So we were passing by a cemetary on my way to Japanese from work and I noticed how a lot of the gravestones had Stars of David on them. There were a few with crosses but nothing remotely Islamic
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I haven't studied anthropology but I do recognize the point you make. Honoring the dead is just one of the several ways we are different from animals. I didn't really think embalming came out from such a mundane happening. Preserving the body for the funeral makes sense but I'd want it to last only until the funeral. You could say that people want to attach some approximation of wealth to the corpse (fancy coffins) but really, it still doesn't make sense. I'd prefer getting wrapped in the burial cloth. I did think about cremation and I forget which religion uses it as a custom/rite. Buddhism, I think? Regardless, it again makes no sense keeping the ashes in my opinion. The ultimate end of your body is to return to the dust it came from.
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I didn't really think embalming came out from such a mundane happening. Preserving the body for the funeral makes sense but I'd want it to last only until the funeral. You could say that people want to attach some approximation of wealth to the corpse (fancy coffins) but really, it still doesn't make sense. I'd prefer getting wrapped in the burial cloth.
I did think about cremation and I forget which religion uses it as a custom/rite. Buddhism, I think? Regardless, it again makes no sense keeping the ashes in my opinion. The ultimate end of your body is to return to the dust it came from.
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