Posted on 04/09/2013 1:22:06 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
Not really relative.
There are hierarchies of values when sometimes you are pressed into a situation where you have to choose between CONFLICTING absolutes. Such situations are rare, but someone mentioned the case of either jumping fromt he Twin Towers or being consumed by fire.
One ought to do whatever fulfills the highest moral rule in a situation. When this is the case, such action is right, and the person in no way does wrong. Under this view, there are no tragic moral dilemmas. The lesser of two evils is a misnomer, it is argued, because such lesser evil is actually good.
For instance:
James 2:25
demonstrates that Rahab was “justified” when she lied about the spies. Also, see the midwives at the time of Moses, Peter and John disobeying the Sanhedrin in Acts 4 etc.
So in the Ethical Hierarchy :
1) Persons are more valuable than things
2) Infinite persons are more valuable than finite persons
3) Complete persons are more valuable than incomplete persons(!)
4) Actual persons are more valuable than potential persons
5) Potential persons are more valuable than actual things
6) Many persons are more valuable than a few persons
7) Personal acts which promote personhood are better than those which do not
Amen!
Women and minorities go in first!
All that said, there ain't no easy answers, and I wish God's mercy and kindness upon those afflicted with depression. Walk into any soup kitchen and volunteer, take a John Doe, but don't put your family through a suicide.
And may God slap me hard for being so presumptuous to type such crap through biter tears.
If I was on the phone with someone contemplating suicide, I’m not sure I’d want to give them the warm fuzzy’s about what they are thinking of doing.
...and then we have Rodney Dangerfield, who called Suicide Hotline and they tried to talk him into it...
“What about suicide missions in the military, or being a martyr?”
John 15:13. No greater love. Different situation.
That article you linked, from the National Institute for the Renewal of the Priesthood, explains it excellently. Thanks for posting.
>>Is overweight person who has a heart attack from obesity a suicide, and denied heaven? How about the smoker or drinker who dies from the chronic effects — a suicide, only slowly? What about the chronic worrier, even if he or she is sincerely concerned about his or her grown children, who strokes out from anxiety? What about the person who skipped some work-related duty to leave on time, and is hit by a car and killed on the way home? Did they commit suicide because they consciously shirked their duty, and then were in the wrong place at the wrong time?
Reductio ad absurdum like this is really silly. To compare this to the deliberate act of putting a gun in your mouth, taking an overdose of pills, or hanging yourself displays either a profound ignorance or a feeble attempt to justify suicide.
>>Why tell them anything? It’s not like you really KNOW what happens, do you?
So, you don’t try to comfort them at all? Just say “No comment” and walk away?
Amen to that...but:even if the believer is so stricken that he takes his own life out of despair....??
I think so....
Well, maybe if bo committed suicide, that great humanitarian act would get him to heaven??? Due to all the good he just did for so many.
Maybe like a reverse Judas?
THAT is NOT suicide.....that is the GREATEST GIFT a human can give another human.
Any right person knows that mental illness is indeed a medical problem and in many cases the chemical imbalance in the brain will cause severe depression and ultimate death. That's a proven.......
But you know that yet you continue to drop into these threads spouting your crap..........
Anyone can opine on such things, but there is no one commenting here nor anyone on the planet who can answer your question.
(That will not stop some from claiming to know the answer.)
You will have to make your own decision on this one. This is true for many more questions as well.
The end result is the same in all cases, just the circumstances differ. To me, that makes taking your own life relative to the situation.
Does it matter who’s side you are on when it comes to a suicide mission in the military?
Does it matter if you are going to be put to death because of something you believe in?
“... mental illness is indeed a medical problem... cause severe depression and ultimate death”.
I’ve known two people who committed suicide and both suffered from a mental disorder. By “suffer”, I truly mean they suffered. The depression was as debilitating as any other type of medical illness. Both tried numerous doctors, psychiatrists, medications and hospitalizations from their teens on. Yet both never found a cure and both committed suicide. They were not “bad” people. Both were loving people and tried their hardest to survive. I don’t think for one moment that they are in hell. Did they hurt their families when they died? Yes, but no differently than a teen driving drunk that is killed by slamming into a tree or any other similar type death. Just my thoughts...
I would say, ‘I’m sorry for your loss, I don’t know what else to say’, and walk away.
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