Visitors to an exhibit at a St. Paul museum displaying plastinated human bodies are immediately greeted with words from the Psalms.
"What is man that thou shouldst remember him, mortal man that thou shouldst care for him? Yet thou has made him little less than God, him with glory and honor," proclaims one of the hanging banners at the display. The banner is one of many quoting philosophers, scientists and theologians and serve as a backdrop to the preserved and posed bodies in the Science Museum of Minnesota's exhibit "Body Worlds."
The exhibit, which opened May 5 and runs until Sept. 4, features anatomical displays of human bodies preserved through a process called plastination.
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One of my fears coming into this is, 'What is the purpose of a display like this?'" said Christina Bye, who recently graduated with a degree in biochemistry from the University of St. Thomas and plans to attend the University of Minnesota Medical School this fall. "If it's to increase wonder and awe of the human body, then I think it's OK," she told The Catholic Spirit, newspaper of the St. Paul-Minneapolis Archdiocese.
Bye has not been the only one to question the exhibit's intent. "Body Worlds" has generated controversy for a variety of reasons since its 1996 opening in Tokyo.
For starters, there is the general discomfort with human remains being displayed publicly. Many have questioned whether this kind of exhibit is sensational or in keeping with the dignity of the human person. Others are concerned about whether those who donated their bodies gave proper consent. [snip] Catholic Online
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