The morality of suicide

[Roses Ablaze]

*Cross-posts from SPPf*


Basic question: Is suicide immoral? There's no doubt that it's the wrong thing to do in almost any situation, but is it "evil"? Should one burn in Hell for all of eternity for doing it? And I don't want people to say "yes, because my religion says so," I want people to really think about this.

But first, my thoughts. I have seriously considered suicide. In fact, I was going to do it, but a concerned Spanish teacher realized ahead of time and hooked me up with a guidance counselor, who informed my mother and hooked me up with a therapist. I can't speak for everyone who has had these thoughts, but my reasons were basically this: "I cause my family and loved ones nothing but pain; they worry about me all the time, and if I'm dead, they won't have to worry about me anymore. They'll be sad at first, but in the end, they'll be better off." I don't really think I was being selfish there. At least conciously. Now maybe I really did want to "give up" and thought dying was easy deep down inside, but can you fix a problem if you don't realize it exists? I don't think so. I thought I was being noble by sacrificing myself to others; I wasn't hurting anyone besides myself. How could that be sin? I thought.

Being given a chance to redeem oneself implies that one knows what they were doing is wrong. If one chooses not to care after gaining this wisdom, then by all means, punish them. But if one asks for forgiveness sincerely, then I don't think they should be punished. That's kinda my view of what happens after death - God makes it explicitly clear (ie no doubt at all like there is in our world; since God has absolute control in heaven, there would be no doubt of the correctness of His word that's sewed (sp?) by Satan) what's right and what's wrong; what a person does/thinks after this new insight is what determines whether or not one goes to heaven or not.

I now realize how stupid that rationality was, after thinking about how hurt I would be if someone close to me did the same thing, and I don't want to die anymore. But do I think I was "evil" then? No. I think I just needed help and I'm glad I got it.

As for punishment, yes I think someone should be punished for suicide, but not to burn in Hell for eternity. Rather, I think that their "spirit" should be forced to see the suffering they caused to their loved ones, and in a sense "be forced to mourn their own deaths" as I said in another thread. But I think after death there should be a healing stage for everyone before the bliss of heaven, especially for those who have emotional scars.

Thoughts?

*thinks she's re-entering a more "Christian" sage*

 

[birdboy2000]

Personally, as Kenshin has influenced me too much, I feel the whole "I did something horrible so I'll kill myself" type of suicide is absolutely wrong and a cowardly way of avoiding facing one's own deeds...(Though I understand why people do it.)

However, when it's just the crushing pressures of life... I wouldn't do it, but I wouldn't condemn others for it either, even if it does bring emotional pain to those around them.

 

[Mozz]

Good topic.

Suicide is cowardly, but only immoral if you know family members and loved ones will be distraught and suffer, but you disregard it to escape.

 

[Dagoth Ur]

Suicide to escape debt, stress, or punishment for crimes is wrong, basically because the suicidal person still has obligations to attend to.

On the other hand, people who have nothing left, such as terminally ill patients who are stuck in a hospital bed all day sucking all the happiness and money out of their families, should be allowed to kill themselves or have a doctor do it.

 

[Fig]

*Do a slight edit of Mozz's post so that his sigs actually shows up*

*points at Mozz's sig*

(Of course, now that I said that, he'll edit his sig. I'm refering to the part of his sig that says :

Originally Posted by Damian, Kasumi-san, GrnMarvel, Archaic, et al.
Sorry to say, but I agree with Mozz here.)