A Polemic on religion with regard to suicide
To those dreamers who believe that a ray of light will appear and lead them to heaven: when you’re dead, you’re dead, finito, the lights are out, there is no more.
That’s what I like to believe anyway. The same should also be true of hell and burning for eternity, so why do I fear it?
Why are religious people so against suicide, is it because they believe God created us and so to commit suicide is to disrespect him, but then god gave us free will. If they believe God made us, he made us with the ability to be depressed and suicidal, then surely he has to accept our wishes to commit suicide. If we do then, according to religion, we are damned to hell and yet if we don’t we are damned to live a horrible life just for God, what pleasure does he derive from our misery.
If God’s all about forgiveness then why are we threatened with something so nightmarish like hell once we reach the nadir of our lives and can go on no further. I watched a film that features a place of chaos and violence described as hell, what if it really exists, what if my atheism is wrong and I’m thrown into this chaos, like in the film, seeing it scared me. Even though I am sure religion is man made, I’m I being conditioned by it not to commit suicide as I suspect or what, and as an atheist am I wrong to even think about hell?
If religious texts can be shown to be erroneous, why do they continue to be used to tell the suicidal it is a sin to end their lives, and so be doomed to hell by this loving creator, this includes assisted suicide where someone wants to end their suffering on earth. People in and before the 19th century had harsh lives in comparison to today, suffering illness and endless work and yet people endured it, was it because religion held greater sway then and hell and damnation scared them to a point where they accepted their lot in life rather than ending it on their own terms.
It can be hard to allow logical thinking to prevail over fear of something I have no proof of but is so terrifying to me; fear of eternal pain and suffering, a strong counterargument to the rational.
Sorry, not really trying to say anything, just a load of nonsensical ramblings from a dark and depressed mind.
4 comments
It’s hard for me to think about everything yo. just said because I don’t think that anyone really has the answer, but that’s alright I guess. Anyway.. your words did remind me of some things I thought I could share with you, ’cause why not?
The first thing is about why religious people are against suicide. I remember having a little discussion with one of my teachers about this, but than he told me something that I guess I can understand. He told me that the reason that they are against it is because God gives everyone three basic rights: The right to own, freedom and the right to live. So the right to live basically means that you can’t take someone else’s life, but suicide is also considered as murder. In dutch for excaple, the word for suicide is ‘zelfmoord’ which basically means ‘self-murder’. And because of suicide being considered an act of murder, you are taking away your right to live. I guess that makes sense..
The second thing was when you spoke about God’s forgiveness. This reminded me of a quote by my favourite singer Amy lee from Evanescence. They have a song called Tourniquet and it’s about suicide. This is what she said about the song: “It’s from the perspective of someone who has just committed suicide and it’s about the controversy in Christianity that if you commit suicide, will you go to heaven or hell? If all sins are forgiven after accepting Christ, why would there be an exception?” I agree with her, but I thought I’d share this with you because I think that you’d agree with her too.
I hope this will somehow help you. Please don’t worry about it too much. I don’t think the after life is such a big deal as people make it seem to be honest… I mean I don’t know what it’s like being dead, but personally I think that it’s basically a bit like they’d describe heaven. I’m pretty sure there’s no such thing as a hell, so.. It’s okay not knowing the answer to some questions :/
Sometimes I wonder if, in some cases, the mind (especially of one who says they don’t believe in an afterlife) grasps at the idea of going to hell simply because part of you doesnt yet want to die. Just a thought.
Always good to see you post nias 🙂
Here’s a quote:
“Live a good life. If there are gods and they are just, then they will not care how devout you have been, but will welcome you based on the virtues you have lived by. If there are gods, but unjust, then you should not want to worship them. If there are no gods, then you will be gone, but will have lived a noble life that will live on in the memories of your loved ones.”
(It’s usually attributed to the philosopher emperor Marcus Aurelius, but he didn’t actually say that.)
@Within Evanescence, I know what you mean about self-murder, but if someone is not in their right state of mind cos they’re not enjoying life for whatever reason, shouldn’t suicide be regarded as different to the murder of another. I think the most annoying thing for me is when assisted suicide for terminally ill is debated (and I believe in it) and yet the church is so opposed to it because they see it as a sin.
I don’t/can’t believe in hell for the reason you give, that no kind and loving god would do something like this, just the thought of hell gets to me from time to time, especially after seeing a film that showed it
@Whispers, perhaps you’re right, when I stood on the edge wanting to jump to my death was I just worried about failing and ending up worse off but was I also worried about succeeding and being in a worse place. This stopped me from going ahead, perhaps I wanted to find a reason to stay.
@raza, it’s a good quote, wish everyone would live by it, to live a life of being good and to end up commiting suicide, one would hope that the good will be all that counts in the end.