But still, Walker makes mention of the fact that control of the "various stages of disposing of a human corpse" has been (and is in some respects today) a tug-of-war between businessmen, clergy, and local health officials.
Annotation for Three Ways to Arrange a Funeral
Walker uses nearly 200 references (books, journal articles) in his bibliography, and so his is an article that spans centuries in its research on death and the way societies have responded to death. He also points out that as time has gone by, the usefulness of the Church as a place where the dead are consecrated has been usurped in many instances by the modern funeral parlor.
Abstract for Cremation: Desecration, Purification, or Convenience?
Michael C. Kearl points out that Americans "are increasingly likely" to turn to cremation as time goes on; and in fact, "more than 27%" of all the people who passed away in 2001 were cremated. That fact stands out as dramatic when one considers that only 6.2% of Americans were cremated in 1974.
Kearl also mentions that there is a growing repugnance among American at having funeral parlors "pump the remains of loved ones with formaldehyde-like preservatives," and hence, cremation is an increasingly attractive alternative...
Of the 46% who recently indicated in a poll that they would prefer to be cremated, "nearly six in ten" said scattering the ashes was appealing. But can a funeral parlor fool people into thinking they are getting their loved one's ashes - when they are not? Yes, but to guard against that kind of corruption, there are not "witness rooms" where family members can see their loved ones being put into the crematorium, and hence, be assured the ashes are the right ones.
Works Cited
Lynch, Thomas. (2004). Funerals-R-Us: From Funeral Home to Mega-Industry. Generations.
American Society on Aging. Summer 2004. 11-14.
Kearl, Michael C. (2004). Cremation: Desecration, Purification, or Convenience? Generations.
American Society on Aging. Summer 2004. 15-20.
Walter, Tony. (2005). Three ways to arrange a funeral: Mortuary variation in the Modern west.
Mortality, 10(3), 173-192.
