Burial or cremation?

[Atlas Mugged]

Poll question: Burial or cremation?

I'm going with cremation. The ritual purification of fire appeals to me. As an atheist (GaYtheist?) that's as much romanticizing as I'll allow myself concerning my own death.

[tk2kewl]

1. I'd like to figure out a way to be burried w/o the preservatives

[jeff30997]

4. You don't want to be buried with a box of condoms ?

[xmas74]

10. look into natural burials.

they tend to bury in a simple wildlife area w/o embalming, strong caskets, etc.
Look up phrases like "Death Midwife" and you might find more info.

[kedrys]

16. If you've ever had Ding Dongs or Twinkies, it's too late

You won't decompose after you die. :P

[tk2kewl]

17. i don't think i've had either

but i did have some ring dings, yodels, and yankee doodles in my day

[China_cat]

18. You don't HAVE to be embalmed.

In fact, the Jewish religion prohibits it and concrete vaults and hermetically sealed caskets, etc.

Check your state laws and have them printed out, put them with your will and burial instructions, just in case your family runs into sleazeballs who will try to take advantage of them when they are vulnerable.

In some states, if you own enough land you can even be buried there instead of a cemetery. Laid out in the parlor and carried out to be buried under the old oak tree...as it were. I think you have to make sure you choose the burial site so as not to interfere with the water table, but that should all be spelled out in the state laws.

[Spinzonner]

2. I intend to continue in death as I have in life

making an ash of myself

[jeff30997]

3. LOL! Good one.My first laugh of the day.

[terrya]

5. Creamation, because...

1) Burial space is rapidly being used up. Sooner or later, there isn't going to be enough room to bury EVERYONE. Just scatter my ashes somewhere.

2) The cost ofcaskets and the stuff that goes with them...plot, grave marker....is getting ridiculously high. I wouldn't want my survivors to be burdened with some huge funeral price tag.

2) Creamation is just the right, moral thing to do.

[Atlas Mugged]

32. The costs of a funeral today are totally absurd

I want who ever's in my will to have the money; not some estate-sucking asswipe who joined a thriving industry that has workshops on taking advantage of the grief stricken.

[Lauri16]

6. Neither

I'm going with Anatomical Gift.

No point in taking up land space when something good can come from death.

[Atlas Mugged]

34. After "Anatomical Gift"...

...there are sitll "remains" that, legally, have to be disposed of properly. If you don't specify, your local government decides.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

7. You can burn whatever the grizzlies won't eat.

I want to give myself back to them as penance for stealing their land...

[Tripper11]

8. Well it seems the Right Wing chrisitans were right....

...us liberals are going to burn afterall!! :evilgrin:

[GirlinContempt]

9. Shoot me into space

[Merrick]

11. Continue the circle of life - I want to be eaten by badgers

or whatever animal happens to stumble or swim upon my carcass in the forest or sea it was dumped in. why waste perfectly good meat? recycle my energy!

seriously though, I dont want to be buried in a cemetary because I find it an absurd waste of space, but on the other hand cremation denies even bacteria and worms a good lunch. I dunno, if they won't just toss me overboard or leave me in a ditch then I'd go with cremation.

[Atlas Mugged]

33. Obviously, I should've included "Eaten By Wild Animals"

I know that Doris Duke wanted to be eaten by sharks, but that had more to do with metaphor than anything else.

Your idea appeals to me, too, and when I bury pets it's always in a cotton shroud; Indonesian Ikat is what I use, actually. But, when it comes to humans being eaten by wild animals, the survivors have to be taken into consideration. Most children couldn't handle the idea of their mother being gnawed on by Bobcats. Or crows plucking out eyeballs, for that matter. Even full grown adults are nothing but children when they bury their parents. Unless they're republicans...

[-..__...]

12. Viking Funeral

Just like in the movie with Kirk Douglas where they set my body,
in a small boat, set it adrift, then light it up with flaming arrows with
Wagner type music blaring in the background.

As long as I don't drift into the shipping lanes, everything should be cool.

[Xithras]

13. Neither. Underground catacomb.

We have someone here locally who's resurrecting the lost art of the catacomb builders. If he pulls it off, I'm planning on being buried in a granite tomb under the Sierra's.

[Spinzonner]

24. What if the cats object ?

[Atlas Mugged]

35. Technically, that's still a burial

And don't think that I haven't put some serious thought into building my own pyramid, which would dovetail nicely with my "die broke" philosophy. As long as you're in a casket, it's still considered a "burial", even if you're encrypted. "Lying In State", permanently, on the other hand...

[tibbir]

14. I mean, I'll be dead already.

Why waste the money and earth's resources on housing my body?

[bridgit]

15. cremation = i ain't taking up no more space...

:thumbsup:

[DemGirl7]

19. Cremation is the way for me...

I see it like this, I'm going to be dead when it happens, so there is no real difference, other than the fact of space, and I don't want to take up any extra space that could be used for something more important.

[prole_for_peace]

20. cremated and made part of a coastal reef

there is a company that mixes cremation ashes into cement and makes big wheel looking things to help rebuild reefs. they will even put a brass plague with your name on it.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

21. Just simple cremation,

and into the Pacific for me. My grandparents, and in-laws have all done that; and it seems perfect to me...I have NO desire to get mouldy!

:hi:

[caty]

22. I want my ashes to be

scattered somewhere near a lake. Then when my friends want to visit, they can go somewhere beautiful and peacfull, without a lot of head stones all around.

[Placebo]

23. I want my ashes shot into space.

Then some alien civilization will come into contact with the remnants of my DNA, clone me, and send me back to this puny rock to enslave the lot of you.

[Wapsie B]

25. Not that I'll know the difference when the time comes

but they can just shoot my ashes over the little Wapsie and be done with it.

[applegrove]

26. First of all harvest my organs. Second - send me to a medical school

to be dissected (why it is always the indigent who get studied) with a caveat that no corporation is allowed to benefit directly from anything about my dead body. Then turn me into ash. And finally - sprinkle me in the woods somewhere.

Oh and do an autopsy because I have some bad-assed psychopath in my past.

[Emops]

27. There's a beautiful cemetery I like to walk through on occasion

If I can afford to be buried there, I will. If not, it's cremation for me.

[Ladyhawk]

28. I want to donate my body to science so those crummy fundies

can't use it to push their crap down people's throats at a funeral. :)

OTHER

[Atlas Mugged]

31. There's not much wiggle room for "other"

I'm going to do a "science donation - organ donation - neither" poll; I'm just working the room.

Even after organ donations and Cub Scout science fair projects are done, there are human remains. Unless your body is of some totally unique nature (hermaphrodite would qualify; so would chemically toxic) that would make it worth keeping for future study, there WILL be something left to properly dispose of. Even if it's only a hank of human hair, if it's from a corpse, it's "human remains" and must be either cremated or buried, as specified by the donator. If nothing is specified, it's up to local state laws to determine what happens. Most areas are going the direction of cremation these days, Potters Fields ain't cheap, unless it's a celebrity corpse, such as a particularly heart touching Jane/John/Baby Doe , and then the community raises funds to give it a Christian (always!) burial in a cemetary.

[tjwmason]

29. Charnel House

It may strike a few as a wee little bit morbid....

I'd like to be buried for a little while so that my body can decompose, and then have my bones placed in a charnel house - preferably alongside those of friends acquaintances family &c.

I like the idea of resting among folk for the ages.

The only problem is that it's pretty pointless one person doing it - perhaps I should become a monk in one of the old monasteries where they still do it.

[Atlas Mugged]

37. Oh, I love the ossuary idea

I've seen many of them in Europe, not the least of which is Kutna Hora in the Czech Republic. But, these are invariably faith based, so it's not much of an option for me. But the idea of having my bones added to a chandelier, for instance, has a lot of appeal. I would love to be "art". There's Von Hagen (http://www.plastination.com/en/pages/home.asp) in Germany who does the "meat sculptures", too. He injects or soaks human bodies with plastics (or whatever) and then slices and shreds the flesh into fantastic sculptures.







Yes, that is an actual corpse.

[scarlet_owl]

30. I don't really care one way or the other. Probably cremated.

It's cheaper that way. For now.

[Sugar Smack]

36. Oh, I don't know. Surprise me.