Thursday, October 05, 2006

Smart Funerals And The Not-So-Smart Ones

Why do people care what happens to their bodies after their death?! For example, Pharaohs in ancient Egypt created the Pyramids and stuffed them with jewelery and luxurious food... But, ancient Egyptians had some kind of excuse as -according to their beliefs- the bodies of the dead are revived in the after life and thus need food and luxury! What about our current societies?! Are we carrying on the tradition of ancient Egypt?! Most current religious systems admit that we don't live in the after life -if at all existed- in our earthly bodies....

Why do some people pay thousands of dollars on a quality coffin?! Why do we bury the dead in expensive suits?! Are people still confused as to where dead bodies are going?!

Personally, I think a perfect funerals goes like this: Put the corpse in a big black plastic bag, and throw the bag in the nearest dump - and maybe you will want to burn that corpse for hygienic purposes! And after some thought, I might strictly forbid anything more than that in my Will... But hey, a Will is a stupid concept as well, so lets forget about that too! Side-note: If any of my friends is listening: Don't expect a more sophisticated funeral if for some mysterious reason you die and It happens that I am the one taking care of the body!! [Big smile to all my friends]

Finally, on a side-topic, whats the fuss about people being wary of donating their body organs after death?! Why would anyone hold on to his liver\heart\kidneys\..etc when in few months his whole body would be dust and mud?! (actually, its decayed by fungus and other bacteria to be specific)... This is another issue worth considering on the whole fuss people make over the dead bodies of dead people!! I mean, if you are Michel Jackson and want your body frozen for the experiments of the future, one can understand... But if your body is going to the grave not the refrigerator, I really see no use of disallowing organ donations!!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Hi Zaid,

I wanted to comment on this long ago but I didn’t have time to put my thoughts together so sorry if this came late …

The way I see it; people care much about their funerals and their deaths’ aftermath because they care about their sons, relatives, family … etc who happen to continue living afterwards. Afterall, the death of an individual forms a part (a memory to say the least) of the life of people around him/her, doesn’t it? If you die, people you care about will continue to live; wouldn’t you want them to be well?

If I were the only person in the world I wouldn’t (for sure) think for one second of my death arrangements; I simply wouldn’t care. But since am not, I do care about how my friends, relatives, and all my loved ones would feel after my death. Although it wouldn’t make a difference for me, but me being buried properly will sure make them feel better than being dumped in garbage!

However, I do agree that buying expensive coffins and stuff is pointless. My argument goes as far as a respectable ceremony and a coffin, nothing more.

And one more thing; if I happen to lay my hands on your dead body one day, you’ll really wish you asked to be dumped in garbage [Buhahahah!].