I saw this bumper-sticker in the parking lot at SCC (I had some time to kill, and went searching for this very reason).
I photoshopped the hell out of it, because of the glare in the original photo.
(I like disclosing these things, it makes me feel more honest)
Anyway
I recently read an article linking cannibalism to atheism. The argument goes that if there is no god, then there is of course no significance to being human. If there is no significance to humanity, humanity is not sacred. If humanity is not sacred, what's the point of not eating another human?
Needless to say, I wasn't impressed with this argument.
I think there is an important aspect in that argument. Not the G-d part but the part about humanity. I read this book called The Omnivore's Dilemma and some of it went into the idea of cannibalism. That because we are a species that can eat anything, what kind of laws or customs do we have to put in place so we don't each other? Cultural norms about what we eat really come down to issues of safety. There are so many things you can eat that will kill you and its through culture that we've come to recognize that we can eat rhubarb stalks but not the leaves (as an example). Eating another human is an issue of safety for yourself and also for the species since some diseases have been known to develop in cannibalistic societies.
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