American Girls’ Suicide Rates Rise

[Prince Yamato]

You know, no one has mentioned it, but many churches used to emphasize that if you killed yourself, you were damned. This view has never been emphasized in recent years. I don't want to get in a theological debate, but as a psychological factor, it would seem that this teaching would be effective in preventing suicide. You may not like this life, but if the afterlife is spent in Hell... Figure lack of that view and fewer kids going to a church anyway... well, there you have it. I'm by no means saying it is the sole reason, but I bet it would contribute to it.

 

[Stevie-Ray]

Most Christian churches teach that the only unpardonable sin is blasphemy of The Holy Spirit, i.e. slapping God's hands away and saying no thank you.

 

[peacemaker45]

Umm, according to the Catholic church, if you kill anyone, it's a mortal sin, and without confession and absolution, you go to hell. If you kill yourself, it's a little hard to confess, ask for, and recieve absolution.

The mainline protestant groups, like Methodists, Baptists, and Lutherans seem to share that thought, to a degree. You can be forgiven for murder, but you have to ask. If you've just murdered yourself, it's a little late to ask. Once again, you die with a rather nasty sin against your name.

The more Evangelical born again types seem to think that you don't get forgiveness on a piecemeal basis, but rather you are "Washed clean in the blood of the Lamb, and saved!" However, it seems unlikey that someone "basking in the glow of God's Love," who has "a personal relationship with their Lord and Savior," and all that would kill themselves. Ergo, If you're saved, then you won't kill yourself, if you kill yourself, then you weren't saved, all along.

Don't even get me started on the predestination crowd, like the Calvinists, and such.

So, where's this "most christian churches," stuff coming from? I've yet to run across any (aside from suicide cults) who think that it's a good idea. If the church did allow it, it might have saved a bunch of martyrs a bunch of pain and suffering.

Anyhow, we now return you from your regularly scheduled thread veer...

~~~Mat

 

[Prince Yamato]

Umm, according to the Catholic church, if you kill anyone, it's a mortal sin, and without confession and absolution, you go to hell. If you kill yourself, it's a little hard to confess, ask for, and recieve absolution.

As well as Eastern Orthodox churches (which worked nicely for Bram Stoker in his novel Dracula). But as I stated before, most (perhaps MANY would be a better term) Christian churches emphasized suicide as a damnable (literal or otherwise) offense. Up until a decade ago, it was considered unacceptable to even bury a suicide victim in a Catholic cemetery.

Again, I'm not trying to espouse my or others religious views concerning suicide, but I believe when these views were held by many people, it acted as a deterrent. ie, "you think your life is bad now, well if you kill yourself, you're going to Hell for eternity, how bad do you think that is?" And to steer things back to firearms, I think it's ludicrous to believe that they increase the number of suicides.