Africa-Press – Malawi. I have problems with churches that preach at a funeral of an atheist or someone who did not believe in Christianity with an argument that the preaching is for the people living who have come to the funeral yet the same churches boycott funeral rituals for someone who was their member but was not royal or not paying “ya bukhu”.
I remember attending a funeral of an atheist in Mzuzu and the argument was “uyu anali Chindele” and they insulted him for exercising and voicing his perceptions and consciousness.
If you have a brother or sister who does not believe in gods please allow a secular funeral ceremony to take place when they die than allow the church which is hypocritical on this issue to come and insult a dead person who had a different view.
People who do not believe in gods do not believe in life after death hence the drama that people do when they die is not just absurd, it is also disgusting and useless. This is trying to force relevance on someone who has no power to say “I am not interested”.
When you die, the reality is that you do not know what people are doing and it’s useless to dance and sing for someone who did not share your belief. Some people ask, how can a funeral take place without religious rituals? Yes, it can happen and it happens in spaces where they respect diversity.
Remember this is just a process of people taking someone into the soil while the family waves goodbye. With or without the religious rituals the one dead is still dead and cannot appreciate what you are doing.
In other countries where being a non-believer is normal and respected, the death of a non-believer is seen from the perspective of celebrating life. People gather with sad faces to confirm that you are dead by viewing your face in the coffin and to celebrate your life.
They respect that you accepted that you will not live again when you die and they celebrate that you existed. They play songs, light candles, recite poems and offer eulogies. The next thing is you in the soil and the people home.
If you do not believe in gods, it is good to let your family know how to handle your funeral in such a way that your funeral will be dignified as someone who lived, however, if you do not say anything about this, be sure that when you die, some people will pounce on your funeral and will insult your body to the delight of their fellow slaves. But, is it necessary to give rituals to a non-believer and shun a non-compliant member? Mufusane konko.
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