How is this series researched?
Every page in our Religious Views on Cremation series starts from the tradition's own documents, cites each claim to its source, and logs every correction with a date. We are now asking clergy, scholars, and community members from each tradition to review the page about their own faith, and we name them only with their permission.
Who writes it
The series is written by Jordan Colton, founder of Cherished Emblems, a cremation jewelry company in Oregon. We sell cremation jewelry, and that is a reason to read us carefully. It is also why every page says plainly when a tradition does not permit keeping ashes, and why we point families toward engraved keepsakes, donations, and other gifts when ashes are not an option.
How each page is researched
- The tradition's own sources come first. Catechisms, church handbooks, rabbinic responsa, fatwas, codes of conduct, liturgies, and official statements from the bodies that speak for each tradition.
- Background sources are labeled as background. Encyclopedias, Wikipedia, and journalism appear for context, never as the authority for what a tradition teaches.
- Every doctrinal claim links to its source, and quotations are checked word for word against the original.
- Disagreement is reported, not smoothed over. When branches or authorities within a tradition differ, the page says so and shows each position.
- Numbers come from the organization that publishes them, such as the Cremation Association of North America, the National Funeral Directors Association, or Pew Research Center, with the year attached.
How pages are reviewed
Published sources only go so far. A teaching can be accurate on paper and still miss how a community actually lives it, so we are asking people inside each tradition to read the page about their own faith and tell us what we got wrong. When a reviewer signs off, the page will show their name, their role, and the date of the review, if they agree to be named. Each review is a personal check for accuracy and is not an official statement of the reviewer's church, congregation, or organization.
Until a page carries a named reviewer, it has been checked against its published sources only, and the page says so.
Traditions we approach differently
We do not write about Native American, Native Hawaiian, or Pacific Islander funeral practices from desk research. These traditions differ by nation, island, and family, some practices belong to the community alone, and remains are protected by law as well as by custom. Anything we publish on these traditions will be written with community contributors who review and approve it before it goes live, and credited only with their consent. If you belong to one of these communities and would like to help, please contact us.
Corrections
Every page ends with an update history that records what changed, when, and why, including errors we found in our own earlier articles. If you see something wrong, tell us. We will check it against the sources, fix it if we were wrong, and record the change on the page.
What this series is not
This series is an educational summary. It is not a religious ruling and not legal advice. Individual congregations, clergy, and cemeteries may hold stricter or more permissive views than the official positions we describe. When a decision matters, ask your priest, pastor, rabbi, imam, or community leader.
Start with the overview of every tradition, or compare two side by side.