The purpose of this paper is to compare the social dimensions and effects of the beliefs and practices concerned with death, dying, and life after death among three faith communities: Christians, Hindus, and the Sioux Nation. It will deal not only with relationships among living persons but also with their relationships with ôghostsö and other denizens of the other world.
The discussion of Christians here will be limited to active ôcatholicö Christians (conservative Roman Catholics, the Eastern Orthodox communities, and ôHigh Churchö Protestants), who share similar beliefs about death, dying, and the afterlife, as well as similar funeral and mourning customs. It is restricted to active Christians (meaning those who attend Sunday worship services more than half the time, this being a current sociological measure to delimit those who are deeply committed to their religious tradition), since the experience of those who might attend a funeral but otherwise are almost never to be found in the vicinity of a church (professional clergypersons will sometimes refer to such persons sarcastically as ôhatch, match, and dispatch Christiansö) is radically different from that of people who are active participants in their tradition and who generally have a far more sophisticated concept of the significance of funerals and other community activities.
Likewise, discussion of Hindu practices will be limited to those of sects that share a common philosophy about the concepts of karma and reincarnation. Discussion of Sioux practices will be based on information from Sioux ômedicine men,ö such as Black Elk and John Fire Lame Deer, with due consideration to how much Sioux beliefs and practices may have been influenced by exposure to Christianity.
Images familiar even to non-Christians (because of movies and television) are of people filing by an open coffin, people gathered around an open grave, a clergyperson reading canned passages ...