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Imagine being at your brother’s funeral and using the opportunity to prank a little kid. What a legend
(lemmy.dbzer0.com)
this post was submitted on 02 Nov 2024
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why are open casket funerals even a thing?
Why do we hide from death so much?
a closed casket funeral isn't hiding from death... it's respecting the final rest of a loved one instead of pumping them full of formaldehyde, doing shittons of makeup, and pinning their jaw shut so they don't look like a corpse. the final face one makes in death is a grotesque one, i've seen it firsthand. a funeral is a peaceful send-off, not a peep show.
I've lost three grandparents, and here, our approach to death is different from the West. We don't prepare the bodies extensively, just keep them cool. For the funeral, they're wrapped in a white cloth, laid on a bed at home where 'guests' pay their respects. Then we carry them to the grave, where we place them directly into the earth, without a casket. Just the white cloth. I've been 6 feet deep in my grandparents grave putting down their bodies, was the last person to see their eyes.
Seeing the dead isn’t disrespectful; it acknowledges mortality without layers of abstraction. Cultures vary widely in their views on death, and that’s okay. But I find value in an approach that doesn’t hide death behind closed doors, whether in slaughterhouses, funeral homes, or distant graveyards.
There's nothing to hide. Being able to see the dead doesn't make it less respectful. Don't see death with a strict sense of morality. Every culture has very different views on death. And even the same cultures over time vary in beliefs.
I have far too many opinions on this lol and I'll spare you any more of my rambling.
see, i'm completely fine with that. that sounds very familial and respectful to me.
what i don't like is this thing they seem to like in anglophone countries where the body is prepped for viewing. that weirds me the hell out.
It isn't an either/or proposition. There's multiple ways to both have a viewing and keep a body from getting deep into decomposition, and there's really no issues with the face automatically becoming grotesque. It really isn't an every time thing. It isn't even a majority of the time, when the body is kept cool enough. Pinning isn't the only option for keeping a mouth closed either.
People have done in home wakes way longer than the funerary industry has existed. There's plenty of options available.
Make even up afterlife and reincarnation, to not fear you being gone as much.
Btw, Terror Management Theory has some valid points, imo.