Even non-Christians should be horrified at the novel approach that the modern environmentalist cult is now pushing as a solution to poverty. The left launched its “War on Poverty” under President Lyndon Baines Johnson more than 50 years ago, after they ignored Jesus’ warning that the poor would always be with us.
Refusing to face the fact that the welfare state is a failure, they now want to try something new in the name of “social justice.” The Washington state legislature will begin considering a bill later this month to compost the dead into fertilizer. The idea is being billed as a great boon to the environment (of course) and as a cheaper alternative than burial or cremation, which they hope will be especially appealing to blacks, Hispanics and poor people overall.
The idea is being pushed by an environmentalist pagan architect in Seattle, the ironically-named Katrina Spade. Ms. Spade decided a few years ago that the two biblical-based burial modes that are standard in the US – cremation and burial – are just too old-fashioned and boring. “Why do we only have two options,” she wonders, “And what would it look like if we had a dozen?” Since her first idea was to stick grandma in a tube with some straw and turn her into fertilizer, we shudder to think what Ms. Spade’s next 11 inspirations will be.
Ms. Spade says she anticipates that a lot of good environmentalist pagans will want to take their loved one’s remains home and plant them in the back yard, or that they will donate them to “nourish conservation lands.” Although she never comes right out and says it honestly, her intentions are perfectly clear: The dead will ultimately be consumed after they’re turned into fertilizer for the soil. One of the Democrats sponsoring the legislation claims that she’s received letters from environmentalists all over Washington state who are excited about the prospect of “coming back as a tree.”
We hope that it goes without saying that turning people into fertilizer for the soil is wildly unbiblical and evil. There’s a reason why no one plants a vegetable garden or a field of crops over a cemetery. Ms. Spade’s plan for the poor doesn’t amount to direct cannibalism, but it’s close enough to come across as creepy and revolting.
The Bible relates three methods for us to honor the dead: Burial in a crypt or tomb, traditional burial in the ground and cremation. Our Lord Himself was interred in a tomb, a type of cave with a large stone covering the entrance. Likewise, the kings of Israel and notable people were buried in various tombs. A “potter’s field” is referenced as a burial place for the poor and indigent, and for immigrants. (Matthew 27:7).
As an aside, it’s interesting to note that immigrants were buried separately from the families of the native population. Traditional burial in the ground was the most common form of honoring the dead in Israel. Christendom later adopted the principle of burying bodies “6 feet under” to prevent loved ones from being eaten by wolves, and to prevent the spread of plague.
Christians have wrestled with the notion of cremation from time to time, but this argument is easily refuted from the pages of the Bible. King Saul and his sons were killed in battle and their bodies were desecrated by Israel’s enemies. When David’s warriors recovered the bodies, they burned them and then buried the remains. As the new king, David praised the warriors for showing Saul’s family honor in such a fashion: “You are blessed of the Lord, for you have shown this kindness to your lord, to Saul, and have buried him. I also will repay this kindness, because you have done this thing.” (2 Samuel 2:5-6) The “kindness” was to burn them, followed by burial.
There’s also a weird reincarnation undertone to the pagan plans of fertilizing the ground with the dead. Their great hope is to “come back as a tree.” Never mind the fact that trees don’t come from fertilizer. What a bizarre hope for the afterlife!
Socialism, because of its very nature, always depopulates the people that adopt it as a system of government. As the left-leaning Washington state succumbs more and more to the socialistic ideas of Seattle environmentalists, that great depopulation will come eventually. It looks like they’re preparing for this eventuality, by grooming people with the idea that it’s okay to eat the poor.
