Why shouldnt we eat our dead.?

Question

As a method of removing the excess dead why can we not eat them. We arent hunting them we are just becoming efficient and far from barbaric.

No, a natural method not raw meat, cooked just natural.

Thank you it was for a school project.

What about human cadavers, that are used for research. ( This is where everything comes from)

Answer 1

From a technical point of view there is little differnece between meat from animals and people. for one to argue that it would be okay, one must overlook the fact that humans are vastly superior to animals, hence there are ceremonies honoring and burrying the dead.

Answer 2

Anthropophagi (cannibalism) is a long held societal taboo in the civilized world.

I don't know if you have ever been in the presence of a fresh corpse, but it overwhelms the rational and balanced human being with a tremendous sense of reverence. You sense the dead body is a sacred temple to be treated with utmost respect, and it is not to be defiled.

A society that plummets into anthropophagic behavior is most likely an inhumane, if not diabolical, society seduced by the darkness of a "death culture" where Humankind is reduced to the lowest common denominator, a disposable commodity. In modern times, Nazism and the atrocities of the Auschwitz Death Camp are, perhaps, the closest comparison to what you are proposing that I can cite. I visited the Nazi concentration camp, Dachau, and entered into the crematorium there. Though the facility has been cleaned, scrubbed down and sterilized, and though the atrocities of incinerated human corpses had ceased for 43 years, the repulsive, rancid and putrid odor of burnt human flesh actually continues to this day to permeate from the concrete, stone and wood of the crematorium. Many of my fellow traveling companions were immediately overwhelmed with a sense of morbid horror and broke down into emotional tears. Believe me, the repulsive smell of burnt (or cooked) human flesh is far from appetizing.

Lastly, the devouring of deceased human flesh would be entirely unhealthy for human consumption due to the diseases that caused the fatality of the corpses. In cases where the dead may have been victims of death by natural causes or an automobile accident, hidden diseases, viruses, bacteria and impurities may exist. Would you ingest flesh contaminated with AIDS, cancer, Ebola, gonorrhea, tumors, E. coli bacteria, tuberculosis, etc.? I think not.

Answer 3

Halloween joke? No, school, Okay. You mean besides the moral problem? People would find it the most offensive idea possible. It is undesirable because of disease and a very real health care concern? What kind of person would do it? Alive. Remember the movie about the plane crash in the middle of no where. People got to the point where there was no choice. Good luck with your project.

Answer 4

We don't eat our dead because God has given us the ability to have love and respect. Every religion has a way to respect its dead, burial, cremation etc. Every person is someones father or mother or brother or sister or son or daughter or husband or wife and their respective family member would for sure won't want someone who they spend their lives with to be eaten.

I am also not sure what you mean by excess dead? Are you saying theres no more room to bury people? Also, I not only think its barbaric but beyond barbaric to eat a human.

Answer 5

Hi Matthew,

Odd school project! It looks like it's really grossed people out. Scientifically, most humans die from disease of one sort or another. Most of the animals that are hunted are healthy or they woudn't be alive because other animals would've chased 'em down and killed them. People on the other hand typically die from cancer or heart disease or any other host of illness that we simply should not ingest into our own bodies. I've heard from some esotericists that diseased bodies shouldn't even be buried for fear or their disease ending up in the soil, the plant life and so on. They suggest cremation could help erase some diseases from the planet.
The primary reason for not eating our dead is due to morals and ethics. Civilized people respect the bodies of the dead and treat them with dignity.

Answer 6

Umm...because it's disgusting?!

Actually though I've heard of tribes that drink the ashes of their dead as a sign of respect, to keep their elders with them, to be at one with them. But I don't think this is quite the same as turning your loved ones into steak!

I think it's important to value human life & respect it as something sacred. If you start looking at "the dead" as just cadavers & pieces of meat it dehumanizes us. How can you speak of efficiency when you're talking about human bodies? It is barbaric in my eyes. It's horrifying. I don't think cannibalism is the answer to saving real estate in cemeteries. Cremation would be a preferable option and is more common these days.

I don't believe in hunting. I actually feel bad about eating meat at all. I don't eat that much. Mostly limited to chicken. Not much red meat. & I could never eat animals such as lamb, rabbit, deer (venison) or moose which I've heard of people doing because I don't think of these animals as being raised on farms for food. I think of them differently. In the same way I could certainly NEVER consider eating human flesh. Even if it was a matter of survival (such as that plane crash where people resorted to cannibalism out of starvation). I'd rather starve to death, literally. I haven't even eaten pork since I learned that it is the closest meat to human flesh. Disturbing.

Answer 7

It just really has to do with our MODERN day sence of hygen and sanitation, i guess if you were immune to it yeah, but it really just has to do with society , and society says eeeeeeeehhhhhhh. if you want to eat the dead, there is this religion, i think part of like the indian culture and it is refured to as the left habd of "what ever there gods nam if" but they eat the dead, not like all of it but a bit to show there devoton, they are no what we call canibles. i guess all inall i has to do with what 1 you believe is right and 2 your stomach level. but please do not try it in Am , it is illeglal, and i would suggest not trying it in anytoehr country because i don't know there laws, oh, stranger
Good question though
Hope his Helps:)

This reminds me of a monty pithon skit, with the British navy and how they are in a life boat and are divideing everybody up to eat so they an all live. i is quit funny

Also cadavers(not spelled right i know) volunteer to have their bodies used for research and science. i guess who could look at it that was with eating some one
but hey this was a good quetsion
and controversy is GOOD

Answer 8

Because most societies went to cannibalism due to a lack of protein in their diet, that is not a problem in most societies. Also the transfer of diseases would create problems, unless you are planning on eating the healthy. Plus it creates a lot of moral and ethical problems. (maybe I should have listed that first.)

Answer 9

I'm about to have a ham sandwich. That's sopposed to taste like human flesh. Nah, I'll stick to the ham.

Hey, just wondering if that would include road kill ???

Answer 10

Would YOU eat a dead person? It's what makes people different from vultures. It has something to do with morals, I think.