A Buddhist Outlook

You may wonder whether there is sound cannibalism. Don't. In the Apannaka Sutra, Buddha says there are four types of individuals in the world. These are extracts:

1. One sort torments and tortures himself.
2. Another sort torments others, but not himself. - A butcher, a fisherman, an executioner [etc.].
3. Another kind torments and tortures himself, and also others.
4. A fourth sort torments and tortures neither himself nor others. He lives in the here-and-now, sensitive to happiness, with an uplifted mind.

Gross Cannibalism and Christian Sacraments

"The bread that comes down from heaven a man may eat and not die. I am the living bread. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh."

The other Jews, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?"

Jesus said to them, "Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.

One who feeds on me will live because of me. He who feeds on this bread will live forever.

Flesh counts for nothing."

From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him. [John 6:50-66, rendered]

Mumbo jumbo rituals

There is gross cannibalism and mumbo jumbo rituals to deal with. In many mythologies, cannibalism is most often attributed to evil characters or as extreme retribution for some wrong. Hansel and Gretel in the Grimm tale did not accept cannibalism. The children burnt alive the gruesome woman who had trapped them to eat them, but did not eat her. Instead, they got away with all her treasures.

Hindu mythology describes evil demons called "asura" or "rakshasa" that dwell in the forests and practice extreme violence including devouring their own kind. [Clh, index]

Cannibalism is the practice of humans eating the flesh of other human beings. Cannibalism was widespread in the past among humans throughout the world. Neanderthals are believed to have practiced cannibalism.

Cannibalism is often the eating an enemy, and eating humans in times of extreme distress.

In the Christian tradition, cannibalism is symbolically represented in the form of communion and the Eucharist. John 6:50-66 and several other passages serve to legitimise the form of cannibalism that goes on in what is called Holy Communion. Catholics teach that the Eucharist is literal, Protestants do not. Catholics are made to believe that the bread and wine cease to be bread and wine and become instead the "Most Precious Body and Blood".

To sum up, the Eucharist is a kind of religious ritual in many Christian churches according to "Gnaw on my flesh and drink my blood," said by Jesus, as literally translated - Also, "Chew on my flesh" or "crunch my flesh with your teeth".

Examples of eating others to compare with

Reports of cannibalism were recorded during the First Crusade. Crusaders fed on the bodies of their dead opponents after a siege.

In colonial Jamestown, colonists resorted to cannibalism during a period known as the Starving Time, from 1609-1610. After food supplies were diminished, some colonists began to dig up corpses for food. During this time period, one man confessed to killing his pregnant wife, salting, and eating her, before being burned alive as punishment.

Cannibalism has been practiced as a last resort by people suffering from famine. In 1972, a plane crashed in the Andes. The survivors consisted of a rugby team from Montevideo and some of their family members. They took to eating one another while entrapped at the crash site. The story of the survivors was chronicled.

Japanese soldiers ate Allied prisoners of war. It was done "by whole squads and under the command of officers," tells a historian. It is also testified that in New Guinea, "the Japanese started selecting prisoners and every day one prisoner was taken out and killed and eaten by the soldiers. I personally saw this happen and about 100 prisoners were eaten at this place by the Japanese. [At] another spot 50 miles away . . . the Japanese again started selecting prisoners to eat. Those selected were taken to a hut where their flesh was cut from their bodies while they were alive and they were thrown into a ditch where they later died."

The Japanese took to ritual cannibalisation of the livers of freshly-killed prisoners, and also the cannibalisation-for-sustenance of living prisoners over the course of several days, amputating limbs only as needed to keep the meat fresh.

Cannibalism occurred in China during the Great Leap Forward when rural China was hit hard by drought and famine. Reports of cannibalism during the Cultural Revolution in China have also emerged. The reports show that cannibalism was practiced for ideological purposes.

During the Liberian president Charles Taylor's war crimes trial on March 13, 2008, his chief of operations and head of Taylor's alleged "death squad", accused Taylor of ordering his soldiers to commit acts of cannibalism against enemies, including peacekeepers and United Nations personnel.

Christian Communion

A Last Supper with bread and wine is talked of in the gospels of Matthew 26:26-28, Mark 14:22-24, and Luke 22:17-20; and in 1 Corinthians 11:23-29, apart from the dialogue in John 6 (above).

The Eucharist, also called Holy Communion ("Fellowship"), The Lord's Supper, and other names, is a Christian sacrament or covenant that is rooted in the story of the final meal that Jesus shared with his remaining disciples before he was arrested and executed as a blaspheming criminal.

In the story, Jesus gives his disciples bread, saying, "This is my body," and wine, saying, "This is my blood".

There are nuances of interpretation of the Eucharist with its differing claims as to the bread and wine used. Different denominations hold different interpretations and also practice it differently.

Did not Jesus want to remain whole? Well, what seems pretty sure, is that you won't find any red meat in the Eucharist wafer, no matter what you think. Support your integrity in inconspicuous ways and retreat from "extremist and slapstick cannibals" around just to stay safe.

It is unsafe to place faith in figurative practices, so get nourishing, well balanced and fruitful bites, rather.

[Article sources include: Wikipedia s.v., "Cannibalism," "Eucharist".]