What if the traditional, religious burial rights involve being eaten? I know, I know, YMMV, but it seems like a point of conflict in the system.
Personally, I'm a bit baffled as to why people find voluntary, natural death cannibalism evil. The idea of my body becoming part of my loved ones, of giving them one last gift to aid them in their grief before I go, bothers me way less then the traditional burial rights of our culture. The idea of being pumped full of poison, put in an expensive box, shown off for a few days, and then put in the ground gives me the willies. To have the piece of meat that was me just lie there, in an air-tight little pocket, for decades until the lacquered wood finally rots; it just seems like an odd monument to death, a huge expensive effort to try to keep something that isn't yours anymore from returning to nature and becoming something new. If you want to be remembered, just have the gravestone, that's all that people actually see. I understand people find modern burial comforting, but honestly I just find it icky.
Myself, I've already signed up for our society's version of acceptable cannibalism. First the organ donation, then scientists can go through and take anything they find interesting, and the rest goes into a hole untreated so the worms can have it. The idea of being eaten honestly doesn't bother me, and the idea of my body being useful to someone after I'm not using it anymore makes me happy. I just don't understand why people would find that evil.
I don't use science as an explanation / reason for anything in my game world. I use magic / the supernatural. My game world might look like earth (well, minus the dragons, etc.), but it's very different under the hood. There is a temporary, albeit long, connection between the body and soul in my game. It's why there is a requirement in raise dead spells for the body as a "materiel component". Thus the taboo, in my game world, for eating sentient beings -- not just your own species btw, any sentient. It's why the lack of a proper burial leads to ghosts, etc. It's also torturing the immortal soul, in essence far more serious a crime than killing the mortal body.
In real life canibalism is well, kind of disgusting and not a very good idea given the number of diseases resident in the human body that are perfectly adapted to the human as a host. Unless of course you're talking about a canibal like Jeffrey Dahmer. Pure evil there, although we tend to call it "mental illness". I don't have any issues with most mentally ill people of course, but then most don't go around murdering people and eating them. Or the reverse.
As for my death... I want to be buried with a load of riches in a death trap laden catacomb with lethal android / monsters. What else ? I am an organ doner by the way. But the rest goes into the catacomb :D
Nah, I'm not really criticizing, I think that the body soul link adds flavour. And yeah, in real life actual cannibalism wouldn't be safe.
I just like pinning down details. I mean, would a normal autopsy in our culture be considered torture for that realm as well? Again not a criticism, it's just interesting how moral treatment of the dead might differ.
I didn't think you were. And yes, autopsies would be torture. But then you can learn more with magic anyway. "Speak with the Dead" takes care of a lot of questions.
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The burden of proof isn't on me. If you beleive that there is a specific taboo against canibalism in christianity that comes from scripture, it is up to you to provide it. Look up russels Teapot while your at it.
Your argument defeats itself. If the taboo against cannibalism does not come from the christian religion, you cannot decree that seeing cannibalism as evil is a mark of christian cultures' scorn for other cultures.
Cannibalism is extinct today because all successful cultures ban it. (successful as in surviving and spreading : the proof by Darwin)
To top it off, to faithful, dogma beleiving catholics, that waffer is a 'literal human being'.
Nope : the waffer is part of a divine being. Communing is accepting part of God within yourself.
To the OP : you should check with your players so as not to gratuitously hurt their feelings, but do not be squeamish about making them unconfortable every now and then. Just don't be gross about it (unless both you and your players enjoy grossiness).
Players do not come to the gaming table expecting to feel coddled but to be challenged. It is up to you whether you consider that an alignment challenge is palatable to them.
To me, the basis of evil is treating people as mere objects for the satisfaction of your lusts. Thus both the act and the intent must be considered before being qualified as evil.
Please also not that all cultures have ways for people who committed evil acts to atone for them. The required atonement and its scale is obviously culture-specific though. Sometimes, you have to die to clean your soul.
Okay, so here is the situation. In my campaign kobolds engage in ritual cannibalism. They don't kill other kobolds just to eat them nut if a kobold warrior dies in a particularly heroic way, the other warriors eat a small part of his body to transfer the heroism to themsleves. It is a trait they inherited from dragons, who also engage in ritual cannibalism when the ruler of the united dragon tribes dies, the new leader eats the body of the old as a sign that power has switched hands. Some of my players have complained that this is an evil act and that I should not have good dragons and kobolds as a result. So I ask you, is this evil or not?
Well, to me it sounds creepy, but evil?
Unless they're actively killing people just to eat them, I'd have to say no. Neutral at best, maybe, but not evil.
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There are reasons, why cannibalism, no matter the justifications is considered despicable by just about every culture on Earth that managed to drag itself from savagery. From strictly utilitarian and morally relativistic standpoint, the reason is such: customs or beliefs that endorse ritual cannibalism or, moreover, attribute some benefits to it (such as "transerring eaten's heroism") create additional incentives to, you know, kill people around you. Therefore, while I cannot speak for other people's settings, in my own eating sentient beings is evil, period. Religions that aren't outright evil condemn such practices (evil religions quite often specifically encourage eating enemies, and promote beliefs about absorbing their strengths by eating them, because hey, making your dupes damn themselves by committing atrocities, and chaining themselves to you by adopting universally feared and reviled customs is like killing two birds with one stone) as do major cultures.While it may be OK for a monster race, it is not for PCs, and IMO yes it is evil.
Besides I once had the idea to play a "cannibal" barbarian. He would not eat humanoids, but every other monster was fair game. I nearly got kicked from LGH for this and had to change concept. The other players were shocked.
So really, it is fine for villains, but let's stop here.
The half-orc barbarian in my kobold king game was a cannibal, but that was one of the least offensive things in that game...they were playing evil characters, and not much was off limits in their eyes...made life a living hell trying to motivate them to save the children...cuz they just didn't care...they attempted to kill the bard in the hellhound's smoky passage, I let him live...since they didn't verify he was dead...