Notecards
Christians who committed sins
Source:
“Dying, Death, and Body Disposal.” Encyclopedia of American Environmental History , Facts on File, 2010, online.infobase.com/hrc/search/details/208303?q=death. Accessed 12 Oct. 2016.
URL:
http://online.infobase.com/hrc/search/details/208303?q=death
Quote:
“Religion was an important element in several early American colonies. Christian services involved a religious service and burial. In some areas, churches denied Christian burials to “sinners” (unmarried pregnant women, adulterers, criminals, and non-Christians), disposing of their bodies in pits or unsanctified areas. Christians were often buried in yards adjacent to churches and set aside for burial. European American colonial grave markers were often flat with death’s head images referred to as memento mori that served as reminders that death was imminent.”
Paraphrase:
-Religion was a big part of Colonial America
-All Christians were buried
-In parts of Colonial America churches didn’t allow people who were sinners to g a graveyard
-Sinners included unmarried pregnant women, adulterers, criminals, and non Christians
-For those sinners, Christians would bury them in pits or unholy
-Christians were buried in graveyards next to the church
-On graves Christians put skulls and different symbols to remind the community death happens to everyone and there is no stopping it
My Ideas:
Christian burial in Colonial America is very similar to modern burial around the world. I can infer this is because Christianity is one of the dominate religion today. In the colonial society it was better to be a believer. You were looked down upon and punished for being a sinner. As well as shame, you also get a lot of privileges taken away from you. For example in the article it says, “In some areas, churches denied Christian burials” ( to sinners). Funerals are a very big deal and have been throughout all of time. Everywhere that you go in the world there is a special way of burying people. In fact most of the ceremonies involve God. So for a humans body to be cast aside in a pit it must mean that Christians had a zero tolerance level for atheism. I can infer that this is what kept the church in power. Not only did the church have money power and fame, they also have control of you in the afterlife. What point did the church lose its power? I find it fascinating that Christians were able to except death and face it head on. Maybe the reason why they put skulls on the graves was some kind of superstition?
History:
Created: 10/12/2016 07:16 PM
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