Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Suicide
Dec 13, 2014 12:46:44 GMT -6
Post by Deleted on Dec 13, 2014 12:46:44 GMT -6
Is suicide ethical or moral?
Disclaimer: I am not suicidal.
|
|
|
Suicide
Dec 13, 2014 13:06:23 GMT -6
Post by rdlb on Dec 13, 2014 13:06:23 GMT -6
Is suicide ethical or moral?
Disclaimer: I am not suicidal. It is like asking the question which is red, crimson or ruby? Could your clarify what you might see as the difference between ethical and moral as it relates to suicide?
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Suicide
Dec 13, 2014 14:51:54 GMT -6
Post by Deleted on Dec 13, 2014 14:51:54 GMT -6
Ethical in my view is pertaining to right and wrong behavior, not necessarily because of religious values.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Suicide
Dec 13, 2014 20:54:05 GMT -6
Post by Deleted on Dec 13, 2014 20:54:05 GMT -6
Is suicide ethical or moral?
Disclaimer: I am not suicidal. This is a subject which hits close to home for me. A member of my extended family took his life on his birthday, which was yesterday by the way, nine years ago. He suffered clinical depression. He had been to doctor after doctor. They either over medicated him, under medicated him or wrongly medicated him.He was a very kind and wonderful person although he was emotionally tortured. So, this is only my opinion. In cases such as his, I don't think ethics nor morals enter into the equation. His was an illness, a chemical imbalance. So how can one be labeled as 'unethical' or 'immoral' when they are not in control of their emotions and actions ? Anyone who blames a person such as he, in situations such as his, has no right to judge nor label. He just wanted the pain to stop. The world lost a beautiful person when he took his life and our's have never been the same without him. I have no doubt that he is at peace in God's care. His illness is no longer, his suffering has been soothed. God is love.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Suicide
Dec 14, 2014 3:49:27 GMT -6
Post by Deleted on Dec 14, 2014 3:49:27 GMT -6
When I was in my 20s I suffered from depression. It's like a veil that over shadows you, you can't get out no matter how hard to try. It ultimately led to a divorce and I pretty much lost everything. I eventually struggled free with the right person helping me. It's no longer an issue and hasn't been in years. When you are left with no place to run suicide crops it's ugly head as the way to freedom.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Suicide
Dec 14, 2014 11:24:58 GMT -6
Post by Deleted on Dec 14, 2014 11:24:58 GMT -6
I feel for everyone who has ever experienced this terrible illness.
The person I talked about became very adapt at putting on a 'happy face' and telling us 'all is well', when things were anything but. Sometimes I think Drs do not take this illness seriously enough. I'm glad you defeated your depression.
After we lost our loved one, I did a lot of research and went to some support programs. I learned that often the person affected hides thier symptoms very well, in fear of being labeled a 'social pariah' This was the case with him. We never knew the depth of his depression until it was too late. Survivor's guilt often weighs heavily on everyone who knew and loved him . I sometimes feel that we let him down, that maybe we could have done more to help.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Suicide
Dec 15, 2014 3:46:05 GMT -6
Post by Deleted on Dec 15, 2014 3:46:05 GMT -6
We never know by looking at a person what they're feeling. There are those who fight the greatest battles in their heads. It's a shame because often people don't understand. Unlike a physical a illness a mental illness seems to always have a leg up. It's hard to out think your thinker.
|
|
|
Suicide
Dec 21, 2014 18:56:53 GMT -6
Post by samsara15 on Dec 21, 2014 18:56:53 GMT -6
I was suicidal when I was young. Too many active hormones, too much frustration. Once married, that decreased.
The question about suicide, IMO, is really about how we relate to others, and what value we place on their feelings. We should try to avoid hurting the feelings of those who care about us, IMO, and that is one of the most important tasks we have in living our lives.
|
|
|
Suicide
Jan 4, 2015 19:20:15 GMT -6
Post by samsara15 on Jan 4, 2015 19:20:15 GMT -6
The problem with suicide is that it often hurts the rest of the family. I have no problem with suicide, per se, but I think people should be aware of how much it might hurt their loved ones.
An example.
My mother-in-law, long dead, died in 2000. Her father committed suicide somewhere around 1918 or so. Her Mom was impoverished and had to put her three children, the eldest being my mother-in-law, into an orphanage, a Sailor and Soldiers home in Muncie, Indiana. Her Mom managed to get a menial job working at the orphanage. My mother-in-law despised her Dad for his suicide long into her life, and only began to forgive him when she was in her 80s.
On the other hand, I learned that he was a preacher, and did not like being a preacher. The only reason he ever became a preacher was that his wife, my wife’s grandmother, wanted him to be one, and had pushed him onto becoming one, and threatened to leave him if he ever left preaching. He wanted to be a mechanic, or something like that. He hated it so much, but felt corned by her, and escaped it by committing suicide, but left three young children and widow without means to support themselves. It was a bad situation, all around.
M<y mother-in-law finally began to forgive him late in her life.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 5, 2015 4:31:34 GMT -6
The problem with suicide is that it often hurts the rest of the family. I have no problem with suicide, per se, but I think people should be aware of how much it might hurt their loved ones. An example. My mother-in-law, long dead, died in 2000. Her father committed suicide somewhere around 1918 or so. Her Mom was impoverished and had to put her three children, the eldest being my mother-in-law, into an orphanage, a Sailor and Soldiers home in Muncie, Indiana. Her Mom managed to get a menial job working at the orphanage. My mother-in-law despised her Dad for his suicide long into her life, and only began to forgive him when she was in her 80s. On the other hand, I learned that he was a preacher, and did not like being a preacher. The only reason he ever became a preacher was that his wife, my wife’s grandmother, wanted him to be one, and had pushed him onto becoming one, and threatened to leave him if he ever left preaching. He wanted to be a mechanic, or something like that. He hated it so much, but felt corned by her, and escaped it by committing suicide, but left three young children and widow without means to support themselves. It was a bad situation, all around. M<y mother-in-law finally began to forgive him late in her life. What a sad story.
|
|
|
Suicide
Jan 10, 2015 13:00:07 GMT -6
Post by rdlb on Jan 10, 2015 13:00:07 GMT -6
I have known several relatives who have contemplated suicide and one who succeeded. In all off those individuals they felt they had no other "choices" left to be made in their lives journey. Our step-aunt would not divorce her husband who not only wanted another woman but, showed up at her funeral with the other woman.
My paternal grandfather, father and younger brother all tried to use a pistol to end their lives. Interesting they were stopped by some unseen force and rethought their options. I had a long spiritual talk with my brother and listened to his reasons. Listening is the most important part of the interaction. He discovered that his own thoughts were rather convoluted initially and once he began to voice them to me, (I with no judgement), he began to realize he had more choices than he originally thought.
|
|
|
Suicide
Jan 10, 2015 19:28:25 GMT -6
Post by samsara15 on Jan 10, 2015 19:28:25 GMT -6
I had an uncle, my Mom's brother, who committed suicide, around 1953 or so, because his wife was running around with another man, rather openly.
Strangely enough, the other man refused to marry my ex-aunt after my uncle committed suicide because, as he claimed. 'she's already driven one man to kill himself'.
|
|
|
Suicide
Jul 26, 2015 21:13:21 GMT -6
Post by lowell on Jul 26, 2015 21:13:21 GMT -6
I contemplated suicide when I first married and discovered my wife was having affairs with all her former boyfriends behind my back. I walked out into Lake Union in Seattle thinking I could drown myself. The lake at that spot has a very muddy bottom. With each step it got harder to move forward as I sank into even deeper mud. I was only up to my waist in water. I doubted that I would be able to kill myself that way, it was too unpleasant and too difficult. My life became more difficult, though I experienced a few inspirational moments. While serving in the Army (I was drafted during the Tet offensive), I was injured in a touch football game in a parade field next to the barracks. An opposing player hit my eye with his elbow and pushed it so hard that the iris was bent back against the lens. The Army doctors were able to get rid of the inflammation and the effects of the bruising after about a month of medicinal eye drops, but they warned me that I might develop glaucoma in the eye and that I should have it pressure checked once a year. In addition, a German sold my Army friends some large capsules that were alleged to contain psychelics but really contained rat poison and diet pills crushed and mixed together. I took more than the other soldiers and the next day when I went to pee, the urine came out bright red. My kidneys were bleeding. The Army doctors said "There is definitely something wrong with your kidneys but we don't know what it is so go back to work." I took an early out from the Army after 2 years and 7 months (I enlisted at the reception center to get my choice of MOS and duty assignment), so I could attend college. The ETS doctor (End of Time in the Service) that examined me said I had double inguinal hernias. So I went to the V.A. hospital to get them fixed when I got out. They operated on the left side and said that I did not have a hernia, that they had removed a lump of fat. I did not heal from the operation as quickly as I hoped. The doctors asked me if I wanted the other side operated on. I said no. (I realized I didn't have any hernias.)
About a year after I got out of the Army my kidneys would still bleed if I did any hard work, my eye developed glaucoma, and I was very poor. I was introduced to Buddhism at this time. I chanted to be happy and I became happier with each Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo. So I chanted for enlightenment. Then I thought that it might take a longer time for that, so I chanted for my eye to be cured. I prayed as hard as I could and I tried to say the words just right. Just when I was sure that I couldn't pray any better, what looked like a stream of water shot out of the scroll we were praying to and hit me in the face! It dropped into my lap and arching out in multiple streams, went right through the floor. I thought, "Oh NO! My enlightenment! I've lost it!" Then I realized that all the pain was gone from my eye and I could see clearly out of it again. So I became a Buddhist. After that I also found that I could work hard and my kidneys didn't bleed.
However, I had an uncertain future filled with hard work in order to survive. A Buddhist leader named Mr. Williams was scheduled to appear and lecture on Buddhism in Seattle a couple of months after I joined. I was urged to chant for him to answer a question on my mind. So I did. I formed the question "If I commit suicide now, after becoming a buddhist, will my next life be better?" I chanted for him to answer this question, an hour each day for a week before seeing him. He was looking at different people in the audience of several hundred at a lecture hall within the Seattle Center. At one point he looked directly into my eyes and said "If you want to die, it is very easy, I can show you how. But if you want to live, it requires great effort. If you go to sleep with a broken leg and it hasn't been set by a doctor, when you wake up, if you wake up, it will be worse." In fact I ended up working at heavy duty labor for 15 years, and then I worked on the floor using dangerous chemicals and doing hard work at an aerospace company for 13 years. Then I worked driving commercial trucks for 6 years. Now I am retired and I can work at being a musician in a rock and roll band. My home is paid for and I have more than enough money from social security and a Teamster's pension. Gradual improvement has been the story of my life since I embraced Buddhism. Suicide may be a solution for a person at the end of their life, with a medical prognosis of increasing pain and suffering, but it certainly will not improve the destiny of a young person who faces what seems to be overwhelming anguish that is in fact only a temporary setback. There are some who have killed other people and no doubt their future existences would be better if they had just killed themselves.
|
|