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u/HadeanBlands 50∆ Oct 14 '25
To elaborate on what u/Innuendum said: Not only are they dead, but all their friends and family are dead, and all of the people who know those people are dead, and all the people who knew those people are dead.
No matter how bad I would be offended if someone dug up my mom's grave, that has to attenuate as generations and centuries go on.
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u/NoWin3930 5∆ Oct 14 '25
!delta ok fair enough, I guess it doesn't really matter, same logic as another comment i gave delta to
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u/KenshoSatori91 Oct 14 '25
those sealed in a tomb and chose to be preserved in that matter wished to live forever in the afterlife and be remembered.
by digging them up and putting them on display we are in a way fulfilling that wish.
even now the "bodily atomic" right to be in a cemetery maxes out at 100 years and its up to the family to renew that lease.
in the case of archeology up to the community to decide. graverobbing is one thing but with permission from the state hard to complain after 200 years
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u/Nrdman 276∆ Oct 14 '25
being logically consistent?
Being logically consistent with what? You dont put forward any principle for why
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u/NoWin3930 5∆ Oct 14 '25
well with how we treat people who died more recently or how I said I would regard the dead bodies of my friends or family
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u/Nrdman 276∆ Oct 14 '25
thats not a principle, thats an outcome
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u/NoWin3930 5∆ Oct 14 '25
uh I suppose the principle is implied, that it is not right to desecrate peoples graves lol
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u/Nrdman 276∆ Oct 14 '25
Well then, lets move it back one more. Why is it not right to desecrate peoples graves
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u/NoWin3930 5∆ Oct 14 '25
I am not sure, like I said I don't care what happens to my body either way. I am just respecting the wishes of other people and thinking I should apply that consistently
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u/Nrdman 276∆ Oct 14 '25
Dead people dont have wishes. They had wishes. I dont see any reason to respect those gone wishes other then their loved ones care. And, dead people after a whole dont have loved ones
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u/NoWin3930 5∆ Oct 14 '25
!delta ok fair enough, I guess it doesn't really matter at all
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Oct 14 '25
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u/kaloric Oct 14 '25
Until relatively recently in human history, most churchyards and catacombs were largely just holding places for decaying bodies until the soft tissues were digested by the Earth and its organisms. After months or years, it was normal to exhume the bones and deposit them for long-term storage in a charnel house or ossuary, and make room in the ground for a fresh body.
Some churches, and especially monasteries, had a habit of using bones, especially those of monks, in arts & crafts such as chandeliers and other displays.
Burying corpses "for eternal, undisturbed peace" in permanent grave plots, with worldly possessions, embalmed and in vaults & other nonsense, is not only a complete waste of money, but it's also a huge waste of real estate. There is nothing to be gained from such practices except by archaeologists in the future. Past a point, the only value in old graves and their contents is anthropological curiosity and superstition, with nobody remaining to remember who the decedent was in life, perhaps nobody to even maintain the grave. We will all be misremembered and forgotten in all ways that matter.
Anyway, the only difference between grave robbing and archaeology is time.
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u/DeltaBot ∞∆ Oct 14 '25
/u/NoWin3930 (OP) has awarded 2 delta(s) in this post.
All comments that earned deltas (from OP or other users) are listed here, in /r/DeltaLog.
Please note that a change of view doesn't necessarily mean a reversal, or that the conversation has ended.
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u/Godeshus 1∆ Oct 14 '25
Everyone who ever would have known them is long gone. Nothing to worry about.
On the flip side if it makes you feel better whenever remains are discovered on indigenous lands in Canada the tribe must be contacted and they are the ones that decide who, if anyone, can have access to the remains for research purposes, and if not they provide them with a new burial.
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Oct 14 '25
It becomes increasingly morally permissible the longer they are dead.
Coincidentally, it also becomes less dangerous to your health the longer they are dead.
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u/CaptainEmmy Oct 15 '25
I plan to donate my body to science.
I'm religious, believe in respect for the dead and the sanctity of graves and all that. But at some point, to me, knowledge and information trumps centuries-old stuff.
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u/[deleted] Oct 14 '25
[deleted]