Suicide

[TheParticlePerson]

Until recently suicide was illegal in many places (haha). Most believe it to be wrong; However I don't see what the problem is. Of course your family and friends won't be thrilled about it, but if someone grows tired of existence they have the right to end their own.

Imagine an individual with no family or friends, nobody is even aware of his existence. Would it be wrong for him to kill himself? And for those who believe in eternal punishment, is self termination worthy of it?

So, suicide good or suicide bad?

[McCulloch]

It would seem pointless to have a law against suicide, since it would be impossible to charge any offender. However, since aiding and abetting someone in the commission of a crime is itself a crime, there really still is a point. Essentially, the law against suicide is effectively a law against attempted suicide and against assisting someone to commit suicide.

Suicide is final. Therefore I would think that there should be provisions in the law to protect the subject. Make sure that the desire for death is not a mere passing whim and that the expression of a death wish was genuinely from the person, not from other interested parties. However, if life is no longer worth living, then it should not be lived. We are more humane to our animal pets than to other humans.

[perlucidus]

Until recently suicide was illegal in many places (haha). Most believe it to be wrong; However I don't see what the problem is. Of course your family and friends won't be thrilled about it, but if someone grows tired of existence they have the right to end their own.

Imagine an individual with no family or friends, nobody is even aware of his existence. Would it be wrong for him to kill himself? And for those who believe in eternal punishment, is self termination worthy of it?

So, suicide good or suicide bad?

suicide is neither good or bad. It takes great courage to do it, and also great courage to not do it. Thus to live or die is neither good or bad. God will guide you whether you like it, know it, or want it to the right decision. That is all.
Noone will judge a spirit for giving up the world.
suicide brings about the kingdom of god as much as any other means.
Do what you will, and what you must, according to what you feel you must do.
That is all.

[Miles]

Until recently suicide was illegal in many places (haha). Most believe it to be wrong; However I don't see what the problem is. Of course your family and friends won't be thrilled about it, but if someone grows tired of existence they have the right to end their own.

Imagine an individual with no family or friends, nobody is even aware of his existence. Would it be wrong for him to kill himself? And for those who believe in eternal punishment, is self termination worthy of it?

So, suicide good or suicide bad?

Suicide is generally a last ditch solution to an unsolvable problem. The catch is, the problem may be transient; with time it may be resolved. So to those standing outside the suicide's mental anguish, they are able to see a future where the problem may well be resolved, and see suicide as premature if not unnecessary solution. And this is why most people find it wrong. It's almost always a wrong decision. I do see suicide as an acceptable solution where insufferable and permanent pain is involved.

[BwhoUR]

Taken from Wikipedia:

Suicide (Latin suicidium, from sui caedere, to kill oneself) is the intentional killing of oneself. The most common cause is an underlying mental disorder which include depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism and drug abuse.[1] Financial difficulties or other undesirable situations play a significant role.[2]

Over one million people commit suicide every year, making it the tenth-leading cause of death worldwide. It is a leading cause of death among teenagers and adults under 35.[3][4] There are an estimated 10 to 20 million non-fatal attempted suicides every year worldwide.[5]

Views on suicide have been influenced by broader cultural views on existential themes such as religion, honor, and the meaning of life. The Abrahamic religions consider suicide an offense towards God due to religious belief in the sanctity of life. In the West it was often regarded as a serious crime. Conversely, during the samurai era in Japan, seppuku was respected as a means of atonement for failure or as a form of protest. In the 20th century, suicide in the form of self-immolation has been used as a form of protest, and in the form of kamikaze and suicide bombing as a military or terrorist tactic. Sati is a Hindu funeral practice in which the widow would immolate herself on her husband's funeral pyre, either willingly, or under pressure from the family and in-laws.[6]

Euthanasia (Medically assisted suicide, or the right to die) is currently a controversial ethical issue involving people who are terminally ill, in extreme pain, or have (perceived or construed) minimal quality of life through injury or illness. Self-sacrifice for others is not usually considered suicide, as the goal is not to kill oneself but to save another.

Unless you are in dire pain which cannot be alleviated no matter what (and a final diagnosis made, with a second and third opinion), anyone thinking of committing suicide should seek help and reach out to others before attempting to kill themselves, or find a way to love yourself or your family or friends enough not to do it. A report was done about people who survived jumping from the golden gate bridge and 100% of them said they regretted doing it, but felt compelled to carry out the act of jumping so they could stop thinking about it. My friend Robert killed himself - he was mentally ill and his mother, family and friends are all still affected by it 22 years later, so unless you are 100 years old, you will leave a lot of damage behind when you go, suicide is not just about you. Also, please remember, it doesn't always work and you could end up a vegetable or maimed for life. You never know what's around the corner, it could be new scientific remedies or someone special, or you may find inner peace with this life, hang in there...

[Lux]

I can understand and accept that some people (for example those with terminal diseases) do not wish to live anymore, as long as the person is in full use of their mental faculties at the time of the attempted suicide, but those are not the majority of the cases.

The reason why there are laws against suicide is because individuals who attempt it, more often than not, suffer from a mental disease or disorder, and therefore are in no condition to make such a decision. What they need is help, and not acceptance of their desperate act.

[BwhoUR]

Imagine an individual with no family or friends, nobody is even aware of his existence.

First, I don't think anyone can either condone or condemn another's decision to end their life. We are powerless to stop them or make them do it.

Second, if someone has no friends or family and is perusing the internet on the subject of suicide, it doesn't sound like their "mentally ill" does it? Maybe they do not really want to end their lives but are instead looking for a reason not to that resinates with them. Maybe they are lonely. Maybe they have just suffered a breakup or death in the family. Maybe I am naive; I know I am definitely not a professional on the subject; Only my own life experience and compassion for others compells me to add to this subject in the hopes that it may help someone.

How about a change of pace? If I had no one in my life and I had nothing to lose, I think I could find something to do before ending my life, you know, like a bucket list. I've never baked a german chocolate cake from scratch, I've never skydived, I've never been on all the roller coasters in the world! I've never ridden a camel, I've never seen a sunset from Hawaii, I've never backpacked into a national forest and camped out overnight alone (I'm too chicken!), I've never walked across the united states for a good cause. I've never been to Africa or Prague. So much to do and if you film it and blog about it, maybe someone who is not so lucky can live vicariously through you.

[ChaosBorders]

It would seem pointless to have a law against suicide, since it would be impossible to charge any offender. However, since aiding and abetting someone in the commission of a crime is itself a crime, there really still is a point. Essentially, the law against suicide is effectively a law against attempted suicide and against assisting someone to commit suicide.

I recall it being mentioned in a book that it was once a law that those who failed at their suicide attempt would be hanged for it.

[McCulloch]

I recall it being mentioned in a book that it was once a law that those who failed at their suicide attempt would be hanged for it.

Sounds way too ironic to have been true. I suspect that it is mythical.

[ChaosBorders]

I recall it being mentioned in a book that it was once a law that those who failed at their suicide attempt would be hanged for it.

Sounds way too ironic to have been true. I suspect that it is mythical.

Might be the case. http://www.straightdope.com/columns/rea ... st-the-law Seems to be an old joke.

But definitely was imprisonment at one point in England: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide_Act_1961