Suicide

Suicide

Surgeon General Satcher called suicide a national health problem and likened it to a virulent epidemic. The thousands of fellow-citizens who end their own lives each year affects all of us to some degree. No man is an island unto himself. Having had first hand experience with this tragedy, I offer the following thoughts.

One of the contributing factors to suicide is alcohol and drug addiction. Minds and bodies enslaved to a bottle or pill are often tormented, defeated and powerless. The only escape they can imagine is to destroy themselves. Brains saturated with mind altering drugs cannot imagine solution to their immediate problems, nor any future improvement. They often do stupid and foolish things that result in their death.

Another factor is the growth and acceptance of organizations that promote suicide as a reasonable, responsible and acceptable way of action. Most notable of these are the infamous Hemlock Society and organizations promoting euthanasia. Dr. Jack Korvorkian is the most visible spokesman for such groups. In days past suicide was socially unacceptable and carried with it a stigma both to the perpetrator and his family. These pro-suicide groups have succeeded in erasing the shame of suicide making it more acceptable and appealing to folks in distress.

Our contemporary youth culture has produced a number of songs and videos glorifying suicide and actually encouraging it as a defiant act of rebellion against family and society. Such cultural contamination infects some of the youngsters exposed to its deadly message.

The decline in traditional Christianity, its value system and the hope it offers has allow this plague to expand among us. Those contemplating suicide often feel alone with no one with whom to share their burdens. In Christianity a spiritual family is always available to help bear life's burdens. Having no hope, some destroy themselves. Belief in a living God who hears and answers the prayers of his children gives believers hope even in the darkest moments. Christianity depicts God as the Creator of life and he alone has the right to take it. This belief deters the Christian from usurping God's role and ending his own life. The divine prohibition not to kill certainly includes the self. All of these points when deeply held deter folks from ending their own lives. Connection with a church provides a person with access to a minister who can offer wise and caring counsel to those in distress.

I hope Dr. Satcher succeeded in awakening our nation to the immense scope of this problem. I also hope that those working on it will consider the factors mentioned above.

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