The Christian Coalition (CC) says the proposal by the Kitwe City Council (KCC) that dead bodies should be cremated and not buried is unfortunate.
Christian Coalition Pastor Clergy Chombela said that Zambia being a Christian nation such a proposal should never be allowed due to culture complications.
Mr Chombela pointed out that Zambia should not imitate other countries as it is their culture to burn dead bodies and not Zambia’s.
Speaking in an interview with ZANIS in Lusaka today Pastor Chombela said even in the Bible it is not written anywhere.
He also said that the dead deserve respect hence the need to bury them honorably.
Mr Chombela urged the council to take responsibility by allocating enough land where the dead are to be buried.
He said that Zambia is blessed with plenty of land and there is no need to burn dead bodies but bury them.
Pastor Chombela advised the council to be consulting Christian Mother Bodies and Non- Government Organizations (NGOs) every time they come with a complicated proposal.
He explained that may be in the near future the proposal can be adopted when every one will be convinced that there is no more land left for burial sites.
ZANIS
It depends on ones beliefs and race. We should not condemned it unless we are all forced into it.
fyaka ba council, too much chamba
In the Zambian culture , across all races and beliefs this is not heard of apart for a few foreign mwenyes who do so. In Zambia we donot have a land crisis. What is there is artificial land shortage due to greedness and poor management. The proposal comes out of no context and lacks merit. It must be dismissed.
Please find land Kitwe city council.
The UBUNTU will suerly haunt us if we should rezort to cremation. We must explore all realistic avenuez possible, including the KCC propozal, then chart a way foreward.
Ala Ba Council, have you gone mad??? What a stupid and silly suggestion! If it means not giving land to the so called investors from China, let it be so! Atase. Let us bury the dead and accord them the respect they deserve!! Besides, when Christ comes how are they going to rise when they are just ashes??
Ba LT dont make me look so bad. “What a s.t.u.p.i.d and silly suggestion!” it should read above. I didnt curse.
I think Zambia has the most NGO’s in Africa eisshhhhh………………? Cremation,well depends but it shouldnt be forced on people.But repect is there if you died in Lusaka and get burried in Shang’ombo because there is no land in lusaka for the dead
I meant what respect is there in # 8 folks
it can be appreciated that there is a vast difference between the corpse of an ancient criminal being burned with refuse and modern funeral procedures involving cremation. While the former was intended to express rejection and shame, the latter is arranged as a dignified alternative to a person’s returning to dust through normal decomposition in the ground.
Actually, modern cremation is somewhat comparable to the actions of the men of Jabesh-gilead after they rescued the bodies of King Saul and his sons from the Philistines. They took the bodies to “Jabesh and burned them there. Then they took their bones and buried them.” (1 Sam. 31:12, 13) Faithful David did not consider their burning the corpses as shameful. It was part of a respectful disposing of the dead.—2 Sam. 2:4-7.
The early Christians continued the Jewish custom of burial in the earth or in tombs. In addition to the Jewish background of Christianity, a reason for this seems to have been that cremation at that time was associated with paganism such as the immortal-soul teaching. In later centuries the Roman Catholic Church legislated against cremation, thus forbidding by Church Law what was not forbidden by Scripture.
What about Christians today? The fact is that there is no Bible command for or against either burial or cremation. Nor usually does burial instead of cremation help to distinguish true Christians from believers in the pagan idea of an immortal soul; today some of the chief adherents of that unscriptural doctrine are found among churchgoers who normally bury their dead.
Additionally, the Bible plainly shows that it matters not whether a dead body is returned to dust rapidly by fire or gradually by decay. Either way God’s words are true: “For dust you are and to dust you will return.” (Gen. 3:19) It certainly is not as if God needs a mummy in order to resurrect a person. The apostle Paul taught that a person resurrected to heaven will be given a new body, so that he is “changed” from the fleshly body that disintegrated. He showed that ‘God gives to each one a body just as it pleases him.’ (1 Cor. 15:35-49) God will be able to provide adequate bodies no matter how their former bodies disintegrated, whether rapidly by fire or slowly by decay.
Definitely God’s Word does recommend that the body of a dead loved one be dealt with in a…
Sometimes we need to adapt and not base everything on the Bible. Cremation is now practiced in many countries of the world including Christian ones. I for one would not mind being cremated as it is more environmentally friendly. I think what is important is preserving the environment for future generations as opposed to worrying about what happens to my body when I am dead. I would rather be cremated and a rememberance tree planted in my honour.
We could be dealing with a case of ‘Poetic Justice’ here, if you know what I mean!! it’s only recently that were were dealing with Manda Mandas & we all saw what happenned. I rest my case
Why burn as if we dont have land?