Cav's Place

I already knew about this when I last wrote about the idiotic things that pass for morality, but there was no way to fit it in. I’m talking about the Manchester Museum supposedly taking into account the complaints of a “significant minority” of visitors and covering up mummies, because those visitors were offended by the display and considered it undignified for the mummies. They seem to still be accepting comments on the official blog post about this issue, but they have covered them before asking for such comments.
Need I say I’m baffled? I keep saying this lately, but this world we live in can only shock anybody who is still determined to think we’re in any way inclined to attempt proving that intelligence that we accuse ourselves of possessing. People use their supposed “morals” to justify so many idiotic things and this certainly isn’t new, it’s been done since somebody “invented” the concept.

I have to wonder what’s there to see in a covered mummy? What’s the point of keeping them on display at all? How can a museum, which is supposed to offer people the chance to see as much as possible, condone something like this?
But the real issue is another: Close-minded people insist on imposing their views on everyone else. And they do that because they can, because they’re allowed to. So the real question is why, why are they allowed to do this?

The way I see it, the issue is very simple. If you are bothered by seeing a naked mummy, you should not go to the area where they’re exhibited. Of course, the museum would have to arrange their exhibits in such a way that a person who would be bothered by passing through the area where the mummies are would not be required to do so in order to see something else. That’s simply common sense and it takes into account a lot more than the “nakedness” of the mummies. After all, quite a lot of people could be bothered by the sight of a dead body in that state, whether it’s naked or not.
But what’s being done is not reasonable in any way. We’re not talking about a minority’s right to protect themselves so they won’t be required to see what they don’t want to see, we’re talking about some people forcing others to bend to their will. It’s not a question of majority or minority, it’s simply a question of freedom. They should have the right not to see those naked mummies and the rest should have the right to see them as they are, simple as that. I don’t know how the museum is organized, but the only thing that’s required is not needing to pass through that area in order to reach another.

There is another aspect to this, though. Some of those complaints have argued that displaying the mummies in such a way is “undignified” for those people. If you take it from that point of view, some may think the complaints justified, but we’re talking about those with strange views. And no, the fact that they’re common doesn’t make them less strange.
Medicine is based on studying the human body, skeletons analyzed, necropsies performed, and let’s not forget about the virtual human body models that accurately represent their real models. If any such display is wrong, then they all are and medicine would still be in the stone age! Not to mention that if the display of a human body is wrong, then whether it’s covered in bandages or not makes little difference.
For the display of the body to be an offense to the deceased person’s dignity, that person would have to still be connected to that body, be aware of what’s being done to it. So the question is quite simple: Do any of those who complain about this have strong personal views that support the idea that a person’s soul (since it’s the only thing that would survive the death of the body and still be aware, which is a requirement in order to be offended) stays connected to the body even after death? And we’re talking about a very long time after death, thousands of years!

That’s really all there is to say about this… But since I’m on the topic of morality and have mentioned my previous post on this issue, I want to say I’m glad that the whole “nurses posing next to patient” scandal has been sorted in the reasonable manner. They have finally tracked the man down and asked him if he’s bothered by it. He said he isn’t and that he actually talked about this with those nurses before going into surgery. He also said that he intends to sue the tabloid that brought up the issue. So there will be no further action taken against those nurses, though investigators said they still somewhat reproach one of them because she had pictures taken of herself alone next to the patient’s bed, not as a group. But the fact remains that they were pressured into resigning initially and will have to find a job in another hospital now. The good news is that it seems they already have offers.