How Different Religions Pay Their Final Respects Sharron Smith, Missy Palmer, and Joseph Goncalves

United States Protestants Most people in the United States Identify as Protestants so most funerals follow a similar form. Family and friends gather at a funeral home to console one another and pay Last Respects. The next day a Minister conducts funeral vice at the church; typically their service includes prayers, eulogy, and readings from the bible. in 85% of cases body is buried after a short ceremony. Otherwise the body is cremated or donated to a medical school. How survivors dispose of the body is determined by the religious faith you practice during your life because funeral customs reflect beliefs.

Out of the Ashes The Parsis’ millions of Hindu neighbors choose cremations as a part of burial practice. Hindus believe that as long as the physical body exists, the essence of the person will remain nearby. Cremation allows the essence or soul of the person to continue its journey into another incarnation. Hindus wash the body of the deceased and clothe in a shroud decorated with flowers. Three days later someone collects and temporarily buries the ashes. On the 10th day after cremation, relatives deposit the ashes in the ganges or another sacred river. The funeral ceremony, called the Shraddha, is then held within 31 days of the cremation. Usually, the deceased son recites the prayers and the invocation of ancestors; that is why every Hindu wants at least one son.

Other Religions Muslim-Body is ceremonially washed, clothed in three pieces of white cloth and placed in a wooden coffin. Baha’I faith- forbids cremation and embalming and requires the body not be transported more than an hours journey from the place of death. Judaism- Hints at belief of after life. Orthodox Judaism prescribes the most detailed funeral rites of any religion. Jewish- Funeral service includes a reading of praters, a eulogy, and recitation of the Kaddish prayer.

Dearly Beloved Christianity , the worlds largest religion, carries over Judaism’s respect for the body and firmly acknowledges resurrection, judgment, and eternal reward or punishment. Some Christian beliefs permeate the liturgy of a catholic funeral Nowadays , those attending a catholic wake may still say the rosary, but often there is a scripture service instead. The two religions have a lot of similarities

Sacred Remains The Catholic Church raises no objections to embalming, flowers, or an open casket at a wake For Roman Catholics, the mass is the principal celebration of the Christian funeral; and mourners are invited to receive the Eucharist The Catholic ritual employs candles, holy water, and incense but does not allow non- Christians symbols such as national flags or lodge emblems, to the rest on or near the coffin during the funeral