Is Dawkins’s refusal to reassess Darwin a sign of unscientific denial?
By Richard Rawlinson Richard Dawkins has said Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution is ‘about as much open to doubt as the theory that the earth goes round the sun’. He’s said that ‘understanding evolution led me to atheism’, and that he’s against religion because ‘it teaches us to be satisfied with not understanding the world’. Many […]
Those whom Agni has tasted
3rd post in a series by Jenny Uzzell examining the question: What is a funeral for? For those in Ancient India, it appears that funerals were vitally important, not only to the dead, but also to the smooth running of society. Most of our knowledge about this period comes from the Rg Veda, arguably one […]
Short shrift for the overreachers
You probably missed all this and, in truth, had you been aware, you might have either snorted derisively or, like me, mischievously hung on in there for a bit to see what happened next. I’ll tell you the story now. It’s about a bunch of funeral celebrants who went off on one and had to […]
Alakaline hydrolysis – the facts
The ‘green cremation’ process known most widely in the UK as Resomation after the company of that name is more accurately termed alkaline hydrolysis. We were reminded of that recently by blog reader Jocelyne Monette, keen that we should get the history of alkaline hydrolysis right and give credit where credit is due. The Resomation […]
Good Funeral Awards 2013
The scene is set for the Good Funeral Awards 2013. It’s a sellout. All the nicest people will be there. There’s enough of us to have fun and not so many that we can’t get around everyone and have quality chats with likeminded people we never suspected existed. Our host is Pam St Clement — […]
Britain’s most unreasonable undertaker?
From an email sent to the GFG: Hi Charles A friend told me about your website. She says you you like to hear about interesting funerals. Well wait till you hear about mine. My mum died in hospital — long illness, merciful release and all that. My brother Stephen and I were determined she wasn’t […]
Confessions of a bachelor
Posted by Richard Rawlinson There aren’t many taboos left but what I’m about to say somehow feels like a confession: I’m among the 2.5 million people in the UK aged between 45 and 64 who live alone, without spouse, partner or family member. Whether due to relationship breakdowns or genuine life choice, this figure for middle-aged […]
What price peace of mind?
It’s been another very bad day at the office for the financial product known as the funeral plan, demonstrating its attractiveness to cheats and scammers. Sooner or later some devious little twerp is going to do a runner with a shedful. Some reckon they know who that twerp is. Yorkshire Asset Protection, a financial services […]
Reaching the Fathers
The second in a series of guest posts which consider the question, ‘What is the purpose of a funeral?’ by Jenny Uzzell The first ‘purpose’ of funerals that I am going to consider is the one that, arguably, has the least relevance to most people in the modern western world. For most of human history […]
Come on down to Bournemouth!
It’s still not too late to book for the Good Funeral Awards weekend in Bournemouth from 6-8 September. There’s already a great crowd coming — more than ever before. Our host will be Pat Butcher – the actress Pam St Clement – who will be handing out the awards and taking questions about her deathbed […]
