Is our matter count depleting due to religion?

i learned in grade ten science class 2 years ago that matter can neither be created nor destroyed, but it is recycled for example:

a fruit falls to the floor from a tree, the fruit rots and dissolves becoming nutrients in the soil, which are used by the tree, which makes another fruit

now what i recently thought about is the fact that a lot of people bury their dead in coffins (especially in the Christian religion)t hat will hold out for a very long time. Thus there is less matter to recycle since they are useless bodies just lying around.

any ideas?

[edit on 30-6-2008 by tankthinker]

interesting idea. i have always told those around me to just dig a hole, throw my body in, and cover it up when i die. i don't see a need in wasting the $$ on a coffin to put my rotting body in. by that point, i won't be needing any more.

reply to post by tankthinker


nice to see that you point directly at christianity.lol....alot of people do that whether christian or not.personally i just want to be thrown wherever it wont matter to me as i wont be here.so yeah man...big conspiracy here,christians are now trying to take over the soil.lol...please disregard my sarcastic remarks.

Are you serious? Please don't be. You said you know matter isn't destroyed, so what don't you get? Same body, same coffin, still underground. You seem to make trouble for yourself by making artificial boundries in your mind. Same earth, same universe, same matter. Nothing's changed.

Wow, after I posted that I noticed your location and rememberd your post on the "blasphemous" tee thread. Now it makes more sense. Yes, lets sue a tee shirt maker.

[edit on 30-6-2008 by RootMean]

well this was just and idea i came up with not a solid theory i was trying to prove, so far no one has come up with a stable answer to my question that has something to back it up

also can you provide a link to this thread you are talking about because i just cant remember

the body still decays, it is still gets recycled.

Nothing changes because the micro-organisms in the soil eat us up, which are then eaten by larger and larger predators and eventually humans again. So essentially, whenever you eat something you are eating millions of dead people. mmmmmmmmmm mmmmmmmm good.

Tank thinker I totally agree with you it causes a giant halt in the energy cycle. But you have to think that all people have the right to a proper burial, even if people continue to do this the coffin would decompose continuing the flow of energy, so the only thing a coffin is doing is slowing this process, and even the coffin contains energy.

in the end there will always be the same amount of matter

Nah, not unless it's an air tight coffin made of a non-biodegradable substance. Considering most are wood, you will eventually break that airtight seal.

After that, it's over. Micro-organisms can decay your body just as well as insects or predators. All they need is a tiny sliver to get through.

... then again, most of them are already in the air, so you'd be buried with the very organisms that will eat your carcass.


So no. There's no loss due to being buried.

finally a good answer to my inquiry

i thank you

Well, Mantys and Anonymous seemed to have the same conclusion, only they didn't elaborate on why it's that way.

In the end, everything degrades, even plastic (albeit, plastic takes thousands of years.)

Considering we use wood... already bio-degradable. By the time the wood is degraded, the micro-organisms would have already turned us into soil by then.