor the belief that his ashes should be spread. Each person's choice would be too influenced by his own cultural morality, and so nobody would really have a right to judge.
Were I to be asked for an opinion on this matter, I feel I would have no authority in my response. It is really the community's choice, and I would be afraid to make a decision which affects people completely strange to me. I doubt they would ask me in the first place, but were I to be asked my opinion I would say that the man should be buried in the special burial ground.
Unburied people will be unable to find rest and will wander the earth forever, which is why it was so important that I must bury my brother. For Polyneices to rest properly, there needs to be a burial. The word of the gods emphasize the necessity of a proper burial and indicate the negligence of burial rites as an abuse to a man’s rights to an afterlife. Burials are a critical municipal and religious duty, not simply because it is a valued personal concern, but also because it is a social obligation. While a respectable king is expected to be able to make wise decisions independently, he cannot be considered a perceptive ruler if he does not follow the will of the
Can I do this?” Aside from the broad question of death’s profitability being ethical there is the question of are the practices within the business ethical and up to standard? The business of disposing of the deceased hasn’t always been an established one. Multiple times throughout history, people have taken advantage of people’s grief when a loved one has died and this was done in many ways. Some people would simply claim they buried their loved ones when in reality they dumped their bodies off elsewhere. Others would claim that they are caring for their loved ones dead body in a funeral home when in reality they are neglecting the body and taking your money. Luckily, in modern times we don’t typically have these issues well not as much as we use to anyway. Now, instead, we have different problems, the main one being that Morticians will typically offer the premium options available for their services before any other ones. This often used tactic is in clear violation of the Federal Trade Commission’s rule which states that funeral homes must show a price listing of caskets and other services (small business). These Morticians see that this person is in significant grief over the death of their loved one and will take advantage
Which decisions about dying are morally acceptable to concernd Christians, and which ones go beyond morally acceptable limits? Which medical practices and public policies allow for more humane treatment for those who are dying and which ones open the door to abuse and the violation of human dignity? Proposals in various states to legalize physician-assisted death [3] point to renewed interest in these old questions. ELCA members, congregations, and institutions need to address these questions through prayer and careful reflection.
The decision to end a life is a difficult one no matter the situation presented. It stirs a great deal of emotions when thinking about a loved one choosing to die in situations where they are terminally ill. Death is a scary thought for most people, but we need to remember that it is just a fact of life, no matter how morbid it sounds. There is some dignity in ending a life for a patient is who terminally ill and suffering, although it may be a tough decision, it can sometimes be the right one.
When someone dies their bones are burned and crushed into ash and consumed by the relatives. It puts a persons soul at peace to find a resting place within their family, it would be an abomination to bury them in the ground. Once this ceremony is finished the person is gone. Their name or person is never to be mentioned again.
When the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2011 rocked New York City, Pennsylvania, and Washington D.C., the word “tragedy” was used on a grandiose level around the world. For the people who lived close enough to experience the events first-hand, they may not have even called it a tragedy; perhaps they called it a misfortune, retaliation, lack of a strong government, unreal, or maybe even rebirth. In the coming years after the attacks, everything between standing united as a nation to declaring a war had flourished; but how has that left us - the land that has no distinct ethnicity - feel about each other? Why is it that fear is usually missing in the affective mnemonics of memorial sites, which, after all, are signifiers of some of the most horrific violence in human history? Do memorials dedicated to these attacks bring us together in terms of understanding, or is it just continual collective grief? This paper will cover the global complexity of the 9/11 attacks, the Empty Sky 9/11 Memorial in Liberty State Park, NJ, and factors and theories that memorials do influence a sense of complexity. The ground of public memory is always in motion, shifting with the tectonics of national identity. I chose the Empty Sky 9/11 Memorial as my topic of observation as I, personally, visit a few times throughout the year to pay respects to people I personally knew who perished in the attacks to the World Trade Center. I was in the 5th grade when this happened, and had absolutely no clue what was going on until my father did not return home until two days later with a bandage wrapped around his head and his devastating recollection of what happened just before he arrived to his job. The emotions that I feel within myself compared to others will...
Bodies were cremated not buried and there was no book of remembrance because this is the Brave New World and they are trying to forget the past, and only look on to the future
Overall, the ending of one’s life should be left in the hands of that one individual and nobody else. People should be free to determine their own fates by their own autonomous choices, especially when it comes to private matters such as health. No one person’s life should be at the mercy of what other people believe would be best. Life or death and the way they will be carried out or ended, should be nobodies choice but the individual.
Throughout the past hundred years, all over the world the number of cremations done exceeded burials and left a shocking number behind. As it was in 1968 with 35 % of funerals being cremations, today in the UK, Japan, Canada, USA and many other countries it is growing and reached over 79 %. (Mayers, 2013). This is becoming so popular that even small companies for constructing crematoriums are becoming larger and turn into very well-paid businesses. As a matter of fact, with present day people choose their best options for funerals and do not take into account the so called old beliefs that religion forbids cremations. Peo...
This paper will address some of the more popular points of interest involved with the euthanasia-assisted suicide discussion. There are less than a dozen questions which would come to mind in the case of the average individual who has a mild interest in this debate, and the following essay presents information which would satisfy that individual's curiosity on these points of common interest.
"Grieving and death rituals vary across culture and are heavily influenced by Religion (Medscape)." Cross cultural beliefs, ceremonies, and rituals allow for the deaths of individuals to be encompassed in a more organized social order (Death and Dying, A sociological perspective). The religious rituals encountered are often influential in funeral arrangements and grieving behaviors. On a sociological level, we can interpret these things in a more objective way. I believe that in order to understand religion and culture: we must first understand the concepts that may be seen as highly influential. These concepts include religion and culture in association with social class, social norms, social reality, and class systems. The two religions I found most interesting were Hinduism and Buddhism.
For centuries, other cultures have tried to preserve their dead. The Egyptians were the first know society to preserve their dead through embalming techniques (“Brief,” par 2). After the collapse of the Egyptian society there were few reports of embalming (2). European Catholic dignitaries, monarchs, and aristocrats first used funeral embalming techniques in the 13th century to transport mortal bodies across long distances (Pascale and Lemonnier, 9). . The mortal bodies were filled with expensive scented herbs that had antiseptic qualities (10). It was not until the Civil War during 1860 that embalming the dead was practiced in the United States (“Brief,” par 7). Today, in the 21st century, this popular and traditional choice is made by most United States citizens. In our egotistical society, the cost of $500 to $1,200 is paid without hesitation to ensure we still look presentable for our last gathering with friends and family.
Funerals are very important ceremonies in Hindu tradition. Hindus see cremation as an act of sacrifice to God and...
Throughout this essay I will discuss and define what is a ‘good death’ and who it is good for, using case studies as evidence. Defining the difference on difference and diversity and why it is important to outline the relation to difference and diversity for a ‘good death’.