Burial or cremation?

Well lately, my friend's granny passed on... while she was at the funerary inside the casket, his pops wanted to cremate her now lifeless body but his gramps wanted the standard coffin-n-burial... After i overheard that discussion, i went home... never did attend the funerary services though... Well guys, i ask you:

WHICH WOULD YOU AGREE/PREFER ON MORE?

cremation? or burial?

though there are some who do oppose the two like:

cremation was said to send the body along with the soul to the afterlife so thats why they should remove their mortal shells on earth (source from a book i read but forgot the title) and for others so that their departed family member would still be with them even after they passed on.... but also there are others who oppose because "the body must return to the ground" and NOT in a jar... also it was said that it was desecrating the body....

burial is now the standard way of giving respect to those that have passed on AND said to be more humane...
and again, there are others who do not like the burial since, for the paranoid and the occult believing poeple, they think that the bodies would be reanimated by some way.... (sorry but i didnt find anymore con reasons for burial)

well, for you guys, which is it?

Cremation. I don't want to just simply rot away...

Cremation, since it takes less space. No spiritual or moral reason, just thinking that the space can be used for better purposes.

Cremation, dont need some grave robbers stealin my bones!

So... cremation.

My grandpa talked to me about this once, since he's Buddhist he believes in cremation. It really isn't something I've decided upon yet. On one hand if you're cremated, your remains can be spread wherever you please.

My mom wants to be cremated and put into into a reef ball where she can then be placed in the ocean and help rebuild the coral reefs. (She's a Jimmy Buffet Parrot Head, so it's not surprising).

There's something romantic about the idea of being buried next to your lover in a graveyard. It was something I used to admire when I'd go to a cemetery of old lovers laying side by side. I'm too attached to my body to be able to say 'yea, sure I want to be cremated' when there won't be anything but ashes of me left.

It's really undecided. Both have positive and negative sides, and I think I'll spend a bit more time thinking about it.

I want to be jettisoned into space.

Honestly, I'd donate my body to science, if they'd accept it. Corpses are necessary when teaching medicine. Of course, if any of my family is alive, they'd oppose it, so I'm not really expecting it to happen. Plus, I'm sure schools get plenty of cadavers by way of the homeless and other unidentified/unwanted corpses.

Between burial and cremation, I don't think one is better at respecting the dead. It depends on what the person wanted. Going against the deceased's wishes is what would really be disrespectful.

Personally, I'd want to be cremated and scattered somewhere. I don't want to take up space in the ground (it's not like there's an unlimited amount of space, after all), and I don't want to sit in an urn on someone's mantle. Just pointless. No spiritual or emotional reason - just simple pragmatism.

coffin, since then people would have more to look at, at the service, and they would have to carry me :)

Also the OP states that it can be more humane... makes absolutely no sense in any way, but I will take it as a reason :P

well i got it from local sources AND teh church....

it is said to be humane because
- at least the body is not desecrated or any shit will happen to it once its thar

- the body will still be there and for all to mourn and pay their respects to....
some no want to see their loved ones become some dirt inside the urn...

yes.. right until the cat knocks me down and I end up in the garbage :(

but good reason though :D

I guess I want to be buried. Like Ziggy said: it's a good thing when you are buried next to your husband or wife to show the world that you lived as a couple till the very end. I don't believe in any spiritual things related to this, but the 'from the ground to back in the ground' thing sounds pretty logical.

Burial. I want people to be able to visit my tombstone. I rather not be in a vase somewhere in my kids house.

Personally, neither would bother me in the slightest. I doubt I'll be worrying about respect when I'm dead; they can parade me through town if they like. Whichever option will be the cheapest for my relatives.

If I had to put a spiritual spin on it, I like the Jewish ideas; no illusions (e.g. the make-up and fancy clothes, euphemisms - 'gone to Heaven'), community help with the burial process, reasonable periods of grief and reflection, and a quick burial in a plain wood coffin.

Cremation. You get to preserve your ashes in some special box.

Both are fine for me, but I'm leaning more towards cremation.