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<blockquote data-quote="Bluebell" data-source="post: 8569162" data-attributes="member: 7034545">I think the key here, if we were to extrapolate that into a culture that's permissive of undead, is to look at when and how use of corpses is considered acceptable. In modern times, there are strict rules around organ donation, for example. Harvesting somebody's organs must be done only with their explicit permission prior to their deaths. Consent and bodily autonomy are huge driving principles behind how modern secular culture approaches the dead, even though the person in question is no longer present to care about what happens to their body. On the other hand, some historical societies have considered certain people acceptable to use for such utilitarian purposes as medical study regardless of whether those people consent. Namely, prison populations. I'm imagining a culture of necromantic wizards who operate under the strict principle that only the worst criminals are deserving of the indignity of having their bones reanimated. To see a skeleton walking around is to know that this is all that's left of what was once a notorious murderer. I think a system of donation of the dead could definitely be a valid way to go. It raises a lot of questions about, for instance, whether only the wealthy are afforded the dignity of a restful death. To the last point, the topic of human remains being displayed in museums is actually a huge point of contention among Indigenous peoples who have had their burial sites raided by colonialism. Even a centuries-old burial site might have people who care if it is disturbed.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Bluebell, post: 8569162, member: 7034545"] I think the key here, if we were to extrapolate that into a culture that's permissive of undead, is to look at when and how use of corpses is considered acceptable. In modern times, there are strict rules around organ donation, for example. Harvesting somebody's organs must be done only with their explicit permission prior to their deaths. Consent and bodily autonomy are huge driving principles behind how modern secular culture approaches the dead, even though the person in question is no longer present to care about what happens to their body. On the other hand, some historical societies have considered certain people acceptable to use for such utilitarian purposes as medical study regardless of whether those people consent. Namely, prison populations. I'm imagining a culture of necromantic wizards who operate under the strict principle that only the worst criminals are deserving of the indignity of having their bones reanimated. To see a skeleton walking around is to know that this is all that's left of what was once a notorious murderer. I think a system of donation of the dead could definitely be a valid way to go. It raises a lot of questions about, for instance, whether only the wealthy are afforded the dignity of a restful death. To the last point, the topic of human remains being displayed in museums is actually a huge point of contention among Indigenous peoples who have had their burial sites raided by colonialism. Even a centuries-old burial site might have people who care if it is disturbed. [/QUOTE]

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