Not Sure There Is Really An Answer To This, But Here Goes.

[anotheoldgit]

Why since Princess Diana's death, we have seen an escalation in the laying of floral tributes, why?

I ask all the atheists amongst us, is it the same as praying?

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2017/03/25/12/3E9DC4C800000578-0-image-a-9_1490444990793.jpg

Can we have a sensible debate on this one without it turning once again into a criticism of my choice of subject, headline or whatever?

Please!!!!

[Sqad]

;-) ^^^ hc

[anotheoldgit]

hc4361
/// AOG, I've already said that I don't remember seeing roadside flowers before Diana died and that I do remember seeing them for the first time. ///

Then why bother taking a swipe at me by putting:

/// You should check your facts, AOG. ///

There was no need to point out the number of road fatalities in 1924 & 1941, especially when I wasn't addressing you but Islay.

[hc4361]

I was not bullying you. You said there are more road fatalities now as a statement of fact. I merely corrected you - it is easy to check facts like that before you post.

[emmie]

hc
as you said they were high in 1941 because of the blackout, and long before when cars weren't as safe as they are now, and with better medical treatment as sqad pointed out.

[anotheoldgit]

hc4361

Neither did I say you were bullying me, please don't flatter yourself.

[Mamyalynne]

There is nothing new really, the flowers aside public mourning/grief has a long history - I think for a good part of the last century the country had a lot of other things to cope with.

http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=33227

[237SJ]

I think it is just a mark of respect and like most trends, it catches on

[anotheoldgit]

237SJ

Those two lines of yours just about sums it up perfectly.

Yes increasing trends, perhaps the subject of another thread maybe?

[Samjenko]

EcclesCake// As you began and finished your initial sentence with 'Why' I have nothing to add.

You do like to nitpick.....//

^That's got to be the funniest post of the week. Lol.

[naomi24]

No, laying flowers isn’t the same as praying. Atheists don’t do anything that equates to praying, and if they bow their heads it is as a mark of respect for the deceased.

I regard laying flowers simply as an expression of sorrow and sympathy – nothing more – and religion isn’t required to experience those emotions.

[emmie]

when my o/h passed away i asked if people could donate money to charity like MacMillans, but some brought flowers anyway, his wasn't a religious service either.

[Peter Pedant]

// Can we have a sensible debate o... once again into a criticism of my choice of subject, headline or whatever? //

oh that is an easy one - no of course not this is AB for chrissakes

the other question - flowers are cheaper ? nowadays

[Peter Pedant]

a string of complete non sequiturs masquerading as - a bunch of flowers

//Sorry about that, I didn't realise that, but apart from 1924, (I wasn't around then), my only excuse must be because I did not witness so many flowers by the road side, so I wrongfully assumed that there wasn't so many road deaths, // o lardy lardy !

(I wasn't around then) - so that accounts why you think Elizabeth I had six husbands .... (because you werent around to count them and it could have been seven... or nil)

// I did not witness so many flowers by the road side, so I wrongfully assumed that there wasn't so many road deaths//

erm no sorry - if you are concluding that we have become more flowery for each death over the last century then for the same ( or less ) deaths you would expect MORE flowers.

If you say we have become MORE floral over time- then it is not possible to conclude anything about the number of deaths from the amount of flowers over time.

Actually I think Mama's Brief History of Mourning contains the explanation.

altho there have been public outbursts of mourning - queen astrid of belgium's was one 1935 and springs to mind but is now largely forgotten ( as big as Di's)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrid_of_Sweden#Queen

mourning and death (says the mama's article) have moved from being a private event in the last fifty year of the last century to a much more public one - and this would be reflected in more flowers as tributes from those who are not close to the family


dja know why you keep seeing these in antique shops?
http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/broughttolife/objects/display?id=4111
He gave it away free out the back door to the poor -
so .... when he died in 1834 between 3000 - 5000 attended his funeral in Bridport and mainly walked there from various parts of the country.
[generating complaints about immigrants still heard today]

[New Judge]

"I think it was happening long before Diana."

I don't recall it happening to such a degree. Unfortunately, the day "The People's Princess" died was the day that vast swathes of the UK population collectively lost its marbles and the effects are still ongoing.

[jno]

ah, Diana's death explains Brexit?

[douglas9401]

I put the blame squarely at the doors of Aldi for supplying excellent, long lasting blooms at affordable prices.
Their New Zealand Pinot Gris is excellent for a toast too.

[jno]

aog, are you talking about people leaving floral tributes after the death of someone they don't know? I'm not sure that happens very often. The royals are always going to be an exception, as the queues to pay last respects to the Queen Mother while her body lay in state suggests. I don't think that's usual, though; most flowers are left by friends and relatives fo the deased.

[trt]

Flowers, beer, vodka and fags, outside Amy Winehouse house.

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=flowers+left+outside+amy+winehouse+house&safe=active&client=firefox-b&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&;sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwilgr2n4_TSAhWJLcAKHenvAs8Q7AkIKA&biw=864&bih=378

[andy-hughes]

I am inclined to agree with AOG's suggestion that the amount and frequency of flower tributes to mark a death does appear to have increased in the days since Princess Diana's death.

I think the scale on which it happened there was simply due to the affection in which she was held, coupled with the enormity of shock felt by the populace, which usually leads to a need to express that shock.

It does not appear that such mass outpourings of grief appear for 'ordinary' people - they tend to be confined to people who knew the deceased.

It's not something I would do, but I don't have an issue with anything that doesn't hurt others that people do to make themselves feel better.

As an atheist, I do not believe it is a substitute for praying, more likely a gesture of respect.