Burn Baby Burn Takes on a New Meaning

When I hear burn baby burn , I'm thinking of a disco inferno, but, for some folks, this phrase has them thinking about death.

According to The Cremation Association of North America, more and more baby boomers are considering cremation as their last rites over a ground burial. Although many Baptists view cremation as an unacceptable destruction of the body, some 37 percent of Americans say they would like to be cremated after they die.

Research also shows that people who would prefer cremation tend to be well-educated, earn higher-than-average incomes, and reside in Western boomtowns and Sunbelt retirement communities far from their birthplace. Psychographic surveys show that they share a socially progressive agenda, supporting issues like doctor-assisted suicide and the legalization of marijuana. Most choose cremation for the convenience, the lower cost, or to help preserve land.

Some Funeral Home Directors say they are finding that many people now live away from their family and they feel it's easier to be cremated and have their remains sent to another part of the country. With people living longer, they have more time to direct their children as to what they want to do. And they consider that cremation involves fewer decisions for their family.

But even in cremation--you can go out in style. At one funeral home in Raleigh, NC a family can sit in a softly lit viewing room and watch through a window as their loved one enters the cremation chamber. If relatives want to, they can say prayers and scatter flowers over the body before the metal door closes, or even push the button to move the body along.

So what do you think? Have you decided whether you want to be cremated or buried after you die?