Respect for the Dead? Graves vs No Graves

I don't think I'd want the plaque in my house. Other members of the family can freely go to a plaque in a garden of remembrance, and in your home you can keep photos and nice things. We take turns in caring for the plaque so it is properly cared for. Here you 'rent' the plaque area, so once someone stops leasing it, the plaque is removed. That way the plaques are not neglected and forgotten.

 

OK. In order to stop me from being so emotional,here goes nothing. The dead should be respected, especially if they are our best or closest family members or friends.

Most of the housing estates in SIngapore are built above Chinese cemeteries, so the relatives take the remains and cremate them,they usually put the ashes in jars and put them in columbarians or in their temple.

The vases still have the dead relatives' name on it. So I think it is better to cremate for Buddhists and Christians.

 

This is a really touchy question. I would hate to make something 'compulsory' such as cremation, but I do prefer it as dead bodies are not sanitary at all, decompose extremely slowly, and can ruin the land they are in. I do not think dead relatives really want to be remembered for how putrid they made a region after their souls departed. Nowadays they do have more procedures that are better for managing the dead, but also things happen to unearth grave areas and it just seems unsanitary, especially say when floods happen and taint the water this way. I find cremation a lot cleaner and also you can, as some people mentioned, get urns made special for the loved one, cremation is cheaper, and plaques can be made to put either in some sort of memorial or at home. I find it more respectful, though I am sure people won't all agree. However, as said, I would not want cremation to be compulsory because there are various methods people respect the dead with and I would feel rotten taking their rights away to do that and move on with their lives.

 

I think everyone wants to be remembered in some way after they're dead. In a way, the headstone, plaque, etc. Allows that to be a reality. Even if we don't do anything to leave our mark on the world. When we die there should be something to let us know who we were.

I think there should be graves and I know I'm a little on the weird side when I say this but I like walking through graveyards and reading the dates and names on the headstones. Heck in one of the cemeteries there's a headstone made into a bench since that's what the guy wanted so someone would have a spot to sit down.

The oldest date I've seen on a headstone is from the 1800's. A veteran of the Spanish-American war. Which brings up another point, the headstones can teach us history. I had no idea Wisconsin, my state, was involved in the Spanish-American war until I read it on a tombstone. And mind you I was in High School by this point.

I feel bad when a headstone gets knocked over, and it happens every year around Halloween around here. I just feel it's disrespectful. For one thing, the families put a lot of money into the headstone and that money comes often from taxpayers to replace/repair the broken headstones. And also, the act of it seems just seems disrespectful, that kids should get their kicks out of tarnishing the memories of the dead.

I have a healthy respect for the dead and I feel that there should be graves. We should remember those that came before us.

 

There's nothing wrong with going into graveyards and exploring the tombstones...unless I am crazy too. I lived right along side a graveyard. I don't get why people smash tombstones and it is a horrible thing to do. Then again, I don't get why people destroy other people's things, period. The graveyard though is a peaceful place and it is cool to see how long ago people in the area lived and also what remarks people left about them. I just think the 'bodies' themselves aren't a necessity to being there, but some marker is a good thing.

 

I think people should start switching to cremation. It's probably less expensive, and the grave (if it's buried) would be smaller.