HW 53 - Independent Research A

Islamic Scholars Split Over Sea Burial for Bin Laden

(http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/03/world/asia/03burial.html

_r=1&scp=10&sq=Care%20of%20the%20dead&st=cse)

• After he was killed in a fire-fight in Northern Pakistan, the body of Osama Bin Laden was transported to the aircraft carrier Carl Vincent where it was given proper muslim burial rites, wrapped in a white sheet, and then put in a weighted body bag and slid in to the ocean from a lower deck. He was buried at sea to avoid creating a shrine where Muslim extremists would have a place to go to, to worship him.

Daily Life in the Business of Death

(http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/30/daily-life-in-the-business-of-death/?ref=deathanddying)

• Scott Palmer grew up around death, his family owned a funeral home Iowa. He feels comfortable being in funeral homes and around dead bodies. Now he photographs the ways of funeral homes, including cremation and the instruments used for embalming. He does this to show that death is something that we need to accept and embrace and not go about in such hush hush ways.

The reason that i chose these two articles is because they have such an interesting contrast. The Bin Laden article discusses how shrouded in secrecy and hidden his funeral was, but the second article has pictures of funeral homes and caskets and old embalming tools. I thought that it was interesting how hidden the Bin Laden funeral was because they were afraid that his grave would turn in to a shrine for all extremists. Meanwhile Scott Palmer is trying to give a more transparent face to the funeral industry. I guess both sides can learn from each other, sometimes you need to understand death and be okay with it. And sometimes death needs to be somewhat confidential and personal.

Today i went to Reddens Funeral home on 14th street. The first thing i noticed was how it smelled and how cold it was. It smells of chemicals and what i would imagine embalming fluid smelled. The decor was very typical, it was very bland but very "eccentric" looking. It had very antique looking furniture and typical flower pictures everywhere. Unfortunately there was no one there to talk to because i did not call in advance.

Having not actually had any questions answered, all i can say is that i have been to funeral homes before, and what i always notice is that they all smell and look the same. They seem to be made the same everywhere (In NY at least), so that no matter where you go, you have the same experience, you walk in to a cold, chemically smelling room, and then seeing a casket in the background surrounded by pictures of the deceased, and then you see the body, and it looks surreal, it looks like they are sleeping, except their skin looks dusty. I can't handle funerals that well because i have never had the ability to see a dead body that wasn't in a funeral home. I feel that death is something i need to experience, but a natural way.