Body Farm

[Enoch]

My brother told me yetareday that a man who goes to his church (non-denom) has signed up to be a corpse at “body farm” after he dies.

A body farm is a research facility where human decomposition after death can be scientifically studied in a variety of settings. The aim is to gain a better understanding of the decomposition process, permitting the development of techniques for extracting information (such as the timing and circumstances of death) from human remains. Body farm research is particularly important within forensic anthropology and related disciplines, and has applications in the fields of law enforcement, medical examination and crime scene investigation.

From what I understand you have to be in the field within 24 hours after you die so they can start watching you being eaten by animals and decompose. So it doesn’t leave any time for a funeral and not much time for a wake.

So does the end justify the means in this case?

 

[nannygirl]

Several of us got into a discussion about this one day and we all concluded it was a disrepectful way to treat a human who is made in the image of God. God knows who has committed all the crimes so ultimately no one will ever get away with it.

 

[onetimeposter]

The science from this research could convict a murdered in court. The person is freely volunteering their corpse for the research and once their dead, they won’t need their body anymore.

In that regard, it sounds fine. I wouldn’t volunteer my body for it mind you.

 

[Cari]

Seems to me that in this non-denominational group, funerals aren’t a big deal. So, for him, the ends justify the means, as we can assume this man doesn’t understand/embrace the dignity of the human body in the same way we as Catholics do, but he sees himself as possibly helping solve some future crime. Seems a stretch to me, personally.

Speaking as a Catholic, I say gross, in a hygienic, spiritual, and “ick factor” sort of way. Besides which, I can’t imagine that, given today’s technological advances, some computer genius somewhere can’t write a program that takes the knowledge of decomposition rates we already have and plugs them into situation X, Y, or Z.