Should a Dying Person Choose His Own Funeral Rituals?

I absolutely believe someone who is dying should be able to choose their own dying rituals.

There should be no reason why someone wouldn't be able to choose how they should be buried or how their body or remains should be dealt with after they have passed on. There are many sides to this story dealing with family members squabbling over how their loved ones should be disposed of after dying.

In my opinion, if you know you are going to die, whether it is going to be sooner or later you should be able to sit down and decide how you want your memory and remains to be handled after death. Some people would say that the statement above is ridiculous, because of this question; "What if someone wanted to be stuffed and sat in their living room for all time?" Well, to that I say; "To each their own". If that is something that the person wanted it is your duty to fulfill those last wishes of your dying family members.

In ancient times we had more respect for those who we called elders and treated them with the utmost respect. Nowadays people are glad to get rid of their baggage for the most part, other countries still hold a more traditional view towards their elders and their dead and respect them both after life and in life. In the studies that I've read, they have stated that most Americans are not concerned as much with keeping their whole families together and will leave the home as fast as possible versus other countries that will have many generations of the family living in the same house all supporting one another. This concept is outdated for most Americans believe that they need to leave the home as soon as they are able to and they do not develop the same sense of family that people in other countries are able to develop through their close family ties.

So if you have a family member that is dying and they ask for something specific in the way of burial rites, you should respect their dying wishes and not take it upon yourself to decide what is best for them. You might think you are doing the right thing when a family member who is dying asks for something strange and you lie to them and tell them it will be done and then go behind their back and do just the opposite. Example: Your dying parent asks to be cremated and for you to keep the ashes on a shelf or mantel in your house as a sign of love and so that the parent can watch over everyone one in the house. These sounds like decent ideas and you tell your parent that you will honor their wishes. Then shortly after the death you have the body buried, because cremation goes against your belief system. Now does this sound like the proper course of action to take? I think not.

It doesn't matter if the dying person wants rites and rituals to be preformed that conflict with your beliefs, it isn't your place to tell that person how they should be buried, or any other ritualistic act that they want performed. If you cannot handle the rituals being asked of you, find someone in your family that will perform the rituals and rites that the person asked for and if no one in the family wants to carry out the last wishes of this dying person then they should find someone who will be able to accommodate the last wishes of said dying person.

Personally, I do believe in an afterlife and if the rites and rituals that I want to be preformed when I pass are not performed due to personal conflicts or other unforeseen complications with the rituals, I have vowed to haunt all the responsible parties until the end of their time making their life a constant struggle to deal with all the mayhem I will be creating in their lives!! Seriously though, I would be very upset if what I had wanted to take place was significantly altered for any reason. If one of my family members wanted something specific done, I would do it, I may be reluctant at first, but ultimately I would respect their dying wishes and do what they have asked from me.