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Cannibalism

Eddi

Agnostic
Premium Member
I have an observation....

As far as I am aware no religion that I know of explicitly forbids cannibalism.

Why?

And does this mean it's OK?

And if it is wrong, why?

What is actually wrong with cannibalism?

And no, I am not a cannibal and neither do I condone the practice indeed I find it distasteful, but don't know why. I suppose I just do.....
 

Brian2

Veteran Member
I have an observation....

As far as I am aware no religion that I know of explicitly forbids cannibalism.

Why?

And does this mean it's OK?

And if it is wrong, why?

What is actually wrong with cannibalism?

And no, I am not a cannibal and neither do I condone the practice indeed I find it distasteful, but don't know why. I suppose I just do.....

Most people find it distasteful but it could be useful when starving to death (an extreme circumstance) but even then many people would condemn it.
I imagine it would not be kosher to eat someone who has died without draining the blood. That could make it against Jewish and Islamic law.
To drain the blood properly would probably mean that you would have to kill the person in an appropriate way, meaning murder also.
 

Jayhawker Soule

-- untitled --
Premium Member
I imagine it would not be kosher to eat someone who has died without draining the blood. That could make it against Jewish and Islamic law.
To drain the blood properly would probably mean that you would have to kill the person in an appropriate way, meaning murder also.
(Imaginations surrounding Jewish law offered by a few Christians are oft times curiously awkward and shallow. It's not amusing.)
 

Erebus

Well-Known Member
I have an observation....

As far as I am aware no religion that I know of explicitly forbids cannibalism.

Why?

And does this mean it's OK?

And if it is wrong, why?

What is actually wrong with cannibalism?

And no, I am not a cannibal and neither do I condone the practice indeed I find it distasteful, but don't know why. I suppose I just do.....

The Fore people of Papua New Guinea used to practice funerary cannibalism. They ended up suffering from kuru, a degenerative illness contracted from eating infected brains. That's one good reason to avoid eating human brains, delicious though they may be.

Beyond that, the morality of cannibalism is really a matter of culture. If you grew up in a culture that treats cannibalism as a taboo, it will be difficult to shake your revulsion towards it. Since it's also usually illegal,* you have a good incentive to abide by that taboo.

*Fun fact: Cannibalism in the UK is technically legal in that there's no law that explicitly forbids eating human meat. However, actually acquiring the meat in the first place would almost always be illegal unless you're willing to chop off one of your own limbs. I would advise against doing that though.
 

dybmh

דניאל יוסף בן מאיר הירש
As far as I am aware no religion that I know of explicitly forbids cannibalism.
In Judaism, it's explicitly forbidden. Meat for eating comes from grazing animals.
What is actually wrong with cannibalism?
From a religious perspective, it is degrading to the form/likeness of God.

From a primitive spiritual perspective, you are what you eat. Your spirit is effected by what you eat. Grazing herd animals are generally peaceful and submissive to the group. Eating them is ok, because peace and community are valued. Eating the herd animal concentrates and encourages these spiritual attributes.

Predators are not eaten, because humans are already apex predators capable of tremendous harm. Eating humans concentrates these predatory, unfavorable character traits similar to how incest can concentrate unfavorable genetics. So in theory, eating humans would result in murderers, rapists, and warlords.
 

Quintessence

Consults with Trees
Staff member
Premium Member
It is really depressing to consider the fact that human would be by far the most ethically treated meat on the market, were it available. In regards to how the people are treated when they are alive, it is literally more ethical to eat human than any other animal. The flip.
 

Daemon Sophic

Avatar in flux
I believe that there are edicts in Orthodox Judaism and some Buddhism that does not allow for "degrading" or "mutilating" etc...of a dead human body; so that would effectively outlaw cannibalism in those groups.
The funerary cannibalism that @Erebus mentioned in post #4 is actually considered a celebration of /honoring of/memorializing a decedent. A small piece of their body, specifically a piece of brain, would be consumed prior to disposing of the body. In that way, it was actually encouraged. Once the prion diseases (like the aforementioned Kuru) were discovered :eek: that practice had to be stopped. :rolleyes:
 

wellwisher

Well-Known Member
I have an observation....

As far as I am aware no religion that I know of explicitly forbids cannibalism.

Why?

And does this mean it's OK?

And if it is wrong, why?

What is actually wrong with cannibalism?

And no, I am not a cannibal and neither do I condone the practice indeed I find it distasteful, but don't know why. I suppose I just do.....

Carnivores typically eat animals that eat plants. Carnivores do not typically eat each other. They may fight and kill each other, but not for food. Human eat cows, chickens, lamb. Pork is not treated the same in all cultures since pigs are omnivores while the rest are vegetarians. Most cultures do not eat cat and dog since both are carnivores.

The unspoken rule in nature is carnivore meat is to be avoided, since it is more likely to be infected with disease and parasites. Lions, for example, go after the weak and sickly since they are easier to catch. This causes their diet to be somewhat compromised, compared to a gazelle that eats healthy live grass.

Since humans are omnivores, and will eat meat, the natural rule applies and humans are treated as carnivores; compromised meat. But humans have will and choice and can choose unnatural behavior. Some may even rationalize it as the new normal. Most people maintain the natural code and avoid cannibalism, except when this is the lessor of two evil; starving to death.

Some cultures will eat predator animals like dogs and lions. This is often done for male fertility. The risk against the natural taboo seems to create a placebo enhancement.
 

paarsurrey

Veteran Member
I have an observation....

As far as I am aware no religion that I know of explicitly forbids cannibalism.

Why?

And does this mean it's OK?

And if it is wrong, why?

What is actually wrong with cannibalism?

And no, I am not a cannibal and neither do I condone the practice indeed I find it distasteful, but don't know why. I suppose I just do.....

Quran 49:13
یٰۤاَیُّہَا الَّذِیۡنَ اٰمَنُوا اجۡتَنِبُوۡا کَثِیۡرًا مِّنَ الظَّنِّ ۫ اِنَّ بَعۡضَ الظَّنِّ اِثۡمٌ وَّلَا تَجَسَّسُوۡا وَلَا یَغۡتَبۡ بَّعۡضُکُمۡ بَعۡضًا ؕ اَیُحِبُّ اَحَدُکُمۡ اَنۡ یَّاۡکُلَ لَحۡمَ اَخِیۡہِ مَیۡتًا فَکَرِہۡتُمُوۡہُ ؕ وَاتَّقُوا اللّٰہَ ؕ اِنَّ اللّٰہَ تَوَّابٌ رَّحِیۡمٌ ﴿۱۳﴾
(English Translation - by Sher Ali)
"O ye who believe! avoid most of suspicions; for suspicion in some cases is a sin. And spy not, nor back-bite one another. Would any of you like to eat the flesh of his brother who is dead? Certainly you would loathe it. And fear Allah, surely, Allah is Oft-Returning with compassion and is Merciful."
Holy Quran: Read, Listen and Search
Right?

Regards
________
Note for the " Religion: Christian", please:
"(Jesus) Yeshua- the Israelite Messiah did not and could not die a cursed death on the Cross", to atone the sins of anybody, one gets to know from many clues in the Gospels itself, please. Right?
 
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Alien826

No religious beliefs
Carnivores typically eat animals that eat plants. Carnivores do not typically eat each other. They may fight and kill each other, but not for food. Human eat cows, chickens, lamb. Pork is not treated the same in all cultures since pigs are omnivores while the rest are vegetarians. Most cultures do not eat cat and dog since both are carnivores.

Coincidentally, I just watched a program about cheetahs on the Serengeti. Only about 5% of young cheetahs grow to adulthood and some of these losses are attributed to being killed and eaten by lions and other predators. Some time ago I saw a program where a leopard was killed and eaten by a tiger. It seems that predators do eat other predators. Meat is meat.

I would say that cheetahs eat gazelles because they don't fight back.

I'm afraid a lot of dogs are eaten in some Eastern countries. And as we have seen in the Covid pandemic, they eat all kinds of wild creatures and don't seem to care whether they are predators or not.
 

stvdv

Veteran Member: I Share (not Debate) my POV
From a primitive spiritual perspective, you are what you eat. Your spirit is effected by what you eat. Grazing herd animals are generally peaceful and submissive to the group. Eating them is ok
Nowadays 95% (my guess) of meat which is consumed in the West comes from stressed animals

Hence from a Spiritual POV not proper food.

Anyway for a Spiritual person vegetarian diet is preferable...first diet granted to men by God (Genesis diet...even vegan)
 

Father Heathen

Veteran Member
It is really depressing to consider the fact that human would be by far the most ethically treated meat on the market, were it available. In regards to how the people are treated when they are alive, it is literally more ethical to eat human than any other animal. The flip.
Even via hunting?
 

Quintessence

Consults with Trees
Staff member
Premium Member
Even via hunting?

I can't remember the last time I ate meat that was hunted, with the exception of seafood that is wild caught (aka, hunted). Back before factory farming, yeah, it'd have been more of a tossup. Animals allowed to just live their lives, basically, enriched of their own accords before being sacrificed so that we may live.
 

Jayhawker Soule

-- untitled --
Premium Member
It was not meant to be amusing but also not offensive.
Nevertheless, it was an outrageous bit of faux pedantry that was ignorant at best. Perhaps you would benefit from Googling "pikuach nefesh" and thoughtfully considering what you find.
 

Subduction Zone

Veteran Member
Most people find it distasteful but it could be useful when starving to death (an extreme circumstance) but even then many people would condemn it.
I imagine it would not be kosher to eat someone who has died without draining the blood. That could make it against Jewish and Islamic law.
To drain the blood properly would probably mean that you would have to kill the person in an appropriate way, meaning murder also.
Even if properly drained of blood people would not be kosher or halal. For mammals they need to be hooved, those hoofs must be split. And they must chew their cud.
 

Brian2

Veteran Member
Nevertheless, it was an outrageous bit of faux pedantry that was ignorant at best. Perhaps you would benefit from Googling "pikuach nefesh" and thoughtfully considering what you find.

When I read my post 2 again I do notice that it was meant to be a tongue in cheek post. Hence with my dry sense of humour.
I'm sorry if it offended you.
 

Secret Chief

nirvana is samsara
I have an observation....

As far as I am aware no religion that I know of explicitly forbids cannibalism.

Why?

And does this mean it's OK?

And if it is wrong, why?

What is actually wrong with cannibalism?

And no, I am not a cannibal and neither do I condone the practice indeed I find it distasteful, but don't know why. I suppose I just do.....
Too chewy. I imagine.
 
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