Why or how is suicide sinful?

[Ozzie]

I consider suicide sinful because it is against life. I am interested in religious opinion on why or how suicide is sinful, or not.

 

[Guitar's Cry]

This is not so much a religious opinion as a personal one (I hope you don't mind), but I cannot abide the act of suicide because of my compassionate nature.

Committing suicide is a personal decision that affects so many more than the individual. If I were to take my life, I would be leaving those who care about me with much pain and suffering. Much more so, I believe than if I were to die of in a way that weren't self-inflicted.

The obvious objection to my opinion would be "What of those individuals who have no loved ones? Is it still sinful for them to take their own lives?" To that I would argue that while they live, there is still a chance for them to find loved ones that would perhaps give them a reason to live. By committing suicide, they lose any chances at anything. Rather than destroying themselves, these individuals could focus all their energy on making a positive change in their life.

For those who simply do not want to live anymore, I must wonder at why. With nothing to lose, they have everything to gain. But this is a personal observation and I have no real argument to present. I personally considered suicide at a very young age, but decided that doing so would change nothing. By staying alive, I did have everything to gain and the positive impacts I could have for the benefit of my loved ones and the world was well worth the pain I thought I suffered.

 

[michel]

This is not so much a religious opinion as a personal one (I hope you don't mind), but I cannot abide the act of suicide because of my compassionate nature.

Committing suicide is a personal decision that affects so many more than the individual. If I were to take my life, I would be leaving those who care about me with much pain and suffering. Much more so, I believe than if I were to die of in a way that weren't self-inflicted.

The obvious objection to my opinion would be "What of those individuals who have no loved ones? Is it still sinful for them to take their own lives?" To that I would argue that while they live, there is still a chance for them to find loved ones that would perhaps give them a reason to live. By committing suicide, they lose any chances at anything. Rather than destroying themselves, these individuals could focus all their energy on making a positive change in their life.

For those who simply do not want to live anymore, I must wonder at why. With nothing to lose, they have everything to gain. But this is a personal observation and I have no real argument to present. I personally considered suicide at a very young age, but decided that doing so would change nothing. By staying alive, I did have everything to gain and the positive impacts I could have for the benefit of my loved ones and the world was well worth the pain I thought I suffered.

My last two attempts were for the benefit of my loved ones...

As far as I was concerned, I had logically evaluated that
a) My wife was young enough, and good looking enough to re-marry.
b) by my death she would be able to have a "propper" husband.
c) that by my death, my children would have a better/ good Father.

As to the Christian thought; wiki comes to the rescue:-
Modern Catholicism

In Catholicism, death by suicide has been considered a grave and mortal sin. The chief Christian argument is that one's life is the property of God, and to destroy that life is to wrongly assert dominion over what is God's. This argument runs into a famous counter-argument by David Hume, who held that if it is wrong to take life when a person would naturally live, it must be wrong to save life when a person would naturally die, as this too seems to be contravening God's will. Some mitigation of this contrast may exist when examining the Catholic doctrine of extraordinary means: the Catholic Church teaches that there is no moral obligation for a person to chose extraordinary methods of saving one's life in the face of possible death.

 

[mostly harmless]

My last two attempts were for the benefit of my loved ones...

As far as I was concerned, I had logically evaluated that
a) My wife was young enough, and good looking enough to re-marry.
b) by my death she would be able to have a "propper" husband.
c) that by my death, my children would have a better/ good Father.

People dealing with horrible chronic pain tend to have those types of thoughts, but then you remember that your family loves you as you are. Bad days and all. You are GOOD ENOUGH. You are ENOUGH, as you are, for your family.

I don't think of suicide as a sin. I think it is horrible for the people left behind, and no matter how much pain I am in, I can't bear the thought of hurting my daughter by taking myself away from her.

 

[Stairs In My House]

Committing suicide is a personal decision that affects so many more than the individual. If I were to take my life, I would be leaving those who care about me with much pain and suffering. Much more so, I believe than if I were to die of in a way that weren't self-inflicted.

There was a suicide in my extended family a couple years ago and I have to say that you are absolutely correct about the degree of pain and suffering it causes. It is simply devastating to the people in the victim's life. It is a horribly destructive, selfish act, and it causes much more pain than any other kind of death would.

However, I do say "victim" because I honestly believe that most suicides are the result of mental illness, not some kind of moral failing or sin. That doesn't make it any less painful for the people who are left behind, of course, but it's important to remove the stigma and shame that surrounds suicide, because those things make it that much harder for those left behind to cope. Fortunately, most religious traditions are coming to understand suicide this way.

 

[Guitar's Cry]

People dealing with horrible chronic pain tend to have those types of thoughts...

It is interesting to note that Lawrence Kohlberg, the psychologist who developed the theory that morality is a stage process similiar to Piaget's theory of cognitive development, committed suicide after contracting a debilitating illness. I remember reading in a sociology class that his reasons for doing so came from a desire to ease some of the financial and emotional burdens of his loved ones.

It is not a path that I would have taken. It is with suicide that I use Kant's categorical imperative method of ethics: I would not want suicide in order to save loved ones some pain to become universally acceptable.

 

[Stairs In My House]

My last two attempts were for the benefit of my loved ones...

As far as I was concerned, I had logically evaluated that
a) My wife was young enough, and good looking enough to re-marry.
b) by my death she would be able to have a "propper" husband.
c) that by my death, my children would have a better/ good Father.

If you ever find yourself engaging in this sort of "logic" again, consider that families are horribly scarred by a loved one's suicide, nobody ever really recovers from it, especially children (even when they're adults), and that a suicide in the family significantly increases the likelihood of suicide for other family members. There is absolutely no benefit to anyone, especially if children are involved, no matter what your problems are it will only heap a huge amount of pain and guilt on everyone around you no matter what you tell them in your note. I have seen it, I have been a part of it, and it is truly horrible.

If you ever have thoughts like this you should seek help immediately if you love anyone in your life at all. They will not just pick up their lives again and go on without you. It is an unbelievably traumatic experience.

 

[doppelganger]

I am profoundly saddened for anyone whose suffering is so severe that it overcomes their will to live.

To me, judging someone for those feelings just adds to the sadness.

 

[Mike182]

for me, it depends upon the suicide. if you have been driven to self harming because of bullying, then any sin there is lies on the bully/bullies. i would say suicide is a more drastic form of self harm if it was caused by bullying. i'm not saying people should not take responsibility for their own actions, it's just that in this case, let's put the blame where it truly is.

self harm or suicide/attempted suicide for attention is drastic, and the person needs to seek professional help, but morally i would say that although this is selfish, and would bring the karmic repercussions that grossly selfish acts bring, it is nothing more than that.

suicide or attempted suicide where the peson believes their death is of benefit to those around them, that others will be better off without them, are not being selfish in my opinion, but are just very misguided. if they survive their attempt, hopefully they will recieve help. if they don't survive their attempt, i see no reason for them to be turned away from what i believe to be the after life, because i don't see this person as being grossly selfish.

 

[Anti-World]

"For those who simply do not want to live anymore, I must wonder at why. With nothing to lose, they have everything to gain."
That's not how it works, I'm afraid.

Suicide is the one thing that we can control. In our lives where everything seems to go wrong and even our own emotions are hostile, unforgiving, and unchangeable it's something we can do to get out of it. As for suicide not being done because it's selfish, that seems redundent, they don't really have to live with it.

In life there is an A and a B. The beginning and the end. What happens in between is completely out of the hands of the individual. We can make the choices that were predestined to happen because of the way we are but there really isn't much control.

That's my view of the subject, being a schizoid. To me, it's a way out of the inevitable cycle of pain. For these people they have two choices: Massochism or suicide.

 

[Guitar's Cry]

My last two attempts were for the benefit of my loved ones...

As far as I was concerned, I had logically evaluated that
a) My wife was young enough, and good looking enough to re-marry.
b) by my death she would be able to have a "propper" husband.
c) that by my death, my children would have a better/ good Father.

You obviously decided against it - which I'm sure has been a beneficial choice, one that the other members of this forum would agree with since you bring a lot of good stuff which I've seen in the short time I've been here - or, the attempts were unsuccessful. If you don't mind me asking, what has stopped you from attempting again? Or, why did you decide against it?

 

[MysticSang'ha]

It depends on the situation, really. Most often, suicide is an attempt to escape suffering within one's own experience. To this, from our perspective, this creates more bad karma. Human life is so precious, that to waste it because of our delusions is nothing but harmful to ourselves and to our loved ones.



However, that being said, on the rare occasion where choosing to die and taking action to die in order to save another life, this is very good karma. I think of the characters portrayed in Hollywood film productions, like in the movie Deep Impact, where the characters in the ship choose to carry nuclear weapons into the heart of an approaching comet and detonate it in order to save the Earth's population.



If I saw a speeding car approaching one of my kids in the street, and the only way to save them was to run into the street and push them out of the way ending in myself getting hit or run over............and then possibly dying from it..........I would absolutely do it. Sacrificing one's life for the sake of protecting another life in danger is great karma.



The topic of euthanasia is a complicated one and opinions vary in the Buddhist community. Just one example: voluntarily taking oneself off the machines keeping one alive if death is inevitable without it isn't considered suicide, and therefore doesn't generate bad karma.



Peace,
Mystic

 

[Guitar's Cry]

Suicide is the one thing that we can control.

Is it the one thing we can control, or is even that out of our hands? If we take a deterministic stance, then that, as a choice, isn't any more a result of free will than any other choice.

In our lives where everything seems to go wrong and even our own emotions are hostile, unforgiving, and unchangeable it's something we can do to get out of it. As for suicide not being done because it's selfish, that seems redundent, they don't really have to live with it.

One could argue that when everything seems to go wrong, perhaps the judgement on what is "wrong" needs to be evaluated. Our emotions can be hostile, and unforgiving, but I don't think they are unchangeable - completely. A negative emotion can be turned completely around with the right attitude.

In life there is an A and a B. The beginning and the end. What happens in between is completely out of the hands of the individual. We can make the choices that were predestined to happen because of the way we are but there really isn't much control.

Ah, but in order for there to be a beginning and an end, there needs to be a middle. The between is the meat of the sandwich. It is here, though, where I cannot reason out why a person wishing to escape a deterministic existence is an immoral act, except that there may be those who would mourn for them.

But still, there is still everything to gain. In death, there may be nothing (I do not know for sure), so by continuing to live you are gaining experiences that may shake the very foundations of the negative emotions that have plagued you.

That's my view of the subject, being a schizoid. To me, it's a way out of the inevitable cycle of pain. For these people they have two choices: Massochism or suicide.

Or a breaking of the negative cycle.

 

[XAAX]

I consider suicide sinful because it is against life. I am interested in religious opinion on why or how suicide is sinful, or not.

To take your life could cause things to happen to you that disrupt the natural progression of your spirit. I believe in letting the natural course take its place over forcing the transition before the "Right" time. Some religion follow the same guide lines they just call it a "Sin" versus explaining it.

 

[jacquie4000]

I guess since the majority of society has not attempted sucicide, I find it hard for us to judge them as a whole. We can not be inside a persons inner most workings and understand what is truely going on from their point of view. To many people are quick to judge it as an ultimite sin or a cop out. We should work more on trying to solve and reslove the issue.

 

[sandy whitelinger]

There is no commandment against suicide in the Bible. There are instances where people have committed suicide, for example Samson, and there was no condemnation of it.

It could be argued, through interpretation, that Christ committed suicide. When brought to trial before the Sanhedrin there was no cause found to condemn Him (this included trying to find two liars to agree together) until Christ offered His own condemning statement.

There could be made an argument against it using the commandment of not killing but this needs an interpretation as to the nature of what killing really means.

 

[Gentoo]

I think that it's easy to say that it's wrong or that it depends on the situation. But, to me, it's neither. I can't judge it, I wasn't in the mind of the person contemplating it. If they feel that such a drastic action would "solve" their problems, what can we, as outsiders, say?

I think that suicide is tragic, and I often wish that they had failed in their attempts. Or maybe had a little more patience and stuck it out just one more day so things can get better. But it's not in my hands, what else can I really say...?

 

[Stairs In My House]

If I saw a speeding car approaching one of my kids in the street, and the only way to save them was to run into the street and push them out of the way ending in myself getting hit or run over............and then possibly dying from it..........I would absolutely do it. Sacrificing one's life for the sake of protecting another life in danger is great karma.

I may be wrong, but I don't think this is generally considered suicide. And I definitely agree with you, I would do it in a heartbeat. However, it would not be done out of a desire to end my life, but to protect theirs.

 

[MysticSang'ha]

I may be wrong, but I don't think this is generally considered suicide. And I definitely agree with you, I would do it in a heartbeat. However, it would not be done out of a desire to end my life, but to protect theirs.

No, I don't think you're wrong. I was simply taking the definition of suicide as the willful attempt at ending one's own life. The circumstances surrounding suicide are varied, so I thought about covering as many bases as I could at once.



Peace,
Mystic

 

[Stairs In My House]

I think that it's easy to say that it's wrong or that it depends on the situation. But, to me, it's neither. I can't judge it, I wasn't in the mind of the person contemplating it. If they feel that such a drastic action would "solve" their problems, what can we, as outsiders, say?

We can look at the devastated friends and family and say that this was an action that hurt others. I am comfortable saying that the act itself is unquestionably wrong in any circumstance I can think of (yes, I'm leaving a loophole, I always do when it comes to morality). However, I am also willing to temper that judgment with the understanding that the person committing suicide may have been in a state where he or she could not judge right from wrong. So I am comfortable judging the act, but not the person who commits it.

In all of this I am speaking strictly in terms of human morality. Neither sin nor karma are part of my personal belief system so I can't really address those.