Funerals provide us with a safe place in which to embrace our pain. Funerals are barbaric. On the contrary, meaningful funeral ceremonies are civilized, socially binding rituals. Some people think that viewing the body is barbaric. Cultural differences aside, viewing has many benefits for survivors.
Funerals are inconvenient.
Taking a few hours out of your week to demonstrate your love for the person who died and your support for survivors is not an inconvenience but a privilege. Funerals require the body to be embalmed. Depending on local regulations, funerals held shortly after the death may require no special means of preservation. Funerals and cremation are mutually exclusive. Embalmed bodies are often cremated.