Monday, May 16, 2011

HW 55 - Culminating Project - Care of the Dead

Flyer That I Distributed in Brooklyn College:





For the culminating project for the COTD unit, I decided to do something that I had not done for any of the other units; I decided to do something as an activist. Since I read Grave Matters as my unit book, there were a lot of summaries of major methods of taking care of the dead available to me. I decided to make those summaries even shorter so it would fit into one sheet of paper as a flyer. I live right next to Brooklyn College so I decided to go down there and give out the flyers I made and ask some students about some questions about taking care of the dead. Many of the students’ responses were generic and bland so I did not include those in my blog post. I posted one student’s interview which I thought had many insightful responses. For the second interview, I decided to interview my friend who lives in California and attends the same grade as I do. In his interview, he shares his experiences in a funeral that he attended. He did not know too much about taking care of the dead, since it’s a tabooed topic in the United States, so I forwarded him the flyer I made and after he had read it, he said that he had learnt some things that he was previously unaware of. Mission Accomplished.

I tried to make the flyer as simple as possible because people do not usually like reading long flyers that have a copious amount of detail. Short and Sweet. I was very happy when I walked back to my house and I did not notice a single one of my flyers littering the floor by students who were bored. I did not check the garbage bins but I am sure that none of the students threw out their flyers. They probably all kept it and are going to put it up on their refrigerators and maybe even write a blog of their own about it.
Posted by Abdullah S at 4:01 PM 4 comments

Thursday, May 12, 2011

HW 54 - Independent Research B

Religion has been the biggest part of my life so far. Every major decision I have had to take has been somewhat, even if it is very minute, it was still affected by my religious background. After reading some texts about how Islam views death, I was further educated about my roots. In Islam, or in Bangladesh rather, which is where I'm from, death is a very open topic. No one is afraid to talk about it. If anyone asks about it, he or she will get an answer. The answer might be a little cartoony, depending on who you ask but, they will get an answer that is somewhat realistic. Contrasting to what I've noticed the dominant social practice in America to be is that death is a topic that most people do not want to talk about it and they will always try to stay away from it. Whenever I imagine what a parent or guardian must feel like when their child asks where his or her grandparent went, I always get a picture of a hooker in a church in my head. (Is that a creative metaphor Andy?) Very uncomfortable. To examine why people from an Islamic background might not consider death to be a scary topic could be because of the Eutopia that is promised by God (Allah) in the Holy Qur'an. A chance for a better life after the current one is a blissful idea that can, and does, make one less scared of death.


Apart from reading Islamic articles online, to further my independent research, I decided to interview an Imam of my local mosque in Brooklyn. Imam Rezaul Quader was very enthusiastic about answering the questions which were graciously provided by Bianca Chiu. An Imam is a person who leads the prayers in all waqts (times) of the day in a mosque. An Imam is also the representative of the Muslim community of his region ( The Imam as a representative is a stronger custom in the Middle East, Europe, and Asia). Other duties of an Imam include, "to teach the laymen their duties to Allah and to his fellow human beings. He has to stand up for the truth and go against the falsehood. He has to enjoin others to do good and prohibit them from doing bad " (Quader). The Imam is a lot like a teacher whose job is to guide the people who have gone astray back to the righteous path and to keep faithful Muslims on the righteous path. "For a person to become an Imam he has to certain amount of Islamic knowledge. According to the saying of Islamic scholars an Imam should be the one who has most knowledge regarding every field of Islam, specially Salah (Prayer), thereafter a person who knows how to recite the Qur’an beautifully, then a person who makes more practice on the ways of Mohammad, then a person who is the oldest of them" (Quader). An Imam is selected by the community to represent them as the most religiously learned man.


I was instantly interested when I read the Imam's response to Bianca's "What is the Day of Judgment? What criteria does a person have to fit in order to gain Paradise and a good eternal fate?" question. His answer was very interesting and I learnt about things that I did not know about before. I would like to quote his entire answer, but I will leave the reader to go to the actual interview below and read the full answer. However, one of the most interesting lines was: "According to Qur’an the first Day of Judgment will be 50000 years" (Quader). After the last human has died, the Days of Judgement will commence. Mankind will be judged for his (or her) deeds on Earth and since time is relative, 50000 years does not seem long. One of the most important criterion for a person to be granted passage into heaven is: "A person must have belief in Allah and his Messenger Mohammed as well as all other messengers" (Quader). Faith is the key to the gates of Paradise.


The thought of life after death is very scary to me. Even though I have followed all the 5 pillars of Islam, 1) Perform Hajj, 2) Pray 5 time a day, 3) Fast in the month of Ramadan, 4) Pay alms to the needy, and 5) Have faith in Allah and his messengers, I have not followed them unquestioningly. I have missed many prayers when I was distracted by other things and my faith has not always been unwavering. I am certainly scared of punishments of Hell which as the Qur'an describes to be: “There will be burning wind and boiling water and in a shade of black smoke neither cool nor graceful. Verily those who have rejected the signs of Allah, soon they will be put into Hell, every time one layer of skin is burnt it will be replaced by another layer of skin so that they can continue to taste the punishment of Hell. Each time the flame goes down will increase in its intensity. They will enter into the blazing fire, they will be given boiling water from the boiling springs of Hell to drink, and there will be no other food for them besides the thorny trees of Hell which will neither satiate their hunger nor give them any satisfaction" (Verse from the Holy Qur'an). I do not think there is one person in the world who does not find that terrifying.


My mom has always been fairly religious in her life. She studied Arabic and Islamic studies, in Syria and now she translates verses from the Qur'an (which is in Arabic) for a small group of people on the weekends. I consider her learned about Islam so I sent her the same questions I sent to the Imam. Her responses were quite similar but there were also some additional information she added. "The Paradise is forever~ it is the good eternal fate. This world is a testing place. We will be judged according to our deeds of this world. In Islamic culture in this world we have to prove that we are eligible for Paradise. The best eternal life will be given to only that person who deserves it. The peace and tranquility of that place will be never ending.In comparing this world with the Hereafter, the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said: 'The value of this world compared to that of the Hereafter is like what your finger brings from the sea when you put it in and then take it out.' The meaning is that, the value of this world compared to that of the Hereafter is like a few drops of water compared to the sea" (Nahar). The minuteness of this world and this life is unimaginable. We can only wonder and crave for the vastness of the world that we have to enter after this one. Our lives on this world are judged by our actions and the life after this will be either our reward or our punishment.


In conclusion, in Islam, one will be rewarded if he or she has earned it. One will be punished if he or she has deserved it. Allah is just and merciful; He will forgive the sins of Muslims who had faith in His existence and His power. It all comes down to faith. Faith is like holding sand in your fist; if you are a little bit careless, you will lose it. Another thing we must control to earn the reward of Paradise is our desires. Prophet Mohammed's (PBUH) friend and companion, Ali said: "Ali said put one foot on your desire then the other foot will be in Paradise."

I'm very grateful to Bianca Chiu for coming up with the interview questions.




Posted by Abdullah S at 4:05 AM 0 comments

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

HW 53 - Independent Research A

Article on Resomation
Cremation rates have been in increasing in the United States because of its economic appeal. However, cremations release many harmful gasses and leave a really big carbon footprint. Since crematoriums are used on a daily basis in every state across the country, the carbon footprint gets more and more daunting as cremation rates go up. Enter resomation,”an alternative to cremation for the eco-conscious cadaver.” Resomation is very similar to cremation and the only difference is that resomation liquefies the body instead of burning it. Resomation uses one sixth of the energy cremations use and have a much smaller carbon footprint.


Article on Hindus in Queens
As more and more immigrants from India flock to New York City, there is an alarming increase of precious possessions being dropped into the Jamaica Bay as sacred offerings to the Hindu Gods. Despite efforts from the Park Rangers to prohibit such practices in the name of “the environment”, new immigrants who are unaware of the rules and/or others who refuse to change their practice, there are still many who drop things in the river as an offering to their Gods. Cremains are of the things being dropped and it is especially difficult for park rangers to prohibit that practice since it is one of the most sacred rituals in Hinduism. Scattering of the ashes in a river is essential to move on to the next life in the Hindu culture and if the park rangers try and stop them, the first amendment will most likely be brought up.


Article on Recycling Cremation Exhausts
The thought of the heat generated from the ashes of your loved one being used to power up a stranger’s house or a stranger’s computer is considered immoral by many. But what if the heat that was recycled from the crematorium was used for heating up the chapel where you will have the wake or post-funeral gathering? What if the last action of your loved one was to keep you and your family warm? That argument makes the recycling cremation exhausts sound not just like a great idea, but also a noble idea.


All of the articles I looked at are from an environmentalist’s point of view. The first article argues that Resomation should replace cremation in the future since it is a lot greener. The second article looks at environmental risks that might be resulted from dropping cremains and other sacred objects in rivers that are populated with a diverse marine life. The third article argues whether exhaust from crematoriums should be recycled and used as an alternative source of energy. Cremations were not that popular when it first came out, mostly because of the Catholic Church condemning it as a crime against nature, but it soon gained popularity and it is now the number one form of taking care of the dead in many developed countries. I believe Resomation will also gain that kind of support and popularity, probably faster than cremation since nowadays, people are very keen on doing anything green. I support all of the authors of these articles. I think we must do anything and everything we can to make sure we do not pollute this planet and if we do not check ourselves now, it will be too late.

Dr. John Troyer's Interview

The main difference between a Green burial and a natural burial is that a natural burial is basically digging up a grave and placing a body in it and then covering up the grave. Green burials have a greater influence from technology. I liked his response to why people are forced to make stressful decisions of taking care of the dead when they are still grieving the loss of their loved one. He said, they brought that on themselves. Everyone will die eventually, you should decide what must be done with your body early on in life so you don't have to, or your family members won't have to, make rash decisions. Like in almost every public service facility, Europe is serving its people more efficiently than America. Many European countries have had filtrated crematoriums since the 90s so they have been helping the planet a lot more than America is helping the planet. In conclusion, green methods of taking care of the dead are already here. They just need to become more popular among the common people and we'll be one step closer to delay global warming.



Posted by Abdullah S at 9:19 AM 0 comments

Monday, May 9, 2011

HW 52 - Third Third of the COTD Book

Précis:
As we move to a greener way of taking care of the dead, we come upon the plain box practice. It all started with a family man’s desire to be buried in a handcrafted pine box which lead to pine boxes and other coffins made of inexpensive materials a legitimate business and a burial practice. If a person still wants to be buried in a cemetery with family members or for other reasons, one may be required by the cemetery rules to have the plain coffin placed in a vault. However, if one chooses to bury their loved one in a more accessible area such as on a private lot or their backyard, they have a lot more freedom and independence to bury them however they want, even without a coffin. Then there are cemeteries that are only for green burials. They do not require any sort of coffin, vault, or even a procession. Burying loved ones in a natural cemetery is the most absolute and natural way of taking care of the dead.

Quotes:
- “He’d been moved, too, by the Jewish funeral rite he read about, in which the dead are buried in a plain, pine box, no matter what their station in life. Both traditions made so much sense that he told Evelyn [his wife] he wanted a similar send-off when his own time came.” (126, Harris)
- “In this setting, the plain, wood coffin struck a simple, yet elegant note that in both form and function served to remind those here of the most basic fact of all: that we live and, no matter what our station in life, we die… we all will return to dust.” (139, Harris)
- “It doesn’t take me two minutes to walk down from the house to the little private cemetery where Sharyn is buried. I know her body is inert matter; it’s not her. But her memory is there, my memory for her is there, and that is the last place we saw each other. For me, it’s a comfort to have her close by.” (143, Smith via Harris)
- “Clearly, green burial is an idea whose time has come.” (186, Harris)
- “Like all movements, natural burial will experience its own growing pains. But as the greening deathscape in this country suggests, grow it will nonetheless- to the benefit of the planet, the memory of our deceased, and the families who lay them to rest.” (188, Harris)

Analysis:
As is in every ending of a unit in the NiW course, I imagine the revelation that what is normal is in fact very weird with Cat Steven’s “Trouble” playing in the background. The common people of the United States always go for the practice that has become the norm which is when dissected, a far worse alternative than we can imagine. The whole fancy hearse with limousines and buried in a weather proof coffin and placed in an indestructible vault may sound appealing but when the common person reads a book like Grave Matters, his or her eyes are opened and they realize the absurdity of it all. McDonald’s lighter fluid shenanigans, the industrialized nightmarish atrocities of the hospitals in the United States, and the over expensive and environmentally harmful funeral rituals that Americans practice really makes me question all the other things that I take for norm. As revealed in Tina Cassidy’s Birth and Mark Harris’ Grave Matters, there is no need for making things over complicated. Women are perfectly capable of giving birth to healthy babies at home or a birthing center; no need for medical interventions. People are perfectly happy with burying their loved ones in a plain pine box in their backyards or in a natural cemetery; no need for unnecessary coffins, vaults, embalming, hearses, and all the other nonsense that Americans take for norm.
I loved how the Mark Harris took the readers through a sequential journey that highlighted all the main aspects of taking care of the dead and his industrial to natural practices for taking care of the dead was simply commendable. I would recommend this book to almost everyone because when it comes down to it, everyone will eventually die and I believe it is very important to make an informative decision on what should be done with you remains while you’re living.
Posted by Abdullah S at 4:22 AM 0 comments

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

HW 51 - Second Third of COTD Book

Précis:
            Chapter four of Grave Matters is about a method of taking care of the dead that has been practiced since as long as man has been sailing in the oceans of this world. Burial at sea is scattering the cremated remains of a person or dropping the corpse of a person in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, and the Gulf of Mexico. There are certain restrictions put in place by EPA, Environmental Protection Agency, which prohibit the scattering of ashes closer than three miles of a shoreline. If someone wants to consign the entire body, the body must be taken three miles out and drop the body over an area where the water is shallower than six hundred feet. The total cost of burial at sea is from $100 to $2000, depending on how big of a boat you want and how many people will accompany the dead body to its final resting place. Chapter five of Grave Matters discusses the practice of using Memorial Reefs. This is another form of burial at sea but it is not as popular among the general public as is using a biodegradable casket or a biodegradable urn. Cremated remains are placed in memorial reef balls and sunk into the ocean near an artificial reef. The memorial reefs can potentially create a habitat for the marine life around the artificial reef. There are certain spots for memorial reefs to be deployed, and those are: coastlines of Florida, Texas, North Carolina, Virginia, and Sarasota. The prices for memorial reef balls range from $2500 to $6500 which depends on the size of the reef ball. In chapter six of Grave Matters, the scene is shifted from sea to land. In a Home Funeral, the body is brought to the home of the deceased either most of the time from the hospital and sometimes even from the spot that someone died on. The body is then washed or clothed by the family members and a funeral is held for family and friends to gather and see the body off to either a crematorium or a cemetery. Family members can also used chemicals that retard decomposition to make the environment of the dead body as hospitable as possible.

Quotes:
-          “High seas burial was most often conducted in times of war; it was given to unknown numbers of U.S. troops as recently as World War II.” (Harris, 75)
-          “You’ll need to prepare the body in a way that ‘ensures that the remains sink to the sea bottom rabidly and permanently.’” (Harris, 83)
-          “With daily changes of dry ice, a body can be laid out for days” (Harris, 111)
-          “Crossing and Final Passages offer workshops around the country on home death care ($150 for Crossing’s, $350 for Final Passages’.” (Harris, 119)


Analysis:
            The whole idea of memorial reefs is simply hysterical. After having read almost half of the memorial reefs chapter, I decided that I could not continue reading without knowing what a memorial reef actually looked life. I Google’d it and realized it was the same thing Dr. Troyer was talking about in his lecture. I also found the fact that you can assign GPS coordinates to one of the memorial reefs so you can go back and visit it and pay respect to the person’s remains that is contained inside of it. Burial at sea should be something like, removing oneself from the chaotic and industrialized world and finally rest in peace under the calm water where not a lot of men have ventured. In all of the stories Harris talks about in the Burial at Sea and Memorial Reefs chapters, the family members of the deceased are always upset that they would not be able to visit the one that they lost because he would be so far away and one would need to go through a lot of hassle in renting a boat and what not, which made visiting the deceased an every-other-month-or-longer deal and even possibly an annual thing. I found it sad that some families changed their minds after they realized that they wouldn’t be able to visit the deceased quite as often, since burial at sea seems like the perfect way to go, to me at least. Much better than burials in a cemetery or even cremation because both of those are industrial process, and as we have learnt so far in this unit: Industrial = Bad. 
Posted by Abdullah S at 8:30 AM 1 comments

Monday, May 2, 2011

Future Death: The Dead Human Body as Biomass (Extra Credit)

Reposted To Make Sure That You, Andy, Check It            


            Dr. John Troyer was at the Brooklyn observatory located in Nevins St. on April 19th, 2011. He gave a lecture on Death as a Biomass to an astonishingly small crowd. Dr. Troyer looked like one of those people who could get the attention of the audience he addressing without even asking for the attention. This was probably because of his tough guy/chill dude attire. He is built like a street fighter but wore a well ironed coat with polished dress shoes, and to top it off, he wore a pair of wise-owl glasses. He works for an organization called CDAS illusion where he basically works with dead bodies and also the dying. The crematorium he works in, Haycombe, is located in the South West of England, in a city called Bath but he was born in the United States as he humorously pointed out with the absence of a British accent. 


            One of the first slides that he presented in the lecture was of the URL: http://deathreferencedesk.org/. Which is a website that was created by librarians and its readers are able to find any and all information about death and the aftermath. A fascinating website in my opinion, on a side not for Andy, if you are still pursuing the idea for a “everything about birth” website, we should use Dr. Troyer’s site as a model. The site basically contains what he talked about in the lecture but in greater detail plus a lot more, although visiting the site is hardly a better alternative than listing to the lecture, on the site you cannot listen to his colorful commentary. As he went on with the lecture, his slides became progressively more statistically evidence heavy. That was a good idea because in the beginning, I was a bit skeptical about his claims. 


            His main argument was whether we should start using cremation emissions as a power source. He argued for but I am very doubtful whether that will ever happen because of the simple moral implications. Who would want their loved one’s remains powering up a stranger’s computer? Not many people. So that argument was soon dropped but replaced with a similar one. An Alkaline Hydrolysis machine. Its function is remarkable simple and similar to that of cremation but it is more than 200% cleaner. An Alkaline Hydrolysis machine heats up and pressurizes the body with the help of water and alkali which then speeds up decomposition. The commercial version of Alkaline Hydrolysis is a bio-cremation process known as Resomation .This automated process is dignified, takes only 2-3 hours and the ash is returned to relatives/loved ones in an urn as  in traditional cremation. The main advantages of Resomation over cremation are the excellent eco-credentials, both in terms of energy saving and carbon footprint reduction. As soon as he made the “it’s greener” argument, I knew he had convinced almost everyone if not everyone in the audience that Resomation would be the future of taking care of the dead.
Posted by Abdullah S at 4:01 PM 0 comments

HW 49 - Comments on Best of Your Break HW

From Sarah M, (Commented on HW 46 ) <-- Correct Blog
I like that you weren't afraid to state your own opinion on the matter and that your opinion of funerals was very different from the norm. I also liked that you included your own experiences of different cultures. It was interesting to see the similarities and differences that other countries share with ours in terms of caring for the dead. 


From Johnny, (Commented on HW 48 )
I enjoyed reading this blog(although it was a little too long). I also enjoyed how as you were interviewing your mom and uncle you kept thinking about what they said to of course gain insight but also learn more about them. I also
valued how you quoted what the people you interviewd said.

From Sarah T, (Commented on HW 48 )
Abdullah,
I enjoyed hearing about your families different beliefs on the matter of death. the question you asked was, What to do with bodies after there is a massive death tole?
You notated that you thought it was suppressing that one of your family members answered with:
“People should look at resolving the crisis instead of looking at moral beliefs and religious beliefs. If you do not have time or the man-power to figure out what everyone that died believed in, you don’t have to do it. Mass burials or even mass cremations should be executed.”

What aspect of that response suppressed you?

Over all your writing and analysis was extremely thoroughly written.  

From Christian, (Commented on HW 48 )
Abdullah,

Your post had good points on the depiction of contrasting beliefs on taking care of the dead that one can really relate to. You share the point of view between both of your interviewee's that death is not something to be afriad of, "only because it's another stage in life." which I found we could problematize because by definition life is the distinguishing factor which seperates living organisms from inorganic objects(dead organisms). One question I would like to add to how your Uncle responded which you also found a "little weird" is that being dead is not another stage in life, its the complete opposite which you breifly explain by scaring those who answer that they're "not afraid of dying..." by rewording it to be "ceasing to exist."

Interesting Post!
Christian  

From Protoge, (Commented on HW 46 ) <-- Correct Blog
I find it intresting on your views of care fir the dead based off your cultural orientation. you gave an insight on your views and I liked the way you brought in your personal connections with your experiences I can relate to the banned Hindu practies. Which I have gone through myself.
~ davendra
 

From Mentor,
If you notice, the most wanted terrorist (Osama bin Laden) who was killed in a US operation inside Pakistan on May 01, 2011 was shown all respect to his dead body by burring him with general rituals of Muslim people. Although many people who know Laden might have desired to attend his funeral and obviously for security reasons that was not possible to be allowed. This is the respect for diversity that we must demonstrate in our daily life.

Dead person might be known to many people and some might want to see the dead body and pay respect during his/her burial or may whish to pay condolences to rest of family members. The value of such expressions is not small, in fact all of us will die and I always will wish my dead body gets proper respect.

I liked your bold opinion about private ceremony, which might be preferable by many and again many surely will wish to join the public ceremony.

You will see if a renowned person, like a great singer (Michael Jackson?), a former President of the US, or a writer or head of state when dies hundred or thousands of people who loved the deceased would spontaneously join the funeral. People tend to express their respect/ love by joining such public congregation.

I would suggest you value respect of diversity in all aspects of your life and also bring those thoughts in your writing. Especially remember:
- We work and live with people from many backgrounds
- We must treat all people with dignity and respect.
- Treat men and women equally.
- Show respect for, and understanding of, diverse points of view and demonstrate this understanding in daily work.
- Examine own biases and behaviors to avoid stereotypical responses.
- Do not discriminate against any individual or group

I am sure you will work and think on the above points and will shape your ideas accordingly. All the best,

---------------------------------------
For Sarah M,
I liked the fact that you chose to interview someone that had a very real experience with death. It made your blog a more interesting to read since the information was from a subjective and objective source. I think if you explained more about what your thoughts were from the interviews and what were some of the insights that you took away from the interview. It would have also been better if you had said if the interviews had changed the way you thought about death or if your previous thoughts were strengthened.

For Johnny,
I found it interesting that you wrote about your experiences coming from a religious family. I think you're different experiences as when you were a little kid to now is very prosaic. I like your idea of crying being contagious since I have experienced similar instances in my life before.


Posted by Abdullah S at 8:30 AM 0 comments
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