9/11 museum to house unidentified remains.

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Ken

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Koios1031
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Yup. You read that right. The museum, which is set to open this Friday, will have a section that will be the home to 8,000 unidentified human remains. So, would you pay $24 dollars to go a cemetery that sells cheesy merchandise? What are your thoughts and feelings on this?

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The article, as presented, makes me feel pretty uneasy.

I think most people would agree that, as the facts are presented, remembrance needs to be separated from the paid business.
 
Even the information provided for the repository provided on the museums website seems rather cold.

http://www.911memorial.org/remains-repository-world-trade-center-site

EDIT: I have found further information that the admittance fee is waived for "9/11 family members". But doesn't that just solidify the idea that this more of a cemetery rather than a tourist attraction?
 
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Only the family members are allowed access to the area housing unidentified remains. It's not open to the public. Still, in poor taste to have merchandise on sale.

From the OCME’s perspective, this new repository will provide a dignified and reverential setting for the remains to repose—temporarily or in perpetuity—as identifications continue to be made. No portion of these spaces will be accessible to the public. Since the private family viewing area will be accessed through the Museum, we want to reiterate that whether visiting the Museum or the repository, there is no scenario under which family members will ever be charged any admissions fees. In addition, while the Museum will have formal operating hours, family members who wish to visit outside of those hours will be able to make arrangements to do so, much as what happens at the current OCME facility.
 
If all the families wanted them removed, since they might be family could they take them either by force or courts?
 
Since the remains are unidentified, that would be rather difficult. Seems all the families would have to agree on removing all the remains. If they'd wanted that, I suspect they'd have done so by now. Although, the fact that access is now through a tourist shop may be a factor.
 
If such a thing happened here the uproar would be significant. I see it as a very vulgar and morbid attempt at making a tribute to those who died...while attempting to get visitors and sell merchandise at the same time. It's making a display out of death...yeah, a very fitting tribute.

Just bury them somewhere nice and top it all of with an interesting statue. There, much better tribute.
 
So, would you pay $24 dollars to go a cemetery that sells cheesy merchandise?

I have, and probably so have most people. Ancient Egyptian exhibits love to include mummified remains. Usually there are gift shops with cheesy merchandise.
 
So, would you pay $24 dollars to go a cemetery that sells cheesy merchandise? What are your thoughts and feelings on this?

I have, and probably so have most people. Ancient Egyptian exhibits love to include mummified remains. Usually there are gift shops with cheesy merchandise.

Tangible time dilation. The more recent something is, the more harrowing it is.

2001? Too soon.
1945? Never forget.
1918? Fading, but still 'real'.
1805? Eh, losing interest.
1549? Historically interesting.
1215? Fascinating.
2,000 BC? Ancient treasure.
 
I have, and probably so have most people. Ancient Egyptian exhibits love to include mummified remains. Usually there are gift shops with cheesy merchandise.

That's very true. But I don't see it as the same. The ancient Egyptians probably didn't sell little pyramids next to the sphinx. 9/11 is still engrained into our collective consciousness. And for some, it is still very much a open wound. I feel this museum is salt being rubbed into that wound. To me, it doesn't matter if the section is closed of or not. I feel that this site should be treated like that of the Tomb of the Unknowns. With honor and respect. Not a tourist attraction sideshow.

EDIT: Semi-tree'd
 
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That's very true. But I don't see it as the same. The ancient Egyptians probably didn't sell little pyramids next to the sphinx. 9/11 is still engraved into our collective consciousness. And for some, it is still very much a open wound. I feel this museum is salt being rubbed into that wound. To me, it doesn't matter if the section is closed of or not. I feel that this site should be treated like that of the Tomb of the Unknowns. With honor and respect. Not a tourist attraction sideshow.

I'm just pointing out the hypocrisy of treating some remains as sacred things that can't be commercialized and others as just fine to commercialize. Everyone loves to get indignant, but when it's someone they don't know suddenly it's just different. It's a silly response.

The only real question that I have is one that isn't addressed by any of the media coverage or articles cited (isn't that always the way, the real information is left off altogether in favor of stuff that doesn't matter). Who owns the remains, who owns the museum, is it the same entity, if not what is the contract? If the answer is that the state owns the remains (since they are unidentified) and that a private entity owns the museum and that the state has contracted the remains to the private entity, one has to wonder why our government made that decision. The problem then is addressed not by compelling the private entity to do or not do something, but by figuring out why the state chose to do this and taking action to undo it.

If the private museum owns the remains, that's just weird. How did that happen?

If the state is somehow running, and yet not funding (also weird but not unheard of), the museum, then what the museum is choosing to do and how it portrays itself is directly accountable to the public.

If this were me, and it was my relative who was lost during the attack and whose remains were among the 8000 that could not be identified, I have to say I'd be fine with it.

There is nothing, by the way, preventing additional memorials for any individual lost in 9/11 from appearing anywhere on the planet. If it were my wife who died in the attacks (I just picked the person most likely to spark a strong emotional response from me over remains), I would create a separate memorial. It would not be enough for me to have her lumped in with a thousand other people in one big memorial.
 
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I'm just pointing out the hypocrisy of treating some remains as sacred things that can't be commercialized and others as just fine to commercialize. Everyone loves to get indignant, but when it's someone they don't know suddenly it's just different. It's a silly response.

It depends on the context.

Take your example, with remains thousands of years old we can gain an insight into a past civilisation, use them as an education tool, tourism etc. Who's going to care if some ancient mummy is on display?

However with 9/11 it happened only 13 years ago, it was an attack on innocent lives where 8000 people were killed. Not some ancient nobleman of Egypt dying of old age. There is a hell of a lot more emotion involved, not just from family and friends of the victims but from the public as a whole, as someone above said it's still very much engrained into the public conciousness.
 
It depends on the context.

Take your example, with remains thousands of years old we can gain an insight into a past civilisation, use them as an education tool, tourism etc. Who's going to care if some ancient mummy is on display?

However with 9/11 it happened only 13 years ago, it was an attack on innocent lives where 8000 people were killed. Not some ancient nobleman of Egypt dying of old age. There is a hell of a lot more emotion involved in it, as someone above said it's still very much engrained into the public conciousness.

Yes but...

This memorial is going to be around for a very long time, long enough that eventually nobody will have known any of the people in it. Eventually it will be something that provides insight into a past culture, an educational tool, tourism, etc.
 
No class.

It might be a good thing in the long run as our resident libertarian is stating, but to me? Let things be. I want to remember because I need to be reminded of how bad things can go, my respect for another will always supersede that... or something.

We do as we do as a peoples and we always have, it does not change, ever.
 
I visited Auschwitz in 2011, and saw the museum commemorating the lives of thousands of Jews killed there. The museum contained belongings (suitcases, glasses, etc.) of people killed there.

It was a harrowing experience to see that, and was the first time I had ever truly grasped the scale of what happened. Museums about 9/11 will serve the same purpose some day.
 
This memorial is going to be around for a very long time, long enough that eventually nobody will have known any of the people in it. Eventually it will be something that provides insight into a past culture, an educational tool, tourism, etc.

There's a 1500 year old graveyard opposite my house... I expect I should be okay setting up a carnival in there now?
 
Funny you say, I'm no drama queen but I did lose a son right as his birth passed. I put him in the ground where other children are in the ground, no one makes a canival of it.

We are searching for respect.
 
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