Cemetery design in America shifted increasingly after 1830 to rural, parklike settings. Surely the early Bible Students didn't expect to need one at all.
Why don't JW's bury their dead at the KH's??
by quellycatface 25 Replies latest jw friends
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gingerbread
I knew a dozen or more (of names I can recall) that were faithful, old-timer JW's who were buried in the 1960's, 70's and 80's without headstones or grave markers.
My folks always told me that it was because we had a hard time accepting "unnatural" death.
ginger
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respectful_observer
It would make it exponentially harder to flip the properties every few decades.
Besides, think of the awkward questioning that JWs go through just to get married at the Hall...can you imagine the vetting process if you wanted to be buried there??? What would happen if, after they buried you in the KH graveyard, they discovered you'd committed "hidden wrongdoing" before you died? Would they make your family dig you up and move you someplace else??
Although this does make me think of "The Launching Pad" at Wallkill where quite a few of the anointed Bethel heavies are buried.
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OnTheWayOut
Surely the early Bible Students didn't expect to need one at all.
...and there is that too. Good catch. Members were told that Armageddon was imminent.
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Badfish
Has anyone been in a country where the casket is shown at the KH?
When I was a child in the 1980's, we used to have open casket funerals at our Kingdom Hall. This was in the United States.
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mynameislame
There woul be too much confusion over the truly dead and the catatonic people at the meetings
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Band on the Run
Yes, I haven't seen a fresh cemetary in decades. A church looks more substantlal with a cemetary. Some churches are turning indoor space into columbariums.
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Quendi
Blondie asked an interesting question about funeral customs among JWs. She had never been to a "funeral" where the casket and/or body was displayed. This depends on local customs, I believe. I have attended "memorial services" in Colorado where the casket was not present. That seems to be the custom in this state, for I have never seen an open- or closed-casket ceremony here officiated by either Witnesses or others.
However, in the American South, it is otherwise. Memorial services, where no casket is displayed, are not done. Indeed, it is the custom to have an open-casket funeral in which mourners are expected to file past silently and pay their last respects. That was the case at every Witness furneral I ever attended in Alabama and non-Witnesses did likewise. Indeed, a "memorial service" was considered an insult both to the deceased and the families involved unless it was held after the open-casket funeral. The funeral was usually followed by a funeral lunch/dinner as well. Closed-casket funerals were also performed in some cases, but those were the exception and not the rule.
Quendi
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OUTLAW
Why don't JW's bury their dead at the KH's??
..........................Because..
......They Might Bury Some Live Ones..
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...OUTLAW -
tresdecu
Was this a serious question? I don't ever recall seeing any kind of church etc with an on-site grave yard. Why in the world would this ever be considered? Maybe I'm wrong...or maybe this is common in your country (if you're outside the U.S.) Just seemed like a weird question. Maybe I need another cup of coffee...
...OUTLAW