Talk:Human cannibalism

only that the act of killing a person is a crime

I noticed that comment in the argument between editors. It is not actually true. There are also laws against grave desecration. The body snatching article also covers modern cases where the "mishandling of corpses", and the unauthorized harvesting of "human bones, organs, tissue" from cadavers before their cremation are punishable by law. The cannibalism itself may not be illegal in some jurisdictions, but mutilating corpses is a crime. Dimadick (talk) 04:18, 21 August 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Wouldn't it be for the WikiProject Crime to decide whether this article falls under its scope, which is defined as "criminology and a wide range of crime-related topics"? Considering that they say "wide range" I suppose one may well consider this article as falling under it.
A further complication arises from the fact that what constitutes a crime depends on the jurisdiction. Today, slavery is a crime nearly everywhere, but historically certain forms of it were often allowed and legal. Some cannibal acts, especially those committed by individual murderers, were doubtless criminal, while others – such as the consumption of killed enemies or the killing of captives or slaves for eating – seem horrific to us, but were accepted and normal in the societies where they took place. Yet others, such as the consumption of deceased relatives as a funerary rite, are illegal in many modern jurisdictions, but may be considered harmless enough in societies where this was the normal and honourable way of treating one's dead – not inherently worse than burial or cremation, just different. So is cannibalism a crime? It depends, as usual. Gawaon (talk) 07:44, 21 August 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Modern views

modern views seems to lean to one side of the argument. I dont see a religious or opposing ethical arguments in this section. Most positions reinforce the ones that come before. "It is hard to logically explain why cannibalism is taboo". Inayity (talk) 05:39, 29 November 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Well, Lu's text, at least, goes into another direction. I did research for that section and was somewhat surprised that the relevant texts I was able to find largely tend to go into the same direction – accepting non-deadly cannibalism at least when it's necessary for survival. Religious arguments are missing, though I don't think they'll be necessarily all that different – after the Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 crash, the Catholic Church accepted the resulting survival cannibalism given the circumstances, as far as I know. Anyway, if you find modern reliable sources arguing from a different perspective or reaching other conclusions, feel free to add them. Gawaon (talk) 06:47, 29 November 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Potentially non-neutral paragraph

Whilst reading through the article, came across this paragraph which seemed a touch unsourced, and too damning of a single perspective. Would anyone agree, or no?

'Some authors, who find it difficult to accept cannibalism as one of many possible human behaviours, but do not want to appear narrow-minded by openly condemning it, have responded with a "blanket disbelief in ritual [= not just exceptional] cannibalism". This stance superficially acknowledges cultural relativism, but avoids confronting the complex realities of diverse human experiences in other societies, the sometimes challenging "other ways of being human" that may including consuming the flesh of others'

Mostly the slight weasel-ness of "some authors" and the vaguely combative approach of teh rest of the paragraph, suggesting this perspective as "narrow-minded" and "avoid[ing] confronting... realities". Furthermore, the lack of citation for any of the quotes throughout the text, and the seeming nonsequitur of the conclusion - that these "some authors" who disbelief in ritual cannibalism cannot acknowledge that being human "may [include] consuming the flesh of others" which they obviously do believe in, just not in a ritual setting.

The whole paragraph rubs the wrong way in honesty, but I don't have the Wikipedia seniority to edit this as a restricted article, and I would appreciate another perspective. Sarcasmatbest87 (talk) 15:47, 25 December 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, it's poor content to be presented in Wikipedia's voice. The source at the end of the paragraph is a book, that I obviously cannot look at today. If the wording is from that author, that needs to be made more clear. Otherwise I would support deleting that passage. HiLo48 (talk) 23:35, 25 December 2025 (UTC)[reply]
The paragraph summarizes Nyamnjoh's argumentation, the source is credited as the end. So it's not Wikipedia's voice, nor intended as such. There's a "He notes" (referring to Nyamnjoh) in the sentence just before it and a "Nyamnjoh suggests" a bit later. Personally I don't think you need something like "XY says/argues/writes" in every sentence, that ruins the reading flow. But if you think that the reference to Nyamnjoh should be made clearer here, feel free to improve it. Gawaon (talk) 02:20, 26 December 2025 (UTC)[reply]
The content under discussion comes at the beginning of a new paragraph, AFTER the previous paragraph finished with a link to the source. That's exactly how something written in Wikipedia's voice would appear. It requires some sort of restructure. HiLo48 (talk) 02:29, 26 December 2025 (UTC)[reply]
I have rewritten the first two sentences in the paragraph to attribute them clearly to Nyamnjoh. Better now? Gawaon (talk) 03:02, 26 December 2025 (UTC)[reply]
Yes. Thank you. HiLo48 (talk) 03:15, 26 December 2025 (UTC)[reply]

New reports of Canniablism in Nigeria

Editors of this page might be interested in this article [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/392569239_The_Video_Proves_They're_All_Cannibals_The_Weaponisation_of_Ritualistic_Cannibalism_in_Cameroon's_and_Nigeria's_Anti_Separatist_Propaganda] Inayity (talk) 17:41, 1 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks! I'll take a look when I find the time. Of course, others are very welcome to do so too. Gawaon (talk) 03:45, 2 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]
allikas: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Chinese_cannibalism