Bury dated beliefs and cultures

Why this grave subject at a time when we are threatened with the dreaded coronavirus? Dead bodies caused by the virus are becoming a worldwide problem.

Undertakers are fast running out of space for burial. Tracks of land that can be used for more practical purposes become cemeteries. This is what I’ve always found puzzling. Spending time, money (and a lot of it) and wasting land on feeding the worms.

Another anomaly: most religions place emphasis on the soul, an abstract element in the human make-up totally divorced from the body. This aspect is emphasised in most of the teachings. I recall a Biblical quotation that says something about (the soul) being absent from the body and present with the Lord. Instantaneously.

In other words, on death the soul lives on, leaving the carcass behind. Now if this is indeed the case, why all the fuss over the body? Special caskets costing an arm and a leg? A convoy to the cemetery led by a top-of-the-range hearse and giving the dead a last ride? Why must a funeral service include a casket?

Mourn and pay tribute to the departed. Sympathise with the family on the death of a loved one. Eulogise. A casket is a rude reminder of the corpse therein. The body has done its job and needs to be put away. Here’s the rub. Put away where? The ideal way is cremation, doing away with having to keep the bodies in cold storage until the day of the funeral.

For starters, think of all the land saved. A company abroad converts bodies into effective compost. Brilliant. The coronavirus has caused us to think seriously about funerals and their negative impact on the environment.

It has also forced us to reconsider some of our traditions and cultures, which place far too much emphasis on the body, instead of the person whose spirit lives on in the lives of those left behind.

The corpse has no more say in the matter. Another quotation drives home the point: “Dust to dust…”

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