Two years ago my mother died. She had a short battle with cancer and spent several weeks in the Rowan’s Hospice before dying. In addition to providing excellent medical care in her last weeks they also offered emotional and spiritual support that helped her to come to terms with her impending death. She developed a friendship with the minister at the hospice and they discussed the service that she wanted for her funeral. As an atheist and as someone who appreciated nature she wanted a humanist ceremony and a natural burial.
By her own account the minister was a friendly and thoughtful man and she wanted him to perform the funeral service. Although he was a religious man he was perfectly content to perform a humanist service as per her wishes. Unfortunately, after my mother’s death, it turned out that he was not available on the day of the funeral and I was forced to choose another to take his place. We discussed the details with the replacement minister and agreed on the type of service that we wanted.
I don’t know if you’ve ever arranged a funeral for a family member but I can recommend avoiding it, if at all possible. There is so much to do for so simple a process as disposing of some remains that it leaves one exhausted. You have probate and other financial issues to arrange, the funeral itself, legalities to follow in registering the death, friends and family to notify and comfort and a whole plethora of other things. All of which take your mind off the process of grieving. The funeral itself was my first opportunity in nearly a week to let someone else take the lead.
Anyway, that’s the background. On the day of the funeral the minister turned up in full religious regalia and proceeded to give a very religious service with lots of references to her “being in a better place” and it being “God’s will” that my mother had died.
This left me very angry. A funeral is an event that is loaded with emotion, it is an opportunity for friends and family to close a chapter and to bid farewell. It is a ritual like many others. I understand that many people find comfort in religion but it’s just an illusion to me, and not a welcome one. What most angers me about it is the seeming disregard for the family’s wishes and beliefs, not to mention the deceased. What benefit to the faith could such actions lead to?
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Again, if this doesn’t embed you can view it in it’s YouTube glory over there.
While trying to find a joke about atheists and books I stumbled onto Godchecker.com where I found this little gem:
ST JOHN: The Patron Saint of Book Sellers and Painters
The ‘Disciple that Jesus loved’, and the only Apostle present at the Crucifixion.
He had lasting loyalty and survived being boiled in oil and drinking poison. His message was ‘Love one another. If you would all do that it would be enough’. If only it was that simple.
The Gospel of St John is a radically different Gospel to the other three. As a first-hand witness he injected many curious little snippets not found elsewhere, and displays a fascinating mystical twist to events.
Later he upped the stakes in his sequel ‘Revelation’, which took mysticism to new and dizzying heights of surrealist symbolism. Taken literally, it appears that Heaven is a cross between Alice In Wonderland, Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds and a lecture on advanced mathematics.
He is alleged to have lived for 98 years trying to spread his message of love and made his way to Heaven in a burst of blinding light.
I do enjoy the irreverent humour of Godchecker but I understand that it’s not everyone’s cup of tea.
Other news in bullet points:
Have a good week everyone.
Posted in A Cacophony of Posts, Jason | 2 Comments »