is Suicide a sin?

[JINKSTER]

Hmmm..dont know if i should even venture into this one but since i tend to live on the edge? LOL!

Here's the long and short of what thoughts i have to share..

I've been in a 12 step program for some time now and this topic comes up often for some reason..and just a few months back during a step study my great grand sponsor posed this very question..then shared that he had a bro-in-law that took his own life..over a year latter the children were still understandably torn up about it...but not so much with the loss as their belief that they would never see their father again as they'd been taught that suicide is a sin and what was eating at them was that according to their religous teachings that their dad would be spending eternity in he11..so..my bud here consulted with the high-hats at the vatican library..they researched it and sent a letter of their findings as follows...

They could not find anywhere that any holy trinity ever claimed suicide to be a sin,,but what they did divulge was that back in the dark ages during the great plague that took out 2/3rds of europe that suicide had almost become an expectation of parents who lost children to the plague..so besides the plague and associated acute depression they had folks bringing the act of suicide into popularity..and to stop the self-slaughter?.."MAN"..wrote it in as a sin.

and my buddy got to explain that to his nieces and nephew and even show them the official letter of explaination..and while i think that was great?..i dont buy it..reason?..

"THOU SHALT NOT KILL"

and i would assume that includes yourself..but still?..for me?..there's this gray area..armed with the knowledge and experience i am all too well familiar with?..i also don't believe in claims of suicidal "attempts"...to me?..these are simply severe acts of folks in great pain crying out for help..cause what i know is this..alls it takes to actually commit suicide is a tremedous and unbearable amount of emotional pain..and if you feel enough of it?..you'll run for the gun and there'll be no thought or hesitation involved.

a wise old man recently asked me if i knew the difference between a religous person and a spiritual one..i gave an honest answer of "no."..he then explained to me..

"A religous person is a person who dresses up to go to church on sunday because they're shid scared of going too he11..where a spiritual person is a person who's already been there and doesn't wanna go back."

bottom line?..d@mn good question..and i hope none of us ever find the answer.

 

[Lurch]

Hmmm..dont know if i should even venture into this one but since i tend to live on the edge? LOL!

Here's the long and short of what thoughts i have to share..

I've been in a 12 step program for some time now and this topic comes up often for some reason..and just a few months back during a step study my great grand sponsor posed this very question..then shared that he had a bro-in-law that took his own life..over a year latter the children were still understandably torn up about it...but not so much with the loss as their belief that they would never see their father again as they'd been taught that suicide is a sin and what was eating at them was that according to their religous teachings that their dad would be spending eternity in he11..so..my bud here consulted with the high-hats at the vatican library..they researched it and sent a letter of their findings as follows...

They could not find anywhere that any holy trinity ever claimed suicide to be a sin,,but what they did divulge was that back in the dark ages during the great plague that took out 2/3rds of europe that suicide had almost become an expectation of parents who lost children to the plague..so besides the plague and associated acute depression they had folks bringing the act of suicide into popularity..and to stop the self-slaughter?.."MAN"..wrote it in as a sin.

and my buddy got to explain that to his nieces and nephew and even show them the official letter of explaination..and while i think that was great?..i dont buy it..reason?..

"THOU SHALT NOT KILL"

and i would assume that includes yourself..but still?..for me?..there's this gray area..armed with the knowledge and experience i am all too well familiar with?..i also don't believe in claims of suicidal "attempts"...to me?..these are simply severe acts of folks in great pain crying out for help..cause what i know is this..alls it takes to actually commit suicide is a tremedous and unbearable amount of emotional pain..and if you feel enough of it?..you'll run for the gun and there'll be no thought or hesitation involved.

a wise old man recently asked me if i knew the difference between a religous person and a spiritual one..i gave an honest answer of "no."..he then explained to me..

"A religous person is a person who dresses up to go to church on sunday because they're shid scared of going too he11..where a spiritual person is a person who's already been there and doesn't wanna go back."

bottom line?..d@mn good question..and i hope none of us ever find the answer.

Thank you for posting this. Some very good informaton there.
But I do have to disagree with the part of your statement I highlited red.
Some times i feel a higher power has other plans and steps in and cause the "attempt" to be a failure.

 

[wjcbsr]

If you follow the bible then Jesus killed himself. He knew it was coming and did nothing to avoid it. It was his mission in the end I've been told time and time again.

Just my 2 cents.

~B

 

[skydivr]

My Grandfather shot and killed himself in about 1975. I was maybe 9-10 and didn't understand what happend, but my Grandfather was gone. It wounded my Mother deeply and scarred her permanently. I certainly considered the same several times in the middle of teen angst, and If I got diagnosed with some kind of slow-killing disease, I could see making one last skydive without a parachute. But otherwise, not amy more. I'm responsible for a beauiful little girl who needs her daddy to be around for her, and while I'd die for her, not much anything else. The sun DOES come up in the morning. People commit suicide because they can't seem to find something to live FOR, and there's plenty out there. Malicious, don't give up and don't give in!

 

[GSX1300R-T]

If you follow the bible then Jesus killed himself. He knew it was coming and did nothing to avoid it. It was his mission in the end I've been told time and time again.

Just my 2 cents.

~B

He knew it was going to happen......but he didn't beat himself near death or nail himself to the cross. Hence,........murder. If one gets into a situation whereas they know the outcome is going to kill them,...........doesn't mean they commit suicide either.

 

[GNBRETT]

Sin is sin just as murder is murder, doesn't matter if you believe it is or not.

according to who?

 

[chrisjp]

if you open a door and walk through....are you any different than having the bouncer throw you through it....your still end up in the same place...j/s

 

[Gitonit!]

Interesting read. I think suicide (taking your own life deliberately) is totally different than sacrifice (life of one for another many/heroic deed).
I have `heard` that suicide is a sin. I believe in a god that is forgiving of any sin.
I will say that in my youth I had times of deep despair; wished that God would appear take me by the hand and remove me from this place (I think during that time and maybe now too, I fear death a little).Would I offer my own life for my family/loved ones?...in a milisecond.
It bums me a little to read post regarding indivuduals that contemplate it often; those who have tried to get help but it dont work, or makes things worse. I hope things get better in your life, as things got better for me. Life has its ups n downs..got to keep on smiling..lol
Had two family members that were fairly close who took their own life and I would like to think I could have changed their mind about it.
If I were terminally ill and suffering daily, this is totally different situation also; wonder what an overdose of LSD would be like..lol

 

[JINKSTER]

Thank you for posting this. Some very good informaton there.
But I do have to disagree with the part of your statement I highlited red.
Some times i feel a higher power has other plans and steps in and cause the "attempt" to be a failure.

SURPRISE!...i agree with you....that was a broad statement on my part...but backed with a lot of experience hearing tales of such attempts in 12 step rooms..bottom line?..what you speak of is "Devine Intervention"..and of the dozens upon dozens if not hundreds of SA stories told and heard?..i know of one (1) that fits the DI script...dude stuck a 9 in his mouth..pulled the trigger...hammer dropped..and no pop..he busted into self-pity tears thinking he couldnt even do that right and threw the pistol across the room..bounced off a wall..hit the floor...and?...went bang..and that's when he realized he was in control of nothing....as we learn..

when i do gods will?..i get results...when i do my will?..i get consequences.

 

[JINKSTER]

If you follow the bible then Jesus killed himself. He knew it was coming and did nothing to avoid it. It was his mission in the end I've been told time and time again.

Just my 2 cents.

~B

and if you followed the bible you would know that God loved man so much he gave his only son....jesus fate was his destiny...was the king of kings to show so little faith that he run and hide from his own beliefs?...thank his father that he didnt..cause had he?...nah..i dont even wanna think about it.

 

[frisbee]

It also say in the bible that only someone that is mentally ill could take their own life , and that all mentally ill are already forgiven

 

[m_ridgeway]

what if you decline medical treatment or choose to end your life of actual suffering (i.e kevorkian style), should this be a sin, mercy, etc?

i think its a selfish act and im not religious, so i dont view or judge in those terms, yet imho. it seems most people that attempt or commit think nobody cares, when in fact they are showing they care for nobody but themselves.

 

[Schexy1]

what if you decline medical treatment or choose to end your life of actual suffering (i.e kevorkian style), should this be a sin, mercy, etc?

i think its a selfish act and im not religious, so i dont view or judge in those terms, yet imho. it seems most people that attempt or commit think nobody cares, when in fact they are showing they care for nobody but themselves.

Who is more selfish, the person who doesn't want to be fed through a tube or the person who want to look at a motionless body for years?

 

[m_ridgeway]

Who is more selfish, the person who doesn't want to be fed through a tube or the person who want to look at a motionless body for years?

what about the person that keeps someone alive (medically) that doesnt want to be alive for their own conscious/moral benefit/religious belief?

i wasnt directing the assisted/medical suicide as being selfish, but more the people that kill themselves because life became to hard.