The ways in which religious people deal with death and the funeral rites they carry out are usually very closely linked with their beliefs about life after death.
Funeral rites
Funeral rites are very important for two reasons:
- They show respect for the dead and, in some religions, include various ceremonies which people believe are necessary to ensure that people go on to whatever their next life will be.
- Perhaps more importantly, they give the relatives and friends of the deceased time to mourn and show their grief in a certain way. People often say that showing their grief formally helps them to get over their loss.