Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I know we've discussed the topic of assisted suicide when someone is dying and in pain with no chance of a recovery but what about suicide in general? I remember when I was living in Arizona that a lawyer who was drinking and driving, had his ten year old son in the car with him at the time, and then he struck and killed a teenage boy across the street from the High School about a half mile from my house. That man was so overcome with what he had done that he committed suicide. To be honest I'm not sure how I feel about it myself. On the one hand he may have been thinking about how he had destroyed his own life by his actions and couldn't face the consequences of being sent to prison and losing the comfortable life that he was used to. He also may have been so overwhelmed with grief for the dead boy that he felt he didn't deserve to live. No one will ever know what he was thinking. Do you think this was an immoral act to kill himself?
Let me give a different example. There are quite a few kids who get bullied and picked on at school for various reasons and it's not uncommon for a child who just can't take anymore to take his or her own life. Now this example seems a little more clear cut in my opinion. I would just consider it to be a terrible trajedy but would not blame that child or consider the action to be sinful or immoral, they were just unable to endure any more emotional abuse and couldn't see any other way out. Those are two very different examples of a suicide and I'm wondering how you would judge either one or both of them.
Yes, I believe it is immoral and would prevent one from entering God's Kingdom
From a religious perspective do you believe that a merciful God would look at the suffering of a twelve or thirteen year old kid who'd been harassed unmercifully by cruel and hateful classmates until that child was at the end of their rope and then God would join in with the harassers by condemning the child to eternal damnation? If you really believe that to be the case then you believe in a very hateful God.
One must be suffering much pain to take their own life. Immoral? No, tragic for those left behind? Yes. It is still their right to choose and I do not judge them one way or another.
I don't know if I should touch this one or not. I know you aren't Christians, but as a Christian and knowing that this is unforgivable, I say it's wrong. I don't know that immoral is the right word to describe it.
I have said to others that I hope God would take under consideration the circumstances like the scenarios you posed, but we don't know that He would so why risk it? If a child committed suicide, then they will not be held responsible. I believe the age of responsibility is 12. But if the child is emotionally stunted and immature, then I think God would base his judgments on that and not the age. God knows the heart and the mind, and that's why we are told never to judge.
Just because a person committed suicide does not mean we can automatically assume they went to hell. What if before their last breath they made peace with God? I could say with more certainty that the atheist comedian went to hell before the person who committed suicide. But I'm hoping they all make deathbed confessions.
Location: In the North Idaho woods, still surrounded by terriers
2,179 posts, read 7,019,605 times
Reputation: 1014
Suicide happens when the victim feels there is simply no hope of things getting better. Most of the time that is not the case, but for that person, at that moment, it is a hopeless time. They feel they have been given more than they can handle. This is the main reason that most folks will try to stop a person who is suicidal, especially a teenager!...because most of the time, if given a while to think and reason, the hopelessness will diminish.
But is it immoral? No, I don't think so. It's tragic and it hurts so many peripheral people, but there is nothing immoral about it, in my opinion.
Location: In the North Idaho woods, still surrounded by terriers
2,179 posts, read 7,019,605 times
Reputation: 1014
That atheist comedian you referred to was known to be one of the kindest, gentlest people around, a great father and a devoted husband...and if there is a Heaven, as you believe, I'm sure he is there right now keeping all the saints and angels in stitches....and thinking about several more words he cannot say on TV or in Heaven.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
