Sorry for eating those four British missionaries, say cannibals

tamarin

House Member
Jun 12, 2006
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Cannibalism has enormous social stigma. (And isn't that the job of stigma to isolate and expunge undesirable behaviour?) Yet, it's easily resurrected. Whether in the throws of winter in war-besieged Russian cities or towns or amongst doomed plane survivors in the Andes the old taboos return and flourish.
Is it true we taste like chicken?
 

lone wolf

Grossly Underrated
Nov 25, 2006
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In the bush near Sudbury
I suppose they didn't have Tums back then....

Seriously, why apologize? Among most cannibals, if it wasn't to stave off starvation, it was a show of greatest respect.

Wolf
 

karrie

OogedyBoogedy
Jan 6, 2007
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Cannibalism has enormous social stigma. (And isn't that the job of stigma to isolate and expunge undesirable behaviour?) Yet, it's easily resurrected. Whether in the throws of winter in war-besieged Russian cities or towns or amongst doomed plane survivors in the Andes the old taboos return and flourish.
Is it true we taste like chicken?

Might I also point out that cannibalism as a choice is what's frowned upon. Killing a person to eat them. But eating the bodies of the dead in order to survive is another ball game, and not unanimously considered the same as 'being a cannibal.'
 

tamarin

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Jun 12, 2006
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Is that like the choice between being a hawk and being a vulture?

I should think if you eat human flesh the jury would agree you're a cannibal.
 

karrie

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Jan 6, 2007
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Is that like the choice between being a hawk and being a vulture?

I should think if you eat human flesh the jury would agree you're a cannibal.

The whole point of not eating human flesh has to do with the sanctity of human life. I'm sorry, but the lives of the survivors of a plane wreck matter more than the body of someone who didn't survive.

It's not a unanimously agreed upon definition when it comes to absolute necessity for survival. If a jury is made up of one's peers, I'd have to assume I'm not the only one who views it that way.
 

tamarin

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Jun 12, 2006
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It's a question ripe for speculation, Karrie.
I'm sure we all would, given privation and circumstance, commit the ultimate taboo.
Then there's the haunting conundrum about possible challenges in the future. If you were to live in a world devoid of food would it be immoral to hunt your own for survival?
 

YoungJoonKim

Electoral Member
Aug 19, 2007
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Eating human corpse in order to survive...

I wouldn't eat my mother who died of hunger, I would bury her and die later.
Thank you.
 

tamarin

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Jun 12, 2006
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Kim, you have a developed social conscience and morality. Most of us don't. Most of us walk the walk and talk the talk but we don't care what's in our hamburg. We just want to see the sun rise tomorrow.
Is this why HP is still our favourite sauce?
 

YoungJoonKim

Electoral Member
Aug 19, 2007
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I haven't developed my social conscience...fully.
I don't think so because I buy products that I know it was from sweatshop.
But since most of the product I see in market is from some kind of sweatshop...I don't know what I do.

I suppose, according to you, we are still far away from reaching so-called "civilized" society that is with social conscience and morality.
 

Unforgiven

Force majeure
May 28, 2007
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I haven't developed my social conscience...fully.
I don't think so because I buy products that I know it was from sweatshop.
But since most of the product I see in market is from some kind of sweatshop...I don't know what I do.

I suppose, according to you, we are still far away from reaching so-called "civilized" society that is with social conscience and morality.

You're on the right path. Understand that sometimes it isn't always possible to do the right thing. But if you always try to do the right thing, then you will arrive at the best possible solution even if it isn't the perfect one.
 

Twila

Nanah Potato
Mar 26, 2003
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The whole point of not eating human flesh has to do with the sanctity of human life.

I wonder how much of the "taboo" is actually based on forgotten knowledge. We know today that eating your own kind cause diseases of the brain. Cow eating cow cases mad cow. It works that way for almost all animals. So I wonder if the knowledge of why had been passed down but subsequently forgotten?

Much of why certain religions perform certain food rights or don't eat certain foods is actually a good healthy practice for the times that they were done.