# Funerals: utter waste of time, or valid ritual? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 13, 2010, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funerals-utter-waste-of-time-or-valid-ritual/550184 "2010-08-13T18:38:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2010, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funerals-utter-waste-of-time-or-valid-ritual/550184/41 "2010-08-14T17:30:44Z")
I don’t want a religious funeral service. I want to be cremated and either thrown into the wind or stuck in my family’s burial plot. Hey, what do I care - I’ll be dead. And did I say I don’t want a religious funeral service? I want a good, old fashioned wake. Get all my friends together, have a big feed, tell jokes at my expense and remember me fondly, that’s all I ask. ---
**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2010, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funerals-utter-waste-of-time-or-valid-ritual/550184/42 "2010-08-14T22:54:13Z")
Where’s the sign-up sheet for these wakes? ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2010, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funerals-utter-waste-of-time-or-valid-ritual/550184/43 "2010-08-15T04:58:46Z")
> [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](#): > > So\*\* Skald\*\*, have you made arrangements for your requiem Dopefest? That would be interesting, as all these pallid strangers appear in your town and raise their glasses to this ‘Skald’ character. I’ve been to a doper funeral. It was cathartic. > [@dangermom](#): > > I’d go to a funeral of someone I knew, sure. It’s an important ritual of love, respect, and grief IMO. > > Funeral services in my church are generally pretty low-key and not terribly fancy, so I’d go with that. When it comes to burial I’d prefer to be wrapped in a shroud and buried in one of those foresty places–I don’t really approve of the whole embalming/fancy coffin/concrete bunker in graveyard thing. Wrapped in cloth and buried under a tree is what I’ve long said is what I want, if there is any possible way to do it legally. After donating all my organs, of course. ---
**Author:** ![Kaio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c68b51/32.png) [@Kaio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaio)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2010, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funerals-utter-waste-of-time-or-valid-ritual/550184/44 "2010-08-15T05:25:33Z")
I’m of two minds on this, really. One, it’s a valid ritual and a psychological boon to speed along the grieving/healing process. Closure, memorializing someone’s life, and support from family/community are all pretty important to the grieving process. Two, the way that most funerals are done (the Christian ones anyway, i.e. the ones I’ve been to) I find creepy as all hell. I don’t want to look at the cold, pickled body of my relative in a big steel box, thanks. So, SO morbid. I’d like to remember them as they were when alive and vital. I’d much prefer if we’d get over this viewing-of-the-body thing, and just held a nice, tasteful memorial. Hell, throw a party – I’m a fan of Irish wakes. 🙂 Just don’t invite the deceased. Go ahead and bury him first. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2010, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funerals-utter-waste-of-time-or-valid-ritual/550184/45 "2010-08-15T13:52:22Z")
> [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](#): > > So\*\* Skald\*\*, have you made arrangements for your requiem Dopefest? That would be interesting, as all these pallid strangers appear in your town and raise their glasses to this ‘Skald’ character. Well, I’ll be dead. My little sister lurks here sometimes so she might tell y’all, but I doubt it. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2010, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funerals-utter-waste-of-time-or-valid-ritual/550184/46 "2010-08-15T15:05:09Z")
I want a great big party, for which I will set aside money. Open bar and all. The only thing that would bother me about my own funeral would be people standing around and looking dour. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funerals-utter-waste-of-time-or-valid-ritual/550184.md?page=2)