Respect for the dead...how do you mean?

Where does this saying come from and how should I understand this?

I mean, for some people I can have enough reasons not to respect them....in life or when dead.

reply to post by zatara


It's more because people that are dead cannot defend themselves against criticism or ridicule. Therefore it is disrespectful to say bad things about them or put them down while they are six feet under. Also, they might be undergoing a transformation (in the next stage of existence) where they learn from their past mistakes and character faults to become better people.

Respect as in not putting them down, not desecrating their graves, not spreading possibly false information, ridicule, etc., of them. Just letting them rest because they are not longer in this realm. Some people would say respecting the dead, also includes not conducting seaonces to contact them but rather let them be.
It's based often on religion, but I believe more so common society and cultural morals...might be more.

Double post, sorry.

Originally posted by zatara
Where does this saying come from and how should I understand this?

I mean, for some people I can have enough reasons not to respect them....in life or when dead.

Voltaire said, “We owe respect to the living. To the dead we owe only truth.”
Davy Crockett said : "We must not permit our respect for the dead or our sympathy for the living to lead us into an act of injustice to the balance of the living."

Respect for the dead is a cultural thing and varies widely. SImilar phrases can even be found in ancient Egyptian texts and all throughout history.Mourning ritual and death ritual have been around since the dawn of man. Where I grew up in New Orleans I believe that their reasons and the origins if the local brand of respect for the dead was born out of a fear of the dead.. or the spirit of the dead. I only think this due to certain practices. Many christians believe that respecting the dead is owed due to the person having been made in Gods image... "image" being interpreted wrongly I think Look through every culture and ever age, social or cultural demands concerning respect for the dead in one way or another is to be found and for a plethora of reasons.

For me, much more emphasis is put on remembering certain dead.. maybe thats a type of respect, but Im definitely choosy with who I wish to "respect".. living or dead How should you understand it? Anyway you want. As thinking beings we do not have to be tied down by cultural demands if we do not wish.

People focus too much on death. I pity the dead but I respect those who have toiled and found life.

reply to post by AdamsMurmur


I interpret respect for the dead as "It is done. Let them be." Anything more and we are just disrespecting ourselves.

Maybe respect means we should listen to what they have to say.
We can't listen to each other without respect.