Cremation vs. Burial: A Worldview Case Study

I heard a commercial on the radio this morning for The Cremation Society. It said something like only 4% chose cremation back in 1960, increasing slightly to about 8% in 1980. Then they proudly announced that today over 50% are choosing cremation over traditional burial!

So, what? What’s the big deal? Does it matter one way or another? Isn’t it just a matter of personal preference? 

Well, I think there is a deep, significant reason underlying this shift from traditional burial to cremation.  This is a perfect case study in the significance of worldview, and our culture’s continuing slide away from the Bible as our value-shaping story, and our culture’s embrace of a different controlling story (worldview) now shaping our values and decisions.

Most people I run into have never considered this a topic of spiritual reflection or even religious devotion.  It’s more of a matter of practical necessity and economic frugality. What’s the cheapest and most convenient way of handling our loved one’s body? More on this below.

Our lack of deeper reflection on this is strange, since this decision involves discussion about such ultimate matters — eternity, life and death, the sacredness of the body, memorializing a loved one, etc. Of all the decisions we face in life, you would think that our funeral preparations and wishes would be somewhere on the list — well above this week’s laundry or bills we need to pay. Certainly, one factor is that our culture is notoriously in denial about the reality of death, and most of us would rather not spend anytime thinking about it.

This was not so with our ancient ancestors in the Hebrew and Christian tradition.