Humans and animals run through same crematoria – use lye instead

And? What’s the big deal? They’re DEAD. Is the soldier himself or herself going to know?

No.

They’re DEAD.

And, so what if the family knows. Fundamentalist Christians have obviously forgotten their own “ashes to ashes.” Is it going to “contaminate” your husband/wife/father/mother if a bit of Fido somehow accidentally got in the same set of cremains? No.

But, even somebody as allegedly rational as BlueGirl is all ga-ga over the fact that some cremated soldiers may have bits of animal cremains mixed with theirs. (Actually, it’s “Guest Blogger,” but, still, it’s her blog.)

Here’s the smart new idea, anyway: Lye under high pressure to dissolve a body, then the remains into the sewer system and back to nature.

It uses lye, 300-degree heat and 60 pounds of pressure per square inch to destroy bodies in big stainless-steel cylinders that are similar to pressure cookers.

And speaking of animals, it’s been used for nearly 20 years to dispose of animal bodies.

As for my personal choice, I told my sister I want a modern takeoff on American Indian ideas, with a bit of a hat tip to Ed Abbey.

Take my totally chemically untouched body in a private plane and push it out over Death Valley for the ravens and coyotes.

My remains return to nature in one of America’s best national parks.

Beyond this, as an irreligious person, as an atheist, this is a tempest in a teapot.