Customs as well as religion as we all know, are preached and spread by people who claim to be superior or more knowledgeable than others; therefore, in the practice of cremation, there is no special attachment to any religious belief or sentiment, it is clearly a system of disposal of the human body after death by people the world over as they deem fit.

Philosophically, the body is created from the five elements, namely Earth, water, fire, sky and air. By cremating the dead, assimilation of these element to its origin is immediate, which is natural and desirable according to present scientific thought.

Spiritually, Cremation destroys all connections between the body and the departed soul (spirit), thus releasing the soul (spirit) to travel freely to other heavenly worlds whilst earth burial is believed to keep the soul (spirit) chained to the body until it is completely decomposed and this is proved by some cases where bodies are buried have been exhumed and cremated in the belief that the ghosts of the dead are haunting houses, places and people

Socially, Cremation does not allow grave – diggers to desecrate graves in their lust for wealth or for diabolical purposes. Furthermore, at the present time, land is urgently required for the living and therefore the need to create cemeteries for the burial of the dead in villages, towns and cities by reserving large plots of land for this purpose is unacceptable and unethical because the living are deprived of the use of the same land for development such as the building of house, schools, factories, health and recreational centers and other basic social amenities.

Hygienically, Cremation reduces the body to ashes which destroys all bacterial and other germs of disease that the deceased’s body might be harbouring, hereby preventing the spread of disease, whilst the buried body serves as a store-house for these agents of disease which can contaminate air, soil or water and cause disease to living beings.

Economically, Cremation can be performed at a very low cost. In the pyre method, which is the only system available in Ghana at the present time until gas and electric crematoria are established, inexpensive and unpolished wawa wood coffins can be used while white linen cloth together with some oil or any other substance which can help to combust wood is required to perform funeral rites and crematoria can be located at very convenient places even in existing cemeteries with minimum size plots of land such as in the Osu cemetery in Accra. In the case of earth burials,with the ever increasing need of land for the living, cemeteries will have to be located at distant places in the long run, even the availability of land may become impossible, thus creating problem for the deceased’s relatives in arranging the transport and other expenses connected with the burial leave families heavily indebted and impecunious in the belief that they are honouring the dead, whilst forgetting the dishonour and hardship caused to the living. In many instances, bereaved families cannot clear those debts and suffer extreme hardship for many years to come after the burial.

Since the universal belief is ultimately earth to earth, ashes to ashes, and dust to dust, we wonder why we all cannot accept cremation which is simplest, cheapest, and hygienic method of disposal or the dead body. Thereby helping the living philosophically. Spiritually, socially, hygienically and economically.

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