Comments on: Mormon Funeral: good times and Funeral Potatoes, but not my cup of tea

By: Don

Don — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 05:07:51 +0000

My mother just passed away last month and a Mormon relative of mine who attended my mothers funeral told me she thought funerals were the biggest farce ever. She told me it was because people were hypocrites about saying nice things about the deceased. My nephew is a minister, or whatever they call them, with LDS. It was his wife whom made the comment. I do not consider this woman a Christian. What I consider her starts with a B. I won’t judge all Mormons by her mouth. I’m sure there must be some nice ones.

By: admin

admin — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 03:40:32 +0000

That is indeed your choice, Susan, and I agree they have every right to conduct a funeral in whichever way they find it appropriate. My post only reflected the hijacking that is done by the church over what I consider a proper funeral; in my opinion, the emphasis should be on the person (and his/her various traits and interests) and not just his or her religion.

Cheers.

By: susan

susan — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 21:09:51 +0000

If I choose to attend a Mormon funeral held at a Mormon church I fully expect a “Mormon” funeral, complete with preaching from Mormon officials about Mormon doctrine. Help me understand what is wrong with that?

By: admin

admin — Wed, 18 May 2011 21:27:45 +0000

UM… I think YOU’re missing the point, Mdood. NOBODY holds a gun to your head and makes you sit here and analyze this site. The name of this site should be enough for you to understand why I wrote this post. I live with Mormons. I’m married to a Mormon. I USED TO BE A MORMON! I use this site to freely express my opinions and criticism of this (and other) religions. I’m not telling anyone they shouldn’t have a Mormon funeral. This is just my own criticism of what I think a funeral should be and how the Mormon church conducts theirs in contrast.

Relax, mate! Or go on scratching your head without questioning anything in your life.

Cheers!

By: Mdood

Mdood — Wed, 18 May 2011 20:49:52 +0000

UM….I think you guys are missing the point. NOBODY holds a gun to your head and makes you have a funeral involving the LDS Church. Family can go directly to the bishop and say “hey Bish, we are going to do this alone without any involvement from the LDS gang” and your good to go people. How can you sit here and whine and complain when you have control of the funeral? I don’t see it written anywhere that your forced to have LDS involvement in a funeral for members or non-members? Call your mortuary of choice, get the deceased to them, plan your funeral and get it done your way. I’m sitting here scratching my head wondering why this discussion is even happening.

By: admin

admin — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 20:50:15 +0000

Thanks for the great advice, skywalker!!!

Part of me has considered planning my own funeral to avoid any religious association but part of me keeps telling myself “who cares?!?! You’re DEAD!!!”

Thanks for stopping by and come back often!

Cheers.

By: skywalker

skywalker — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 20:38:25 +0000

Brent & Admin:

If you want to make your funeral desires known, approach the nearest funerl home and ask them for a funeral planning booklet. They are free, and in it you can record the place of service, the officiant, music desired, place of burial etc. There will also be a place in it for the information the funeral director will require for the legal papers required by law (death certificate etc.) such as date and place of birth, Social Security number, Veteran’s information, names of parents etc. By filling out this guide and insuring that your family knows where to find it, you will save them much trouble and can indicate your desires for how YOU want your funeral to be – Mormon Funeral Potatos or not!

DO NOT let the funeral home use your request as a means to try to talk you into a pre-need funeral plan. Many will try, but unless you feel that is the best way for you to go, just say no.

How do I know all this? I celebrated my 50th year as a Missouri Licensed Embalmer and Funeral Director last June – and I just moved back to the midwest after living for 10 years right next door to a Ward House in the 4800 South block of 1100 East in Salt Lake City.

And no, they didn’t convert me— But I LOVE Mormon Funeral Potatos!

By: admin

admin — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 08:11:13 +0000

Notolaf,

Thanks for sharing “Bud’s” story. I’m sure there would have been some good tales during that one! And thanks for the comment.

By: notolaf

notolaf — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 04:24:48 +0000

I do get your point about LDS funerals pretty much always including a sermon. But in all fairness, I must point out that we’re not the only ones who do that. It’s meant to celebrate our hope for this person in the afterlife, not to make anyone feel preached to, but I can see how it would come across wrong.

Funniest funeral I ever went was for my parents’ best friend, an atheist fugitive (he’d embezzled a lot of money) whose business partner got his own Baptist preacher to conduct the funeral. He didn’t even get Bud’s name right (which was really okay in retrospect, since it turned out he was using a stolen identity anyway), and went on and on about how Bud was saved…Luckily, we were sitting in back and were able to put our heads down on the back of the pew in front of us and shake with laughter.

I’m sure wherever he was, Bud got a huge kick out of the whole thing!

Oh, and what kind of person doesn’t like funeral potatoes? What’s next? Watermelon? Chocolate?

By: admin

admin — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 23:41:15 +0000

Thanks for sharing your story and I’m sorry about your loss. It will be a great day when we can detach the sadness of a funeral or the beauty of a wedding from religious dogma.

Cheers.