1 Preface 2 Introduction 3 Keeping the Dead in the Family: Ancestor Rituals 4 Americanizing a Buddhist Grief Narrative 5 Continuing Bonds with Teachers and Founders 6 The Politics and Policing of Grief 7 Grief and Continuing Bonds in Contemporary Culture
Robert E. Goss is pastor of the Metropolitan Community Church in the Valley (North Hollywood). He is author of Jesus ACTED UP (1993) and coeditor of Take Back the Word and Queering Christ. Dennis E. Klass is professor of Religious Studies at Webster University in St. Louis.
Once the contemporary psychological approach to grief is recognized
as culture-bound, where do we go from here? The authors of this
innovative work base their investigations of grief on the theme of
continuing bonds between the living and the dead. From ancestor
veneration to the destruction of saints' graves, religious
traditions structure and re-structure these ties. How they do this,
and how new ties such as those with religious teachers are formed
to endure beyond death, is the subject of this adventuresome and
wide-ranging book. For those interested in moving beyond a
psychological model of grief, this volume raises important
questions about the roles of death, loss and meaning within a new
model of grief and a new set of questions about persons, families,
societies and transcendence.
*Lucy Bregman, Temple University*
This is a long-awaited book. As someone who teaches an
undergraduate course on death and dying, I welcome its publication.
The central question of religious grief is one that we too seldom
dare to explore, in large part because not many intelligent
resources are available to us. That has now changed, and definitely
for the best. With this accessible and inspiring volume, Goss and
Klass provide an engaging and diversified look at grief in a
variety of historical and cultural contexts. They are bold and
prolific in their approach. In situating grief at the very heart of
religious meaning, they have opened up new ways of understanding
the experience of death, and of studying it. I am excited about
sharing their important work with my students.
*Donald L. Boisvert, Concordia University, Montreal*
This fascinating book advances our knowledge of bereavement at the
interface of culture, religion, and psychology. It breaks new
ground in the study of the continuing bonds and ongoing
relationship to the deceased. Goss and Klass have given
professionals and laypersons alike a thoughtful work informed
throughout by scholarship, humanity, and respect for diversity.
*Simon Shimshon Rubin, Professor of Clinical Psychology, University
of Haifa, Israel*
Recent years have seen a surfeit of studies on death and dying and
on grief work. Far too little has been written on the ancient and
venerable—indeed some might argue constitutive—religious virtue of
fidelity to the dead. In this engaging and substantive book, Robert
Goss and Dennis Klass argue that an on-going sense of connection
with the dead has an honorable pedigree in the religious history of
humankind and show it to be natural, healthy, even empowering.
Drawing on materials both traditional and contemporary, they
explore not only the religious and psychological dynamics involved
but also the political cultures which have worked to police and
control the ways humans have sought to honor their dead. Insightful
and ground-breaking, this is a must read for all who would seek a
deeper understanding of grief, religion, or both.
*Ronald E. Long, Hunter College/City University of New York*
The authors examine the development of an idea — continuing bonds
between the living and the dead — through several cultures spread
over many centuries and locations. These men are well-read and very
intelligent authors who value ideas and who are maverick thinkers.
Klass and Goss go where the evidence takes them and expect readers
to share their interest in seeking the truth. They are saying that
the while the current interest in continuing bonds presents a
notable challenge to received ways of understanding death and
mourning, in reality all cultures and political systems have taken
a clear stance about links between the living and the dead. Their
incisive writing style is clear and fun to read. For many of my
students in the rich sea of culturaldiversity that is Brooklyn,
intelligent appreciation of culture is a clear mark of validity
when speaking about death, dying, and bereavement. Perhaps because
of Klass's honored scholarly reputation within the field of
thanatolgy, this book will get more people thinking about and
examining culture as a major influence on death, dying,
bereavement, grief, and mourning.
*David Balk David Balk, Brooklyn College*
Highly recommended. Lower-level undergraduates through
faculty/researchers working on topics in death and dying.
*CHOICE*
The authors examine the development of an idea — continuing bonds
between the living and the dead — through several cultures spread
over many centuries and locations. These men are well-read and very
intelligent authors who value ideas and who are maverick thinkers.
Klass and Goss go where the evidence takes them and expect readers
to share their interest in seeking the
truth. They are saying that the while the current interest in
"continuing bonds" presents a notable challenge to received ways of
understanding death and mourning, in reality all cultures and
political systems have taken a clear stance about links between the
living and the dead. Their incisive writing style is clear and fun
to read. For many of my students in the rich sea of cultural
diversity that is Brooklyn, intelligent appreciation of culture is
a clear mark of validity when speaking about death, dying, and
bereavement. Perhaps because of Klass's honored scholarly
reputation within the field of thanatolgy, this book will get more
people thinking about and examining culture as a major influence on
death, dying, bereavement, grief, and mourning.
*David Balk David Balk, Brooklyn College*
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