A custom or ritual that brings evil to the individual or the society would call for modification or even nullification

A custom or ritual that portends evil to the individual or the society as a whole would call for modification or even nullification..

But innocuous and friendly customs and practices need not be touched..

I really cannot understand what is wrong in being grateful to a relative or a friend who is no more present physically..

Of course we have to be grateful and affectionate to our parents, kin and friends, even when they are alive.

And theories about existence before birth and after death are all speculation and any amount of documentation would hardly make any difference..

Even fables and novels are documented, perhaps often well documented, and such documentation per se do not bestow any authenticity on such fiction.. ( We can think in terms of novels of Arthur Hailey, Robin Cook etc just to cite some well documented fiction.. )