What is the outcome if one choses to die?

Question

I was just thinking about what happens to people who opt to die. I don't mean by sucide but with help, medically. Like help from that man Kovorikian before he got in trouble
I have been taught that if I were to commit sucide I would go straight to hell, do you think the same applies to people who just want to be free from the pain or sickness that they have been plagued with?

Answer 1

I don't believe that they go to Hell. I hope that God would be more merciful than that. Why would someone who is trying to end their own pain go to the same place as evil people who deliberately murdered innocent people? It doesn't make sense. Still. It is not our place to play God. We are not supposed to decide when we go. I think that if someone is being kept alive artificially and wants to die then they should be allowed to have someone pull the plug but letting someone die naturally rather than live on a machine is different from actually taking their life... a difficult issue.

Suicide is never an answer but I can certainly understand someone who is in excruciating pain & terminally ill wanting to stop the suffering...

Maybe these people go to Purgatory. Not eternal damnation but a waiting room between Heaven & Hell. It's hard to say. I was always taught that suicides go to hell but it doesn't make sense to me. Yes it's wrong to take your life, but someone in that position is in a fragile emotional state, they don't necessarily understand what they're doing, they're just so distraught & see no other way out. I don't think it's equal to taking someone else's life, someone innocent who wants to live...but who knows?

The movie "What Dreams May Come" starring Robin Williams, has an interesting concept for suicides. They go to a hell of their own making...They're stuck in a kind of limbo. They won't let themselves be happy even in the afterlife. So self-absorbed in their own sorrow that they can't escape it. Each one locked in their own individual hell. Not thrown into a pit with Hitler and all the evil men throughout history...

Answer 2

The thing that you mentioned about being taught that you will be on the express train to hell if you kill yourself leads me to believe that you have been raised by Catholic people. According to them there are plenty of ways to go straight to hell. However, you must realise that not everyone believes in the teachings of this particular church. If a person's conscience has no problem with choosing to die, then they should follow their conscience. Would choosing not to accept life-prolonging treatment be considered suicide in your opinion? I guess what it boils down to is the person's own conscience and beliefs. If one person thinks that it's wrong to do something but does it anyway, it's wrong for them. If another person thinks that the exact same act is OK, then so it is. I think that we can't possibly know what it is like to be at that level of suffering and pain until we get there ourselves. It might well change our whole outlook on reality. I hope that you don't become preoccupied with this type of stuff. I personally doubt that a God who is supposed to love us would throw someone into the fire forever due to something that happened during a time of extreme stress and pain. We will all die at some point anyway no matter how much we do to prevent it. Don't worry about what we can't change and live your life in the best way that you can. I am pretty old and will probably be dead soon, and although I am not overjoyed by the prospect, I will not allow myself to be overwhelmed by worrying about it.

Answer 3

Hasn't anyone ever heard of Purgatory?I was taught that this is where babies who were not baptised and adults who were not sinners per say but did not live a Holy life would go when they died!? As far as the Right to Choose- I believe if a person is told that they will be dead in X amount of days-months etc... and they have their full mental capabilities then they should be allowed to choose to be assisted in their death by a medical professional so they can die with dignity and with grace!

Answer 4

It might be interesting to many to find out what the Baha'i faith thinks about this subject. Baha'is believe that religion must be in harmony with science and reason and beliefs which contradict scientific findings are probably superstitions.

The act of suicide is strongly condemned in the Baha'i teachings, and alongside the other world religions, it is "forbidden". However, Baha'is do not adopt a condemnatory attitude toward those who commit suicide.
For Bahá’ís, the purpose of life is to develop one’s spiritual capacity and, in so doing, contribute to “an ever-advancing civilization”. Bahá’ís believe in an afterlife, of which little is known. It is thought to be a spiritual existence, and those that die retain their individuality in the afterlife and potentially continue to develop spiritually.
The Ultimate Reality, what some religions call God, is omniscient and merciful, and will deal with every soul justly. “The manner in which the Supreme Being, in His Justice as well as in His Mercy, will deal with every individual soul is a mystery unknown to us on this earthly plane”. In response to an early Bahá’í who committed suicide, the Bahá’í writings stated: “He will be immersed in the ocean of pardon and forgiveness and will become the recipient of bounty and favour.”

Answer 5

Well... I know we are taught that if we commit suicide we will go to hell but... does that really make sense? I don't think so. Why would God punish a hurting soul by sending them to hell. Hmmm... Doesn't sound like the God I know. I'm sure that most will say opting to die is the same as suicide. I think it is. But I don't believe that they will go to hell for it. Have a blessed day!

Answer 6

Sorry to tell you this, but you will neither go to hell or heaven. Both are human constructs and if there is some sort of afterlife, we will only find out until we are dead. It's presumptuous to think anyone can know.

Don't come to me about the bible this the bible that! What about the other, non-Abrahamic religions who have different expectations after death? Are they all wrong but the story with which you have been brainwashed is true?

The outcome of someone choosing to die; is death! Then they will find out what happens after death. Either they will live an afterlife or the cessation of their existence will provide the negative knowledge that your consciousness ends at death.

Answer 7

Well people who commit suicide are also inflicted with pain and sickness. Called depression and mental illness. In the book of Job he was afflicted with horrible illness and faced incredible loss and depression yet never killed himself. So, If what you were taught was bible based perhaps this will clarify things. Others also have a different perception of what hell exactly is. Some say non-existence with no chance of everlasting life, others feel its continual pain and suffering and some see it as a never ending grave. So I hope I shed some light on your question.
Thank you.

Answer 8

If you commit suicide you don't go to Hell. Hell is here on earth. God is more complex than that, and if you believe in a kind and loving God, why would you think God would throw you into Hell just over killing yourself. When you die, you go on to the other dimension. Some people who died and didn't know it wander around because they are confused. They should go into the light.

Answer 9

Suicide can be a result of an illness such as depression or schizophrenia. So who is more evil....the person plagued with the sickness or god for giving it to the victim?

(and don't say mental illness is a result of demons so god can't be evil)

According to what you have been taught...those that jumped from the Trade Center on 9/11 are in Hell.

You've been TAUGHT there is a hell....so what do YOU think?

Answer 10

When u opt to commit suicide according to many religions u will go to hell. Because u have gone against the rules of nature.
The other u are talking about is certainly "MERCY KILLING". This is legalized in very few states. I think this is justified because a person is killed mercifully when he bears a severe pain and doctors are sure that he will die soon. By means of "Mercy killing", he dies peacefully.