I like the idea of having the entire family pool in money to get a single, large, shared funerary urn. Dump my ashes in with my ancestors and give it a good stir.
I consider it to be alarming because it can encourage people to choose cremation unnecessarily, just because it fits the budget. I would not take away or mock anyone's choice to cremate if that really is their first choice...
But I think it's upsetting for Orthodox Christians and other groups that require burial and would like to have a dignified casket at an affordable price. Just like how I sometimes feel bothered thinking about *the cost of burial plots." The idea of being fleeced of a significant part of a modest inheritance through the funerary process is really off-putting.
I get your point, but organized religion LOVES to fleece people. They live for that shit! Make you feel ill and sick and then sell you the 7,500 $ cure!
I imagine that some do pay for it, while others don't.
I've learned there's a huge variety in compensation for Priests, as well. In places like Greece, where it is the state religion, Priests are government employees, I believe, and they get some fixed amount as public servants, while in much of the world it all depends on the local parish. Many priests have to continue working in the world to pay their bills.
I am not sure if there has been a case at my church where we have crowdfunded a casket but I know we have people pay something like $25 USD a year to be buried in the Church cemetery, which is an absolute steal.
You just wait to find out how much it cost to make the hole and then to close it. Or to just purchase the little spot of ground that you're going to be buried beneath. Or how about the giant concrete box they have to bury you in to which goes your casket. Or spending $600 on a single splay flowers..... With a bow.
I used to know a guy who embalmed his own wife (yes I'm serious!) who offered to get me a deal when the time came for cheap cremation but sadly he died first.
A funeral I attended recently had a plywood coffin and a bunch of felt-tip pens for people to write messages with. At another one a while back, the coffin was wickerwork.
