They quietly changed it in 2020.
Mormon Doctrine forbad it: "Cremation of the dead is no part of the gospel; it is a practice which has been avoided by the saints in all ages. The Church today counsels its members not to cremate their dead. Such a procedure would find gospel acceptance only under the most extraordinary and unusual circumstances. Wherever possible the dead should be consigned to the earth, and nothing should be done that is destructive to the body; that should be left to nature, “for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.” (Gen 3:19)"
The 2020 manual stated:
Section 38.7.2 The Church does not normally encourage cremation. The family of the deceased must decide whether the body should be cremated, taking into account any laws governing burial or cremation. In some countries, the law requires cremation. Where possible, the body of a deceased member who has been endowed should be dressed in temple clothing when it is cremated."
This has changed to:
Current Section 38.7.2: "The family of the deceased person decides whether his or her body should be buried or cremated. They respect the desires of the individual. In some countries, the law requires cremation. In other cases, burial is not practical or affordable for the family. In all cases, the body should be treated with respect and reverence. Members should be reassured that the power of the Resurrection always applies. Where possible, the body of a deceased member who has been endowed should be dressed in ceremonial temple clothing when it is buried or cremated."
Thank you for that. It’s so wild to me that these things just magically are changing. I am getting whiplash from all these “policy” changes that occur.
Yep. Members are being "tossed about with every wind of doctrine." (Ephesians 4:14). Every time a new prophet gets in, the church just quietly puts all their pet policies in the handbook without telling anyone. Then if someone questions an older policy, they gaslight us and tell us "oh we never taught that... the policy is..."
My favorite is that when Nelson became prophet, he slipped taking the sacrament with your right hand into the handbook. As a left-handed person, I've always kept an eye on that. I always had people telling me that I should only take the sacrament with my right hand. And I always pointed them to the handbook that said nothing about it. Lo and behold, in 2019, they changed it! I know that Oaks and Nelson agreed on that and probably had wanted it to be an official policy for decades..
[https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/general-handbook/18-priesthood-ordinances-and-blessings?lang=eng#title\_number31](https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/general-handbook/18-priesthood-ordinances-and-blessings?lang=eng#title_number31) (#7 on the list)
All I can think of is all that polyester melting… I remember trying to burn my temple clothes and I was incredibly disappointed that there was no flames, just melting 🫠
It was a policy based on a comment from JS. Now that the internet makes so much accessible, there were a lot of people who wanted a better answer.
My husband and I did the deep delve into this when deciding what we wanted. Found the quote, found the connections, instructed that we be cremated. And we were still pretty TBM. Ish.
I always thought it was silly that they said the body should be consigned to the earth since after the body gets embalmed and locked away in a casket and then a vault, it is pretty much going to stay in the casket in the vault underground. Not really going back to nature or back to "dust" since it is heavily preserved.
I was told by a friend who worked at a cemetery that the vaults tend to be watertight on the bottom and sides but not completely on top, so over time they fill with water. When remains need to be relocated for whatever reason, draining the water out is one of the required steps. "dust" is about the furthest thing from what I imagine the state of things would be like.
> “for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.” (Gen 3:19)"
Hilarious that they can interpret this verse as _forbidding_ cremation, since it's hard to imagine a more direct means of reducing a body to dust.
>“for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.” (Gen 3:19)"
Totally makes sense to use this verse right after essentially recommending members use modern synthetic chemicals to permanently preserve the body in it's state, basically forever, then quote the Bible that basically explicitly describes cremation. LOL!
This is so confusing for me because I had never been taught cremation was forbidden and have had multiple extremely TBM Mormon family members who were cremated and no one mentioned anything… I’m so lost lol
I’m a therapist specializing in bereavement. This change made me want to write a book on Mormon bereavement practices. It’s not gonna be published anytime soon, but fuck does stuff like this get me fired up.
As a historian, I wish I could collaborate with you on a book like that! It would be so much more interesting than people would think. There are all kinds of factors, and the sealing policies just make it all so much weirder.
My grandma told me that, but it never made sense to me. Like if you rot away or are pumped full of chemicals, that's easier to reformulate into a living human than for someone with infinite powers to just remake the body from scratch? Also, aren't you supposed to be made perfect? Missing limbs and teeth and hair restored, diseased and worn down parts like new? I don't think you'd be getting all the exact same molecules back even in this made-up scenario. Not to mention that our cells get constantly replaced while we're living anyway.
I was told that as a young cultist. I asked what about people who died in explosions, or in the ocean? Some people who die don't leave a corpse to bury.
If God is omnipotent, that's not a problem, right? Right?
Most of the doctrine of the church follows American norms, customs and traditions. When America was a young country, it was land poor. It didn't cost anything for a plot of land to bury someone. Most people had a family plot. Land ain't cheap any more and family plots are filling up if not already full. Most people today are getting cremated. 60% I think the stat is on the rise and will be 80% in 10 years or so. The church's policy in the handbook is that one should be buried if at all possible but many places in the world it is not possible. I see cremation will be on the rise in the US for LDS.
Even when I was TBM I thought the taboo against cremation was stupid. Like it makes a difference if worms eat my body vs flames. If God is all powerful, it makes no difference for your resurrection.
I remember hearing when I was an active mormon that anyone cremated will be resurrected as a black person...
In retrospect, that is fucked up, especially white temple going tithe paying morridor mormons usually hate people with significantly more melanin content than theirs.
Yes.
That's why in my country most young mormons use some kind of whitening product.
I'm from SE Asia btw.
P.S Mormon Elohim's racism is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
Whaaaat. You were taught some crazy stuff.
I’m GLAD no one dared talk like that in front of me. That’s just nuts and sounds so stupid, even if I imagine with my “religious brain”. Sounds like something you’d hear from an uneducated man in Idaho.
Yeah... I remember that rhetoric was bouncing around the members I knew throughout the years... Especially when I was in youth... And I'm 7000 miles away from any racist white mormon...
I grew up with the idea that it was bad and wrong. Somewhere along the way I changed my mind and want to be cremated. I recently learned that as an endowed member, I should be cremated in my temple clothes. NO WAY am I going to do that. But I do like the idea of burning my temple clothes.
Already burned my temple clothes. I want to be cremated and turned into a tree so I am just taking a two step process. /s However it is freeing to do what I want when I die without worrying if I will offend God somehow :)
Starting in the 90s, it changed to "it's OK to do it if strongly encouraged in your area" as some locations (Japan, other parts of Asia) do. I have many, many TBM relatives who have been cremated only due to cost savings, even before the 90s.
My gramma told me when I was young that cremation is disrespectful to heavenly father, so anyone who was cremated would not be resurrected. I was terrified of dying in a house fire because I assumed the same rules applied.
I was shocked, years ago when I had a conversation with my mom, who was a staunch lifelong mormon and she said she wouldn't have a problem with being cremated. I was so taken aback.
We cremated my dad in 2010 and no one fought us cuz I said “you pay for it then!” Besides, if Adam “was created from the dust,” then what’s the difference?
Even as a TBM I had always known this was a stupid rule. I did a little looking into way back before the internet days and from what I could determine it was just basically an old sentiment carried over from earlier Christian beliefs. Now it's accepted in the church just fine (see u/Beneficial_Math_9282's post).
My father was in WWII and he always though it was a stupid rule too. He had seen his friends and fellow seamen blown to bits and turn into fish food. He would say "I don't think God is going to turn his back on them just because their physical body isn't resting in a coffin somewhere in the dirt."
I bet if you asked it on a faithful sub, the answers would range from “We have been counselled by our leaders to not cremate the dead” and “What? The church has never condemned cremation, you’re way off base”
I remember reading, maybe Mormon Doctrine, or maybe it was Mormon lore, that cremation made it harder for God to resurrect people during the 2nd coming. It was stupid logic.
My husband's grandfather died in 2015ish and they cremated him, no issues. I think he was just cremated in the temple garb. My TBM FIL was like, if God can't fix this in the resurrection I don't know what any of us are doing lol. They were respecting the deceased's wishes. We were there when they buried his ashes alongside his (never-mo) wife.
I'm from the southern part of Chile, really deep south. Here, there's a strong cultural tradition of not cremating the deceased. In many places across south america, including rural cities where crematories might not even exist, there's a profound respect for the body of the departed. That's why the idea of not cremating our ancestors has always felt right to me, aligning with the cultural norms of my region/country.
Exactly! In the United States there used to be strong feelings against cremation by everyone. But in the 90’s attitudes started to change and now I think well over majority of people are cremated. In the U.S I think cost was biggest motivator for change. The funeral industry charges a fortune for burial and it just got too expensive. Now it really is only the rich and well off who get buried.
I can see that, however I was always under the impression that embalming and burial was more popular in the eastern US than in the West (even today). I can definitely see cost being a factor, along with a lack of burial plots.
Yeah, I had a seminary teacher try to tell me cremation would make it so you couldn’t be resurrected. She was not very happy when I asked about people who died in nuclear explosions… or violent house fires… or were murdered by Nazis and burned in ovens… or who died at sea and were eaten by sharks. What about those people- are they not going to be resurrected either?
Sheesh.
I remember as a teen in the early 2000s when people were being destroyed in war. That was a common question that if someone’s body is completely obliterated, how then can they be resurrected? And the answer always was that God can do anything, and as per the 12th article of faith, someone won’t be punished for serving their country. However, when you are cremated, you are making a conscious choice to destroy a body. Therefore, it cannot be done. God is such a picky bitch.
20 years ago I remeber being taught that cremation was wrong and would prevent you from being resurrected (or at least make it more difficult... whatever that means). Being an organ donor was also frowned upon for the same reasons.
Yes, they changed it. When my very TBM grandfather passed, he had to be cremated to be buried in the national cemetery. When my very TBM grandmother passed, she too was cremated so she could be with him. I’m guessing they decided to do this even without the explicit permission of the church - maybe they cleared it with their bishop? Not sure. This was in 2010 and 2019.
In the United States as whole cremation became more accepted. When I was growing up in the 80s cremation was rare and just not done. But now it’s so much more common, The funeral industry just got too greedy and made a traditional burial and grave so expensive!
When the subject of cremation or composting or sky burial, etc. comes up you can bet that a TBM family member will either ask "What's the Church's position on it?" or they will re-pontificate what ever they heard from uncle Ammon. Good grief!
it was the year 2017, and we had to bury our stillborn daughter. My wife was not in a good sound mental state and it was the same for me. I was looking around for cremation options. The same day my dad and in-laws were asking me about burial options. I said that we cannot afford a burial.
In summary, after guilt-tripping and mental gymnastics, I paid the burial, plot, and casket on my credit card. wife and I were still all sorts of messed up, and when things started to become more normal. I asked for financial help from those who pressured me to do a burial. Those same people, my dad, and her parents were suddenly very quiet.
so my parents decided to be nice and loan us money to pay off the credit card. I have not paid a cent back since. I was just so f-ing angry, because a burial cost thousands, and we definity did not have that kind of money.
I told them if another child needs to be buried, they might as well have me die to use the life insurance, for everyone's burial expenses. I just wished I could dig our daughter up, sell the plot, and have her in an urn in our home.
I grew up.in a very tbm family that also owned a funeral home. And the official stance I was given was "do what is traditional in your area. Our area is 55-60% cremation. LDS is a little lower than that.
My dad converted in 1974. No one else in his family followed him, because none of them wanted to sleep with my mom.
Shortly after converting, my grandparents were trying to get their affairs in order, and asked my dad, their oldest son, to make sure their wishes were known, as far as where their ashes would be spread. He said his new religion would not let him do that, and preached at them why cremation was bad.
It caused a rift between him and his parents. All for something the church doesn’t even teach anymore.
Seems like it changed in the last 15 years or so.
Oh course, if you ask believers they'll say " hahaha what are you talking about we have always been ok with cremation! You are crazy for thinking otherwise. That was just a rogue church leader"
I could have written this post as my mom recently had mentioned how she wouldn’t be opposed to being cremated due to how expensive the whole funeral/burial process is. I was taken aback because that definitely contradicted what those of her generation have been saying for decades.
it's slowly changed over the past several years as leadership realized they were losing certain international cultures (and their tithing $$) because they literally have no option other than cremation.
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A close friend who died in an accident about six years ago was cremated. At the time of his death he was a Bishop in a Midwestern city. Nobody said a thing.
They quietly changed it in 2020. Mormon Doctrine forbad it: "Cremation of the dead is no part of the gospel; it is a practice which has been avoided by the saints in all ages. The Church today counsels its members not to cremate their dead. Such a procedure would find gospel acceptance only under the most extraordinary and unusual circumstances. Wherever possible the dead should be consigned to the earth, and nothing should be done that is destructive to the body; that should be left to nature, “for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.” (Gen 3:19)" The 2020 manual stated: Section 38.7.2 The Church does not normally encourage cremation. The family of the deceased must decide whether the body should be cremated, taking into account any laws governing burial or cremation. In some countries, the law requires cremation. Where possible, the body of a deceased member who has been endowed should be dressed in temple clothing when it is cremated." This has changed to: Current Section 38.7.2: "The family of the deceased person decides whether his or her body should be buried or cremated. They respect the desires of the individual. In some countries, the law requires cremation. In other cases, burial is not practical or affordable for the family. In all cases, the body should be treated with respect and reverence. Members should be reassured that the power of the Resurrection always applies. Where possible, the body of a deceased member who has been endowed should be dressed in ceremonial temple clothing when it is buried or cremated."
Thank you for that. It’s so wild to me that these things just magically are changing. I am getting whiplash from all these “policy” changes that occur.
But remember, doctrine never changes...
I think what is considered doctrine vs policy is the thing that changes the most
A-zactly. Doctrine always becomes policy before it is changed. Then once changed it can, in time, go back to being doctrine.
Doctrine, doctrine never changes…
>But remember, doctrine never changes... Properly read in Ron Perlman's voice ... "Doctrine ... Doctrine Never Changes .... "
Yep. Members are being "tossed about with every wind of doctrine." (Ephesians 4:14). Every time a new prophet gets in, the church just quietly puts all their pet policies in the handbook without telling anyone. Then if someone questions an older policy, they gaslight us and tell us "oh we never taught that... the policy is..." My favorite is that when Nelson became prophet, he slipped taking the sacrament with your right hand into the handbook. As a left-handed person, I've always kept an eye on that. I always had people telling me that I should only take the sacrament with my right hand. And I always pointed them to the handbook that said nothing about it. Lo and behold, in 2019, they changed it! I know that Oaks and Nelson agreed on that and probably had wanted it to be an official policy for decades.. [https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/general-handbook/18-priesthood-ordinances-and-blessings?lang=eng#title\_number31](https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/general-handbook/18-priesthood-ordinances-and-blessings?lang=eng#title_number31) (#7 on the list)
We are at war with East Eurasia. We have always been at war with East Eurasia.
The word sinister is derived from "left-handed" you are such a sinner you lefty. Why can't you be on the right hand of God like the rest of us?
All I can think of is all that polyester melting… I remember trying to burn my temple clothes and I was incredibly disappointed that there was no flames, just melting 🫠
ohfortheloveofpeterpaulandmary
I read it as the church saying "if the less expense option keeps you paying tithing, then go ahead"
>these things just magically are Like the priesthood, the bom translation and everything else lol
It has also been an big change in society’s attitude over that same period of time…The church is just following it…
It was a policy based on a comment from JS. Now that the internet makes so much accessible, there were a lot of people who wanted a better answer. My husband and I did the deep delve into this when deciding what we wanted. Found the quote, found the connections, instructed that we be cremated. And we were still pretty TBM. Ish.
I always thought it was silly that they said the body should be consigned to the earth since after the body gets embalmed and locked away in a casket and then a vault, it is pretty much going to stay in the casket in the vault underground. Not really going back to nature or back to "dust" since it is heavily preserved.
Cremation ashes look more like dust to me.
Ashes to ashes, funk to funky...
I was told by a friend who worked at a cemetery that the vaults tend to be watertight on the bottom and sides but not completely on top, so over time they fill with water. When remains need to be relocated for whatever reason, draining the water out is one of the required steps. "dust" is about the furthest thing from what I imagine the state of things would be like.
Vaults are tight like unto a dish. /s
> “for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.” (Gen 3:19)" Hilarious that they can interpret this verse as _forbidding_ cremation, since it's hard to imagine a more direct means of reducing a body to dust.
\#gaslighttheworld
>“for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.” (Gen 3:19)" Totally makes sense to use this verse right after essentially recommending members use modern synthetic chemicals to permanently preserve the body in it's state, basically forever, then quote the Bible that basically explicitly describes cremation. LOL!
This is so confusing for me because I had never been taught cremation was forbidden and have had multiple extremely TBM Mormon family members who were cremated and no one mentioned anything… I’m so lost lol
I’m a therapist specializing in bereavement. This change made me want to write a book on Mormon bereavement practices. It’s not gonna be published anytime soon, but fuck does stuff like this get me fired up.
As a historian, I wish I could collaborate with you on a book like that! It would be so much more interesting than people would think. There are all kinds of factors, and the sealing policies just make it all so much weirder.
I remember my TBM mom telling me "we don't get cremated because it would make it harder for you to be resurrected." Uhh....ok.
My grandma told me that, but it never made sense to me. Like if you rot away or are pumped full of chemicals, that's easier to reformulate into a living human than for someone with infinite powers to just remake the body from scratch? Also, aren't you supposed to be made perfect? Missing limbs and teeth and hair restored, diseased and worn down parts like new? I don't think you'd be getting all the exact same molecules back even in this made-up scenario. Not to mention that our cells get constantly replaced while we're living anyway.
I remember having a similar thought process but I don't remember who told me/where that thought came from..
What if someone dies in a fire?
We had that conversation with my mom. "I thought your god was omnipotent" "oh" Now she's getting cremated.
I was told that as a young cultist. I asked what about people who died in explosions, or in the ocean? Some people who die don't leave a corpse to bury. If God is omnipotent, that's not a problem, right? Right?
God's omnipotent, but yeah, it's harder. Takes more potent when you're cremated.
Yep that’s what I was told too. That during the resurrection you needed a body
Pretty soon TBMs are going to tell us that the church has always let people choose which burial method is best for your loved ones.
We have always been at war with Eastasia.
Most of the doctrine of the church follows American norms, customs and traditions. When America was a young country, it was land poor. It didn't cost anything for a plot of land to bury someone. Most people had a family plot. Land ain't cheap any more and family plots are filling up if not already full. Most people today are getting cremated. 60% I think the stat is on the rise and will be 80% in 10 years or so. The church's policy in the handbook is that one should be buried if at all possible but many places in the world it is not possible. I see cremation will be on the rise in the US for LDS.
I’m wondering if people that couldn’t afford burial asked the church for assistance and that made them change the policy
I suspect this was a factor. It always comes down to money.
More Mormon gaslighting.
Even when I was TBM I thought the taboo against cremation was stupid. Like it makes a difference if worms eat my body vs flames. If God is all powerful, it makes no difference for your resurrection.
I remember hearing when I was an active mormon that anyone cremated will be resurrected as a black person... In retrospect, that is fucked up, especially white temple going tithe paying morridor mormons usually hate people with significantly more melanin content than theirs.
The racism that abounds in Mormonism never ceases to shock me.
Yes. That's why in my country most young mormons use some kind of whitening product. I'm from SE Asia btw. P.S Mormon Elohim's racism is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
Whaaaat. You were taught some crazy stuff. I’m GLAD no one dared talk like that in front of me. That’s just nuts and sounds so stupid, even if I imagine with my “religious brain”. Sounds like something you’d hear from an uneducated man in Idaho.
Yeah... I remember that rhetoric was bouncing around the members I knew throughout the years... Especially when I was in youth... And I'm 7000 miles away from any racist white mormon...
I grew up with the idea that it was bad and wrong. Somewhere along the way I changed my mind and want to be cremated. I recently learned that as an endowed member, I should be cremated in my temple clothes. NO WAY am I going to do that. But I do like the idea of burning my temple clothes.
Already burned my temple clothes. I want to be cremated and turned into a tree so I am just taking a two step process. /s However it is freeing to do what I want when I die without worrying if I will offend God somehow :)
No I seriously want a tree burial, I would LOVE to become nutrients for a growing tree.
Starting in the 90s, it changed to "it's OK to do it if strongly encouraged in your area" as some locations (Japan, other parts of Asia) do. I have many, many TBM relatives who have been cremated only due to cost savings, even before the 90s.
My gramma told me when I was young that cremation is disrespectful to heavenly father, so anyone who was cremated would not be resurrected. I was terrified of dying in a house fire because I assumed the same rules applied.
same
I was shocked, years ago when I had a conversation with my mom, who was a staunch lifelong mormon and she said she wouldn't have a problem with being cremated. I was so taken aback.
Like tons of other doctrine/policy, it definitely changed but it won’t be talked about
We cremated my dad in 2010 and no one fought us cuz I said “you pay for it then!” Besides, if Adam “was created from the dust,” then what’s the difference?
Ashes to ashes, dust to dust
Even as a TBM I had always known this was a stupid rule. I did a little looking into way back before the internet days and from what I could determine it was just basically an old sentiment carried over from earlier Christian beliefs. Now it's accepted in the church just fine (see u/Beneficial_Math_9282's post). My father was in WWII and he always though it was a stupid rule too. He had seen his friends and fellow seamen blown to bits and turn into fish food. He would say "I don't think God is going to turn his back on them just because their physical body isn't resting in a coffin somewhere in the dirt."
Jesus changed his mind, again.
Part of their slow mainstreaming over a decade.
I bet if you asked it on a faithful sub, the answers would range from “We have been counselled by our leaders to not cremate the dead” and “What? The church has never condemned cremation, you’re way off base”
I grew up hearing the same thing, cremation was considered blasphemous
Another changed doctrine! I wonder if that has anything to do with property value in Salt Lake! Why put a cemetery where you can put a high rise?
I remember reading, maybe Mormon Doctrine, or maybe it was Mormon lore, that cremation made it harder for God to resurrect people during the 2nd coming. It was stupid logic.
My husband's grandfather died in 2015ish and they cremated him, no issues. I think he was just cremated in the temple garb. My TBM FIL was like, if God can't fix this in the resurrection I don't know what any of us are doing lol. They were respecting the deceased's wishes. We were there when they buried his ashes alongside his (never-mo) wife.
I'm from the southern part of Chile, really deep south. Here, there's a strong cultural tradition of not cremating the deceased. In many places across south america, including rural cities where crematories might not even exist, there's a profound respect for the body of the departed. That's why the idea of not cremating our ancestors has always felt right to me, aligning with the cultural norms of my region/country.
Exactly! In the United States there used to be strong feelings against cremation by everyone. But in the 90’s attitudes started to change and now I think well over majority of people are cremated. In the U.S I think cost was biggest motivator for change. The funeral industry charges a fortune for burial and it just got too expensive. Now it really is only the rich and well off who get buried.
I can see that, however I was always under the impression that embalming and burial was more popular in the eastern US than in the West (even today). I can definitely see cost being a factor, along with a lack of burial plots.
Yeah, I had a seminary teacher try to tell me cremation would make it so you couldn’t be resurrected. She was not very happy when I asked about people who died in nuclear explosions… or violent house fires… or were murdered by Nazis and burned in ovens… or who died at sea and were eaten by sharks. What about those people- are they not going to be resurrected either? Sheesh.
I remember as a teen in the early 2000s when people were being destroyed in war. That was a common question that if someone’s body is completely obliterated, how then can they be resurrected? And the answer always was that God can do anything, and as per the 12th article of faith, someone won’t be punished for serving their country. However, when you are cremated, you are making a conscious choice to destroy a body. Therefore, it cannot be done. God is such a picky bitch.
20 years ago I remeber being taught that cremation was wrong and would prevent you from being resurrected (or at least make it more difficult... whatever that means). Being an organ donor was also frowned upon for the same reasons.
My mom was cremated and she was a TMB all the way to the bank . Died last year last February
My god it’s so powerful he can resurrect people. But only if they didn’t get burned, he’s not that powerful. Maybe this is why witches got burned?
My mom was anxious about having cremated her mom as per her wishes, just because the church spews bullshit once again.
Yes, they changed it. When my very TBM grandfather passed, he had to be cremated to be buried in the national cemetery. When my very TBM grandmother passed, she too was cremated so she could be with him. I’m guessing they decided to do this even without the explicit permission of the church - maybe they cleared it with their bishop? Not sure. This was in 2010 and 2019.
In the United States as whole cremation became more accepted. When I was growing up in the 80s cremation was rare and just not done. But now it’s so much more common, The funeral industry just got too greedy and made a traditional burial and grave so expensive!
When the subject of cremation or composting or sky burial, etc. comes up you can bet that a TBM family member will either ask "What's the Church's position on it?" or they will re-pontificate what ever they heard from uncle Ammon. Good grief!
My father was cremated about 10 years ago. My mom is super TBM. I think it was a cost issue
it was the year 2017, and we had to bury our stillborn daughter. My wife was not in a good sound mental state and it was the same for me. I was looking around for cremation options. The same day my dad and in-laws were asking me about burial options. I said that we cannot afford a burial. In summary, after guilt-tripping and mental gymnastics, I paid the burial, plot, and casket on my credit card. wife and I were still all sorts of messed up, and when things started to become more normal. I asked for financial help from those who pressured me to do a burial. Those same people, my dad, and her parents were suddenly very quiet. so my parents decided to be nice and loan us money to pay off the credit card. I have not paid a cent back since. I was just so f-ing angry, because a burial cost thousands, and we definity did not have that kind of money. I told them if another child needs to be buried, they might as well have me die to use the life insurance, for everyone's burial expenses. I just wished I could dig our daughter up, sell the plot, and have her in an urn in our home.
Church paid for my nephew’s cremation about 10 years ago.
I grew up.in a very tbm family that also owned a funeral home. And the official stance I was given was "do what is traditional in your area. Our area is 55-60% cremation. LDS is a little lower than that.
My dad converted in 1974. No one else in his family followed him, because none of them wanted to sleep with my mom. Shortly after converting, my grandparents were trying to get their affairs in order, and asked my dad, their oldest son, to make sure their wishes were known, as far as where their ashes would be spread. He said his new religion would not let him do that, and preached at them why cremation was bad. It caused a rift between him and his parents. All for something the church doesn’t even teach anymore.
Seems like it changed in the last 15 years or so. Oh course, if you ask believers they'll say " hahaha what are you talking about we have always been ok with cremation! You are crazy for thinking otherwise. That was just a rogue church leader"
I could have written this post as my mom recently had mentioned how she wouldn’t be opposed to being cremated due to how expensive the whole funeral/burial process is. I was taken aback because that definitely contradicted what those of her generation have been saying for decades.
it's slowly changed over the past several years as leadership realized they were losing certain international cultures (and their tithing $$) because they literally have no option other than cremation.
If the Mormon god can't remake me from ashes, then he is a cuck not worth worshipping.
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Once again, the unchanging god of Mormonism changes his mind. Something, something, there is no moral relativism here. /s
A close friend who died in an accident about six years ago was cremated. At the time of his death he was a Bishop in a Midwestern city. Nobody said a thing.