If you don't like it, don't go!

"Bodies....The Exhibition". Educational or offensive? I don't have the answer to that. I have not seen the exhibit, but would very much like to. If for nothing else than to fill my curiosity. This is a touchy subject, and I am not going to give those who find it offensive a hard time for saying so. If you believe the exhibit is in bad taste, that is your opinion and you have every right to express it. But you are not getting off the hook that easy. Since this media circus came to town, I have seen numerous people praising it, along with those demanding it be shut down. That is where you go from being opinionated to being self righteous. If you do not like it....don't go!!!! It is that simple. Just like finding a TV show, a movie, or a magazine displeasing. By all means share your thoughts about why you personally do not agree with it. But don't demand it be "boycotted" because of the way you feel. Just don't spend your hard earned money on the event. Isn't that the best way to show your displeasure....by not donating any money towards it success? You can even sit out front and picket. I am ok with that. But do not try and make me feel bad for wanting to see it. I am not you, nor do I care to be.

A lady in today's paper wrote in saying that the company running the display should have spent the money they are making to find and return the bodies to their families and provide them with the dignity of a decent burial. She also asks where the freely signed papers to donate their bodies for educational purposes are. She closes by asking "Have we no shame left in this Country"? She makes reference to the story on 20/20 that told us these bodies are Chinese men who were murdered by a Totalitarian Communist regime. I have no idea how these people died. The report by 20/20 was speculation at best. Their source was apparently someone close to the exhibit. Was it a disgruntled employee? Was it someone looking to get paid? Who knows. Top officials from Premier Exhibitions, the firm running the exhibit, claim otherwise. They claim that all of the bodies were either unclaimed or willingly donated to medical schools and all were legally obtained: http://www.kansascity.com/news/local/story/493233.html
This site even has a copy of the anatomical donation form: http://media.kansascity.com/smedia/2008/02/16/16/donation_form.source.prod_affiliate.81.pdf
Like anything else deemed "Controversial", you have a case of "He said, She said".

So who should be able to decide who can go and who can't. I would like to believe that decision is left up to the individual, or their guardians. Unfortunately, there are those who exist that feel it is up to them on who can go and who can't. The Most Reverend Daniel Pilarczyk decided that it was up to him whether or not any of the students attending Archdiocese of Cincinnati-affiliated schools can attend. And his decision was a very stern "No". I will give him some credit though. In his statement, Pilarczyk states “Whatever the merits of ‘Bodies’ as an educational exhibit, and however well intentioned the exhibit’s creators might be, it seems to me that the use of human bodies in this way fails to respect the persons involved. Therefore I do not believe that this exhibit is an appropriate destination for field trips by our Catholic schools. If parents, as the primary educators of their children, believe that it has educational value, they should be the ones to take their children to see it.” The credit I am referring to is that of him saying "it seems to me", and "I believe". Those are the kind of statements we like. Ones that express your opinion instead of telling us we are all going to hell if we go to the exhibit. Of course he throws the credit out the window when he states "The public exhibition of plasticized bodies, unclaimed, unreverenced, and unidentified, is unseemly and inappropriate." There he let's us know how it is rather than how he feels about it. You can view the Reverend's full statement at: http://news.enquirer.com/assets/AB9802912.DOC

So exactly where did all of this sand come from, and who is in charge of drawing the line in it? I guess that is left up to what you believe in. If you don't like it, don't go. But please keep me out of it. If nothing else...the more you tell me what an awful person I am for wanting to go, the more my desire to go increases. Sometimes bad publicity is the best publicity. And sometimes I like to do things just to piss people off. If it wasn't for people like me, what would people complain about?