what's an atheist funeral like?

[thesummerqueen]

I've never been to a funeral that did, but that's because I come from a Jewish family, so all our funerals have had prayers in Hebrew that nobody can understand. And Psalm 23.

With my sister and I being atheists, we're likely to surprise the rest of the family when we leave that stuff out. Of course, that would assume that we plan ahead for our funerals, which I haven't done yet (don't think she has, either).

My boyfriend and I recently had to attend the funeral of my great-uncle. Despite much of it being in Hebrew, he (he's been an atheist since he was 7 but started out in a Baptist upbringing) thought it was much nicer than Christian funerals. I've always thought so - the little rituals are a lot more community-based.

Also, after all of that was said and done, I made a pretty long post on our local atheist facebook page about planning ahead for that shit. You want to do it ASAP - don't leave your family to pick up the pieces. You won't care when you're dead, but my uncle wrapped all his stuff up to the point that my mother had basically fuck all to do but grieve - which is hard enough without the rest of your family picking at each other over possessions, money, responsibilities, etc.