How do the americans grieve for their dead? Do they believe in reincarnation or that the dead one dies forever? I can understand much about my new neighbors in this country if I understand their grieving over lost loved ones.
2006-11-15 15:01:07 · 6 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Uniqueness and individuality rule.This is the way to understand your neighbor.
2006-11-15 15:04:23 · answer #1 · answered by ? 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Good question. Complicated answer/answers. Different peoples settled different areas of the US. The land is also different. There are also different religions.
I remember my mother being upset because a neighbor insisted upon having her mother's viewing in her house. Her children had to sleep in that house with the body until the funeral the next day. It was a common custom in rural America years prior, but not in most of our lifetimes. Some groups have very elaborate rituals (Irish Catholics) others do modern funerals that may or may not involve religious clergy, but rather show a video of the deceased and have all in attendance share something about the person. I have seen some ministers do very "fire and brimstone" funerals trying to guilt all in attendance to being saved at the funeral service. My church does a simple service by family/friends and a dedicatory prayer over the grave to keep the body safe until the Second Coming. I have known some Jewish people who have to go to synagogue and do a daily prayer for the deceased for an entire year after their death.
Grief varies a lot as well. Most do not believe in reincarnation.
I do have a suggestion. Try to visit your local funeral home and ask about the customs of your area.
2006-11-15 15:24:03 · answer #2 · answered by whozethere 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It depends on the faith of the family. Different religions have different customs here in the USA. Jews and Muslims must be buried right away. Jewish men must sit shiva over the dead person during the night.
In the South (where I am from) no matter what faith; after the funeral or burying or memorial service we have a big feast. Everyone comes and brings food. When a person dies here all the neighbors and friends and townspeople send food for the bereaved family.
In the South we also have the Irish type "wakes" sometimes the body of the deceased is brought back to the family home for viewing and the services before burial.
2006-11-15 15:06:30 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Americans typically plan a funeral which usually takes place within the first 3-7 days when the person dies. For maybe one or two evenings the person is "laid out" - usually in a casket in a funeral home (a place of business where a mortician prepares the body for burial & transports the body to the cemetary or crematory following the funeral). The body is then either buried at a cemetery (the family & friends usually travel to the cemetery watch as the casket is lowered into the ground) or is cremated (burned). If the person is cremated, the ashes are usually returned to the family according to their wishes.
Americans being from different religious backgrounds, might have different beliefs about what happens to a person when they die. I can only speak for myself - I am a Christian - I believe that when someone dies their spirit separates from their body & the spirit spends eternity in one of two places - either heaven or hell. I know & believe this because this is what the Word of God - the Holy Bible - teaches us. The Bible is God's book of life, or instruction manual to humanity. God gives us the choice to spend eternity with Him or eternity separated from Him. If we accept Jesus Christ, who died on the cross for us, as our Lord & Savior & acknowledge Him for who He is, we have the opportunity to experience eternal life in heaven with Him. If we choose to reject Christ & His sacrificial death, we are not saved from eternity in hell - that's where our spirit will go when we die.
2006-11-15 15:13:04 · answer #4 · answered by ELIZABETH B 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The trouble with answering this question is that Americans are not any one type of people, perhaps it was that way where you are from - a people group that has stayed together in the same place for a long time. Americans are from everywhere on Earth. No one custom or style is the same for everybody.
2006-11-15 15:08:32 · answer #5 · answered by guitar teacher 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
You will get so many different answers here your head might just explode. Many do not grieve at all but celebrate the passing of one's soul from this life to the next. Way too many variables. I will check back in a few minutes to see what the answers are you get on this one. It could be fascinating.
2006-11-15 15:06:03 · answer #6 · answered by mortgagegirl101 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋