Skeletons in the closet — and other places

From an article in yesterday’s Guardian:

The University of Cologne is investigating after hundreds of human body parts were found in the cellars of its institute of anatomy, apparently abandoned there for years.

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Advertising Standards Authority passes judgement on Colourful Coffins

 

 

Copied and pasted directly from the ASA website here

 

Advertising Standards Authority Adjudication on Colourful Coffins Ltd

Colourful Coffins Ltd

Printworks
Crescent Road
Cowley
Oxford
OX4 2PB

Date:

14 March 2012

Media:

Internet (on own site), Brochure, Magazine

Sector:

Business

Number of complaints:

1

Complaint Ref:

A11-176349

Ad

A claim on the Colourful Coffins website, viewed in October 2011, stated “[we] Offer the only 100% recycled cardboard coffin on the market”.  On another page of the website, further text stated “our 100% recycled cardboard coffin”.

Issue

Greenfield Creations Ltd challenged whether the claim “100% recycled cardboard” was misleading and could be substantiated.

CAP Code (Edition 12)

Response

Colourful Coffins Ltd confirmed that they used BeeCore cardboard in their coffins and included a letter from their supplier which stated that the “product BeeCore as supplied to all customers consists of paper and starch glue of which the paper is made of 100% post consumer waste paper conforming to EN 643”.  BS EN 643 was the UK version of the European Standard EN 643, which defined grades and combinations of acceptable types of recovered fibre.

Colourful Coffins explained that the claim only related to the fact that the cardboard used in their coffins was made from 100% recycled paper and that they had not stated that the lining paper, used as part of the composition of the cardboard, was also recycled.

Assessment

Upheld

The ASA noted the complainant’s argument that no cardboard could be described as 100% recycled because all cardboard required glue for bonding and it was unlikely that the glue used in the product was also recycled.  We also noted that the outer paper used as part of the composition of the cardboard was not recycled.  Whilst we did not consider that the average consumer would take bonding agents into account in their understanding of the claim “100% recycled”, we did consider that as the outer edges of the cardboard were made from non-recycled paper, the claim that the coffins were made from “100% recycled cardboard” had not been substantiated.

We therefore concluded that the claim was misleading.

The claim breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 3.1 (Misleading advertising) and 3.7 (Substantiation).

Action

The claim must not appear again in its current form.

The status of marriages and funerals

Posted by Richard Rawlinson

I recently had a conversation with a priest about the topic du jour: same-sex civil partnerships–which offer legal equality–becoming known as marriages, so gaining semantic equality by reinterpreting a term traditionally reserved for the union between a man and woman as they become husband and wife.

For some reason, the discussion led me to ask why the funeral isn’t among the seven sacraments of the Catholic Church. The rites of passage of Baptism, Confirmation and Holy Matrimony are sacraments, as are Reconciliation (confession), Holy Orders (ordination), Anointing of the Sick (last rites) and, at the centre of it all, the Eucharist (mass). The priest’s answer: ‘The funeral mass comes within the sacrament of the Eucharist so doesn’t need to be a sacrament in itself’.

But both weddings and funerals vary between those in which Communion is offered to the congregation and those in which it isn’t, I replied. The nuptial mass and funeral mass sometimes omit the mass bit.

The choice of Eucharist or not is pragmatic, came the reply, as it reflects today’s mix of people attending marriages and funerals. Those planning their ceremonies might choose to dispense with the Eucharist in acknowledgement of the fact that many guests are not baptised and so cannot partake. To avoid the sacrilege of giving the Host inadvertently to someone not eligible, or of upsetting someone by offering a blessing but no Eucharist, such awkwardness is avoided. After all, he added, practicing Christians, who receive Communion regularly, can do so at another time.  

But if the Eucharist isn’t an essential part of either ceremony, I persisted, this doesn’t explain why marriage stands on its own as a sacrament but funerals do not. 

The explanation gets theologically technical here and, as the term ‘sacrament’ only relates to Catholic and Orthodox marriages anyway (Protestants dropped it as a sacrament), I’ll try to be brief to stay on message.

In a nutshell, all the sacraments are outward rituals bestowing inner grace. At baptism and last rites, we may be too young or too unconscious to participate in the way we do at confirmation and confession, but we believe divine grace occurs through the intermediary in holy orders. The same can be said of marriage but it stands apart from other sacraments as it’s a contract between two flawed people and not directly with the perfect God. However, it’s nevertheless a binding contract before God.

So back to funerals. The Requiem Mass is part of the sacrament of the Eucharist, the mass for the dead and the mass for the living. Christ’s salvic sacrifice is at the centre, hence guidance against undue emphasis on eulogies for the deceased. When the bereaved choose a ceremony without the Eucharist, the liturgy, though not referred to as a sacrament, nonetheless offers the same message of Easter hope, and commends the deceased to God. Grace can be bestowed through prayer, not just through the sacraments. There is also always the option to schedule a memorial mass at a later date.

Thanks for the clarification, Father. But one last question: we may recall our confirmation or marriage ceremonies but not our baptism or last rites. Although we clearly don’t actively participate in our own funerals, do you think we witness them? The answer: God only knows. 

The Good Funeral Guide
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