Creating Life After Life Before Life Essay

Should people put the value of life into monetary value or should life be kept solely as an emotional quantity? People and societies throughout the ages have been trying to answer the problem of putting the value of life into terms of dollar bills. The ancient Egyptians buried their dead with all of their worldly belongings. They believed a person’s monetary worth on Earth was over, and they should take all of that earthly worth with them to the afterlife. Modern day Americans are different from the Egyptians. Today people believe that the families of the dead should be compensated for “their” loss.

Cremation and burial services are among the most common choices for American post-mortem body disposal (NFDA, 2017). Though the population of the United States is continuing to grow, observing increases in funeral rates, the number of active funeral homes has significantly decreased within the past ten years (NFDA, 2017). This could be due to the extreme shift in American practices, from a traditionally religious population to a more environmentally aware and loosely religious society (Fleming, Farquhar, Brayne, Barclay, 2016; Pew Research Center, 2015). Because of the general shifts in the prioritization of traditional practice, funeral homes should be better equipped -especially in cremation services- to suit the needs of the evolving disposal preferences of all demographics through observation of holistic

likely to go to hell for a period. In my opinion it would be unfair.

The idea of human composting is almost exactly the same. Composting works when bacteria release carbon dioxide and nutrients from organic materials that help plants thrive (Ashford n. pag.). These are the same plants that provide the oxygen we need to survive and the beauty of nature that people will travel thousands of miles to witness in some cases. Human composting is the most ecologically friendly way to dispose of bodies; cremation pollutes the air with gases and chemicals such as carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, and hydrochloric acid while bodies that are buried can take more than fifty years to decompose (Huffman n.pag., Memorial Pages n.pag.). The earth does not get the nutrients it needs from burial until the casket and body break down, and even then it receives materials that could be utilized for something other than holding bodies: “Each year, over 30 million board feet of wood, 1.6 million tons of concrete, 750,000 gallons of embalming fluid, and 90,000 tons of steel are buried underground in the United States alone,” (Herzog n.pag.). Cremation and burial are neither environmentally friendly to the earth nor economically friendly to the family left

Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck’s film The Lives of Other’s (2005) is set in East Berlin during the socialist reign from November 1984, up until the fall of the Berlin wall in 1989. The political context plays a significance role not only in the film’s subject matter but also in its cinematography, which exploits the voyeuristic tendencies of the audience, reflecting the surveillance of the Stasi Secret Police officers. The film follows a loyal socialist and playwright, Georg Dreyman who becomes subject (along with actor girlfriend Christa-Maria Sieland) to extensive Stasi surveillance due to his association with subversive artists such as Paul Hauser and Albert Jerska. Hauptman Gerd Weisler is the accomplished Stasi officer assigned to

Mankind’s history of burial practices and funeral customs are as old as civilization itself. There is no specific way to planning a funeral. Every civilization and culture has provided for their dead in different ways. Religion and personal beliefs play an important role in the burial practices and funeral customs of a given culture or civilization. Furthermore, each civilization and cultured ever studied have three things in common: some type of funeral rites, rituals, and ceremonies; A sacred place for the dead; and memorialization of the dead. As far back as the time of Christ, burials have been noted to take place. In time burial and funeral customs have become very distinct, interesting and

What is the meaning of life? Well known Greek philosphers such as Socrates and Plato believed that our purpose in this life was to gain knowledge in preparation for the next life. Other Philosophers such as Epicurus believed that pleasure is the main goal in life. After giving these ideas lots of thought, I have come to my own conclusion that the true meaning of life is far more complex than either of these; far too complex for any human to fully comprehend. In fact these two different philosophies are only part of the grand picture. If it were that easy for men to figure out our lives wouldn't be so messed up now. The meaning of life revolves around many different things. I

All through life, we experience various occasions when decision-making become necessary. A number of them present themselves in difficult forms and at crucial points. Most of the verdict we take will eventually figure and describe our track of lives. These are what we refer to as lessons of life. Choices never present themselves in an easy way. In some instance we are always forced to pay a price to achieve something. This implies that we are trading for an outcome we are seeking.

My few years on this planet have been a bit confusing. I have learned of many aspects of life from which one can draw meaning, if indeed such meaning can be drawn. I have also learned that there can be no singular meaning of life to stand for us all, or even any one of us. What I have learned above all is that trying to put words to the meaning of life is a task of absolute absurdity. This is not to be confused with the idea that life has no meaning, for life certainly has meaning. However, there is no single meaning of life to be defined - life is different for us all. Therefore, rather than define life for an entire planet, I shall try to explain what life means as I perceive it, and why it means so.

Life After Death All of the major religions believe in life after death. However the ideas from religion to religion can vary greatly. I am going to look at Hinduism and Christianity, two religions that I have been surrounded by all my life, and the different perceptions they have of life after death, and then I will give my own view. "For certain is death for the born and certain is birth for the dead; therefore, over the inevitable thou shouldst not grieve.

a category mistake, or a misuse of language. He even went so far as to

The abstract idea of life cannot be explained by such simple ideas as being animated, breathing, or speaking. Ordinary machines in this century can perform all of these basic functions. The quandary with defining death is not as abstract and elusive as that of life. The problem of defining life and death has plagued philosophers and the religious bodies for thousands of years for one reason; each philosophy or religion has tried to define the meaning of life and death from only their certain perspective. The seemingly appropriate approach to this problem would be to understand the ideas presented in various philosophies and religions and through this knowledge create a new definition for each idea of life

     I can remember as a child always asking myself the “why” questions of life. What is the purpose of life? Why are we here? What is the purpose of life? Why do certain things happen? And is there really a God? I had always kept these questions to myself and eventually pushed them out of my mind altogether. I was raised in a Christian household and you just were not allowed to ask questions of that nature and doubt the faith. The world is the way it is because God made it that way and that is all there is to it. I was really excited to take this class because it would finally give me the opportunity to exercise my personal thoughts and beliefs. I have come to agree with Socrates that “the unexamined life is not

I can remember as a child always asking myself the "why" questions of life. Why are we here? What is the purpose of life? Why do certain things happen? And is there really a God? I had always kept these questions to myself and eventually pushed them out of my mind altogether. I was raised in a Christian household and you just were not allowed to ask questions of that nature and doubt the faith. The world is the way it is because God made it that way and that is all there is to it. I was really excited to take this class because it would finally give me the opportunity to exercise my personal thoughts and beliefs. I have come to agree with Socrates that "the unexamined life is not worth living." In my opinion life is a combination of

Life as we know it could vanish within seconds. The next day is not promised to anyone that walks on this earth. As we live our everyday lives peacefully, we tend not to think what our mission or purpose in life is. Instead, we think what we must do for that to be a “successful” person. Despite this way of thinking, just think for a second. What makes life meaningful? What is life anyway? These questions dive right into the heart of the philosophical, psychological, and the biological aspects of life and what the true meaning of life is. This is a very arguable topic due to every person’s different perspective on life and what it means to them. In summary, I personally think that life is simply what you make of it and each person’s accomplishments has its own merit