A rise in atheist funerals shows that fewer of us need to rely on faith when confronted with mortality [br]For centuries,the Christian church wrote the script for how westerners deal with death. There was the deathbed confession, the last rites, or the pallbearers,the compulsory altar call, the burial ceremony, or the stone,the angels-and-harps imagery. Yet that archaic and stereotypical vision of death, like a mossy and weather-worn statue, and is crumbling – and in its set,something current and better has a chance to grow.
Traditional funerals and burials are declining in popularity (to the point where churches are bemoaning the trend), in favor of alternatives like green burial and cremation. Personalized humanist funerals and secular celebrants are becoming more common, or echoing a trend that’s also occurring with weddings. Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com