About Religions: What Religions Do Not Believe in Cremation

Religion is a personal matter and is often very central to someone’s life. When someone has passed away, it can be difficult for people who are of different religions to work together when deciding what should be done with the deceased.

Cremations happen almost every day. However, this doesn’t mean that many people are not stopping to think about religion and beliefs before they choose cremation. For many, the choice between burial and cremation is a religious one, as some religions accept cremation, while others do not.

If you are part of a religious group that does not believe in cremation in Garyville, LA, you need to know that there are many other religions out there. If your religion doesn’t support cremation, you can still honor the wishes of your loved one’s final disposition in a way that doesn’t interfere with your religion.

Religions And Their Views About Cremation

By knowing the religions which don’t support cremation, you can gain more knowledge about what your religion believes.

1.) Judaism

Religion is at the root of every decision that we make. It shows in what we eat, what we wear, where we live, and the way in which we conduct our lives. It will always be a part of your life. Judaism is one of many religions throughout the world which do not believe in cremation. It’s because their religion does not support this form of disposal.

The Jewish faith does not allow cremations, as per scripture in the Torah. However, some more modern Jewish families do choose cremation if it coincides with their personal beliefs.

2.) Hinduism

Hinduism has also been known to oppose cremation. After a person dies, the body is taken to be cleansed at the Ganges River and then given a funeral service by family members in preparation for cremation. However, this form of burial is not mandatory; it’s simply an option many Hindu families choose when their loved one passes away.

The Hindu religion pretty much mandates cremation. Hindus believe that fire is a purifying agent that can help release the deceased’s spirit from its physical body so it can move on to a spiritual dimension. Hinduism also calls for a memorial service after the cremation to keep memories of the deceased alive.

3.) Islam

Muslims bury their dead, not cremate them. They believe that the body is sacred and once it is damaged, it cannot be brought back to life. Only on rare occasions will Muslims allow a deceased person to be cremated.

Some Muslims actually do cremate their family members for reasons other than health problems; however, they feel very guilty about doing so because Islam does not encourage nor condemn cremation.

4.) Buddhism

Buddhists do not practice cremation, and it is not an option for the deceased. Instead, Buddhists always bury the dead in a casket or urn. When the person dies, they are buried to help purify them so that their soul can live on peacefully. There are also some Buddhist cultures that will bury the body with gold and other precious materials as well as food for him/her to use in his next life.

5.) Catholicism

The Roman Catholic Church began cremation in 1963. Since then, it has been encouraged by the church to ensure faster and more efficient processing of the deceased’s remains through cremation rather than other traditional means like burial or entombment. When a person is buried, there could be a long delay until they can be buried because the ground must thaw if it is wintertime. Cremation on the other hand provides an instant burial for Catholics: their ashes are given back to them immediately after being processed.

6.) Zoroastrianism

The religion Zoroastrianism was founded by a man named Zarathustra (also known as Zoroaster). Religion has influenced modern-day Judaism, Christianity, and Islam in several ways.

7.) Atheism

Atheists do not believe in God or an afterlife. They believe that their lives are finite and when they die, they will cease to exist. Because of this belief, many atheists choose to be cremated after death because there is no real reason not to be. For some atheists, the ashes of the deceased are spread or buried alone but for others, they can be kept together with other family members. Many atheist activists advocate for continuing the process of cremation even if the dead person had believed otherwise while he/she was alive.

8.) Confucianism

Confucianism does not have a particular belief in the afterlife, although those who do believe in afterlives tend to prefer burials over cremation.

9.) Jainism

The Jain religion is one of the oldest religions in the world, and its faithful have shunned cremation for centuries. The practice of Jinists is to bury their dead because they believe that fire destroys the body completely and so it takes away from this process. This belief however does not stop them from scattering ashes into the sea or other bodies of water.

10.) Christianity

The Eastern Orthodox Church – and the Protestant denominations which split from the Roman Catholic tradition – do not permit cremation. The Catechism of the Catholic Church states that “the Church permits cremation, provided that it does not demonstrate a denial of faith in the resurrection of the body.”

Cremation is fully accepted in Christianity. There are even verses in the Bible that seem to encourage the practice. Take, for example, Genesis 3:19, “By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground since from it you were taken. All in all, when it comes to Christianity and burial, it really depends on what the individual prefers.

11.) Anglican Church

When a person passes away, the Anglican Church sees the body as an empty shell. They believe that it is not the body itself that will enter heaven but rather their soul. As such, they don’t have a specific preference for funeral services or burial of corpses; it just depends on what the family wishes to do. However, there are some cemeteries around the world that still do bury cremated remains within grave plots.

12.) Spiritism

The Spiritism religion is all about living for the moment and enjoying life as it comes. They believe we are just photons of energy passing through, so they do not feel that there is any need to preserve a person’s physical form. So in essence, cremation does not really enter into their way of thinking.

Spiritism, or Reincarnation, is a kind of belief system that promotes the idea that all humans carry immortal spirits that will go to another host after death. Cremation is also widely accepted in Spiritism. However, believers do require a certain period of time between death and cremation as they believe that the spirit can sometimes remain with the body for a time after death.

Burial markers are important in the practice of many religions. For instance, Hindus use them to indicate births and deaths according their social status while Buddhists believe they should be buried with their departed so that gods can protect them on earth or guide those who carry out soul-burying ceremonies for followers .

Millet Guidry Funeral Home is here to help you decide in choosing the best service for a loved one who passed away. We have experience working with families from different religions and backgrounds. Please feel free to stop by and visit us.  Give us a call for more information what we can do for you in your time of loss and remembrance.