Sure, tent. I’m with you. But religious practises have a way of being practical, too. Everything you say is kosher by me.
As far as I know Jews are placed standing in the grave.
Oy!
By the way Faust, you are a man for all seasons.
Actually, I sort of like the soylent green solution, but I get these funny looks… I mean what the hell, parts is parts, right?
I hear we taste like pork.
That sounds about right. The women have been calling us pigs for so long that there might be some truth to that…
BULLSEYE =D>
Yeah that’s what I just discovered too. Apparently it’s because they believe they never really die and that they’re wake up again in the afterlife. That’s why jews never say their brothers and sisters ‘died’ but that they have just ‘left for a while.’ (ref Ariel Sharon’s death)
Jewish funerals are never made public as others are.
That Jews are buried standing may be a myth, it is discussed here: au.answers.yahoo.com/question/in … 438AAIM5sL .
I have dug a deep hole in the earth before-- it took most of the afternoon. If one is really to bury a body six feet under and horizontal, it would actually require moving more earth than making a hole, say, eight feet deep for a vertical burial. (6x6x2 vs 8x2x2). That is to say, a vertical burial would be easier-- if one were bent on getting a horizontal burial six feet down.
Vertical burials would require that the hole be filled in slowly while maintaining the corpse in an upright position. In a casket, the body would ‘fall down’ if not fastened to the box.
I have seen an old Indian skeleton that was unearthed and had been buried on its side and curled up in a ball.
That’s true, gorgias, but it’s apples to oranges. If the top of the respective corpses were to be buried at the same level, however, the vertical hole would have to be much deeper than the horizontal one. But the volume of earth is not the only consideration, depending on the type of soil. I live in New England.
I’ve been to places where Jews are buried and it appears that they are burried standing because of the closeness of the grave. It was mentioned that this has to do with an idea rather than a land issue.
Misssissippi is one of the few states left that has minimum laws about burying your loved one. You don’t need to use a funeral parlor, you can have a funeral pyre, bury them on your own land, however your loved ones wishes. When you buy acreage out here it will probably have one or two graves on it.
All that you have to do is let the county know you are designating an acre for burial purposes, give them the location of that acre and thats it. If you have useless wetlands then there you go, perfect for body tossing er uh burying. You are free to have all the burials you want. Saves alot of money if you intend to inherit everything. 
You just have to have the coroner cook up a death certificate and don’t forget to give him/her a gift. I am laughing but, this is true.
when our bodies decompose wouldnt it make more sense that we are not in caskets?
I think so too. A casket is eerie - decomposing safely away from what you are going to be decomposing into eventually. I’d rather be swallowed by the earth, sea or fire than have the process delayed by a creepy box.
I have no idea why caskets exist. Does anyone know where they came from?
Being buried is referred to as being LAID to rest, not being stood to rest.
I think that the idea of putting people into the ground feet first (or head first) seems unnatural.
Your burial plot is your final resting place. NOT your final standing room or standing place.
Here stands John Smith, devoted father… Here lies John Smith… sounds more reasonable.
Being upright is not consistent with being dead and buried. It sounds like simple convention. People associate standing with being alive.
“In a narrow grave, just six by three,
They buried him there on the lone prairie.”
Those who fall asleep await the resurrection. They are in the position for sleep – after life’s labors – and the casket and vault, i suspect, is to keep them from being eaten by worms, which is gross, and out of respect for the body.
Something interesting, if you’re talking about alternate ways of burying people, is how many cultures I see featured in social science studies are buried with their knees up – in fetal position in Mother Earth, as it were.
Wonder if that takes less digging to accomplish.