“This is very pretty,†said Elizalde...
“It’s morbid,†snapped Sullivan. “Burying a bunch of and putting a fancy marker over each one so the survivors will know where to go and cry. What if the markers got rearranged? You’d be weeping over some stranger. some stranger, even, some cast-off dead of a stranger, like a pile of fingernail clippings or old shoes, or the dust from inside an electric razor. What’s the difference between coming out to think about dead Uncle Irving, and thinking about him in your own living room? Okay, here you can sit on the grass and be only six feet above his inert old body. Would it be better if you could dig a hole, and sit only foot above it?†He was shaking. “Everybody should be cremated, and the ashes should be tossed in the sea with no fanfare at all.â€
“It’s a sign of respect,†said Elizalde angrily. “And it’s a real, tangible link. Think of the Shroud of Turin! Where would we be if they had cremated Jesus?â€
“I don’t know—we’d have the Ashtray of Turin.â€
Tim Powers