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Want a Viking funeral? Only state that allows it is Colorado

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Re: Want a Viking funeral? Only state that allows it is Colorado

#21

Post by krapp »

tdeck wrote: post #16
d110af5ccf wrote: post #8

Why is the government involved in this, again?

You're asking why there's a law against setting a boat on fire and casting it adrift on a waterway? I feel like that one speaks for itself frankly. In general most ways of burning a body on a floating boat aren't safe to other people, and there hasn't been enough demand to carve out rules for a safe way to do it.

If freedom of religion means people have the right to meet in close physical proximity for worship services during a pandemic then it should mean people have the right to send burning corpses down a river as a sacrament to Odin. The former is objectively a bigger threat to public safety than the latter, and I would argue the latter is better for the environment than modern Christian burial.

Re: Want a Viking funeral? Only state that allows it is Colorado

#22

Post by mcculley »

My father passed away in 2020. As he was a mariner, we wanted to give him a proper send off. We had him cremated and built a little wooden boat. We put his cremains in the boat and set it adrift and afire just offshore of Florida’s Treasure Coast.

We put concrete blocks into the boat to ensure that it would sink.

I asked USCG for permission beforehand and they had only reasonable restrictions such as my assurance that we would not leave anything floating afterward.

I should write up a blog post. We had a few lessons learned that I should share. Don’t use a flare gun.

Re: Want a Viking funeral? Only state that allows it is Colorado

#24

Post by lmm »

someotherpersom wrote: post #20
vkou wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because the government is just a proxy for the will of the people, and the people don't like icky things and thoughts. And mishandled corpses are very icky to see and think about. It's the same reason the government has a history of getting involved in people's bedrooms.

You referring to the disposal of human bodies as icky makes it clear that you aren’t familiar with the very real public health consequences that can arise from unhygienic disposal

There are very real public health consequences for bedroom activities too.

Re: Want a Viking funeral? Only state that allows it is Colorado

#26

Post by Manuel_D »

CommanderHux wrote: post #25
karaterobot wrote: post #18

No state allows my preferred method of burial, which is to have my body and treasure entombed in a multi-level dungeon full of traps and monsters.

Which state disallows that specifically?

Most states disallow traps - they're indiscriminate devices that could harm people with legitimate reasons to go on your property, e.g. emergency workers.

Re: Want a Viking funeral? Only state that allows it is Colorado

#28

Post by jjnoakes »

mcculley wrote: post #22

My father passed away in 2020. As he was a mariner, we wanted to give him a proper send off. We had him cremated and built a little wooden boat. We put his cremains in the boat and set it adrift and afire just offshore of Florida’s Treasure Coast. We put concrete blocks into the boat to ensure that it would sink. I asked USCG for permission beforehand and they had only reasonable restrictions such as my assurance tha…

I'd be interested in the lessons learned, I might need them some day. For example, how do you ensure that the concrete blocks sink all of the fire debris?

Re: Want a Viking funeral? Only state that allows it is Colorado

#29

Post by gggggg5 »

williamscales wrote: post #13
d110af5ccf wrote: post #8

Why is the government involved in this, again?

Well, I think there is some level of regulation that should be in place. For instance, if I live on a small property next to another small property, it would have a pretty negative impact on me if my neighbor decided they wanted to leave their dead relatives in the open on a corner of the property abutting mine. Obviously that’s an extreme scenario. I generally agree with you that burial is over-regulated (c.f. human…

>it would have a pretty negative impact on me if my neighbor decided they wanted to leave their dead relatives in the open on a corner of the property abutting mine.

More or less negative than it would be if your neighbour was leaving animal remains instead of dead relatives?

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