Our customs are strange and frightening to me

[dsewell]

A revered and iconic former leader has lain in a comatose or semiconscious state for months or years. We wait until his heart stops, and then declare him dead and announce that it is now time to mourn. His body is filled with embalming fluid, and cosmetic skill is applied to make him appear as he did years ago before he fell ill. His body is flown across a continent so that many people may gaze upon it for several days. His body is then flown back across a continent so that it may finally be placed in the earth.

I don't have a better suggestion, but I submit that an anthropologist from Alpha Centauri would find it rather remarkable.

[mopaul]

1. the naked ape has many strange habits

on star trek, when they ask the klingons what they want to do with their fallen dead, they always say, hell, we don't care what you do with an empty shell. hoist it into space for all we care.

this particular dead guy will get a monument, which will most likely be chronically desecrated.

[supernova]

2. Well, the embalming

is done for the health of the living, esp true if you aren't going to bury the body in short order as you do in orthodox Judasim and Islam.

I agree though, it does sound a bit chaotic to fly him to DC, have him lie there for the funeral, then fly him back to the Library.

[Skittles]

3. the "viewing" of corpses is very disturbing to me

is this the way people want to remember their loved ones?

[supernova]

4. It's a kind of closure

During a highly emotional time, you can see, in no uncertain terms, that they are dead and not coming back.

[Skittles]

5. I guess I have no trouble believing someone is dead

nt

[supernova]

7. Neither do I

but I think death is kind of taboo in this country. We'd rather put it away and not discuss it or see it, corpses I mean. Same with not seeing the bodies coming from Iraq, American and Iraqi.

It's kind of odd since death is part of the circle of life.

[Skittles]

14. well, I think it is odd to pump a corpse full of drugs and put makeup on

them *shudder*

[brainshrub]

11. I agree.

[Piperay]

15. My family has always

had a 'viewing' for all my dead relatives. It's just the way they have always done it, you get used to it. :shrug: Actually it doesn't blot out the living memories of them and still remember them the way they were when alive. I would find it strange not to have a viewing, 'different strokes for different folks'. :shrug:

[Don_G]

6. I Want To Make Certain He's Dead

It's all hearsay evidence so far.

[supernova]

9. LOL!

good one!

[immune2irony]

8. Me too, but I'm just a caveman

I dont understand your ways of ceremonial burial and embalming fluids. They frighten and confuse me.

[mopaul]

10. unfrozen and immune2irony

i'm giving you the thumbs up from the back of the cave

[demnan]

12. Me too

No one in my immediate family ever went in for this viewing bullshit but my grandfather and some cousins did. It's a gross custom. I believe someone is dead if they're in a coffin, I don't need to look at the corpse.

[scrotim]

13. It gets weirder when you consider that the public, and probably no one

else in D.C. will actually see the body. I assume the casket will be closed and flag-draped as usual.

I wouldn't be surprised if it's only an empty box that's making the trip to D.C.; I mean, why bother when they could just keep him in a walk in freezer in California until the burial?

Yeah, our "customs" surrounding death are bizarre, and mostly designed, I think, to help us avoid the reality of it.

In many cultures it is family and friends who wash and prepare the body for burial. It is a hands-on way of facing the reality, and of saying goodbye.

But then, if we took care of all that within our families, and buried the bodies within a day or so, think of the billions of dollars the funeral industry would lose.

[indigobusiness]

16. They ought to just feed him to the birds

like they do in Tibet.