Burying Your Dead Without Religion

[TreasonousBastard]

3. That's a little wierd, but I do remember...

a few old-time Irish wakes where the coffin was the center of all, and actually the bar and serving table. Sitting the dear departed at the table wouldn't be too far removed. Most people, I imagine, would be freaked out by it, but it might become popular in some circles as the preservation technology improves. A permanent place in the TV room for Grandma and Grandpa? The Hollywood Walk of Stars with the actual star?

I vaguely remember some island where they craft incredibly elaborate coffins and dance at the funerals. Don't some do this sort of thing in Louisiana, too? I always thought funerals were too somber and two-stepping down the street was the way to go.

The belief in, or hope of, and afterlife drives a lot of this. As we become more secular and give up on an afterlife, our funeral rituals will change.

Quakers, who are not convinced of an afterlife, have a very simple funeral service to bury the corpse, but later on have an elaborate (as elaborate as Quakers get, anyway) Memorial Meeting and feast to celebrate the life of the deceased.