question about religion and suicide?

Question

Yesterday a guy that works for the same company i do at another office took his own life and i heard people saying how selfish he was and how he'll go to hell so it made me wonder what are other people's beliefs on this subject? I find myself conflicted with this because if God is all knowing, doesn't he see what the people are going to do? and God is supposed to be forgving why would he not forgive, especially because some people who get to that point are not mentally stable and are in so much pain that they do not think clearly or see any alternative? Why would God not forgive and accept those who took their own lives when he knows the pain they felt? How can he turn away someone who hurt so much in their life?

And another question is, why is it that no one seems to empathize with the people who felt that way? everyone just seems to judge him. is it that no one can seem to contemplate what he must have felt?

Thanks to all for the answers!

Answer 1

God will judge him on his heart. It is not anyone's place to say where someone is going because the truth is we really don't know. The Bible says that suicide is unacceptable because you have acted as God by deciding when your time to die was...however, there are even some Christians who believe that Judas went to Heaven because he was a part of God's plan, he had to betray Jesus for everything to go as planned, and then he felt terrible for it later and threw the money back at the Pharisees...demons tormented him after that and eventually the torment of betraying the son of man became too much for him and he hung himself. There was a lady at a sister church of ours and she was the pastor's wife...she loved God soooooo much, but she had debilitating problem with her back, the pain was so excrutiating she could hardly walk a lot of the time or take care of herself...she went to the doctor and on her last visit she was told that there was nothing she could do, that she would have to endour that pain for the rest of her life. While her husband was gone that night she wrote him a note, told him she was sorry, that she loved him and God, but she couldn't continue on in that pain and she shot herself. My pastor talked about it at church that Sunday and he said something that I agree with. He said, "One moment of despair does not erase a life time dedication to God and his kingdom. I believe she is in Heaven." If you believe that this person was pleasing to God, but just had a moment of weakness...I believe that you can have faith in that.

Answer 2

Tough question. Suicide is selfish for a few reasons from a few different stand points. Killing yourself from a Buddist is the ulitmate wrong act. Your idea is release not put back into the cycle. From an more Western view, life is a gift, to take it away from everyone, a very big sin. Everyone has the free will to make a mistake or their own decisions, this is a permanent bad one. Just think how inspired we are when someone overcomes any obsticle that looks really bad... they are heroic. Someone that runs from their problems, a coward. Suicide is the ultimate cowardice act, it is giving up or surrendering. Now this isn't always the case. Those that will die and are suffering (terminally ill). That is a different case, there is no hope of change in some folks mind
To the point of empathize, we can do that when a person is alive, if they are dead we thinking of the past. Suicide as an effect on the family and friends for a long time.
Just some thoughts.

Answer 3

Suicide is a tough one. I belive that when someone does that they are mentally ill. I believe they make that choice but the mind is sometimes stronger than the will when you are feeling that desparate..

I don't know if God would consider suicide murder or a desparate action by reason of an unhealthy mind.

1.If it is considered murder, you are dead and can't ask God to forgive you for murdering yourself.

2. If it is a case of mental illness/temporary insanity, then I think God will make allowances.

I think it is the latter of the two #2.

People who have never had depression, mental illness, anxiety, etc etc. have NO idea what it is like and what havoc it wreaks (sp?) in one's life. I have dealt with depression for years and have actually had friends get mad at me when I don't want to socialize or go to lunch or go shopping when I am not feeling "well". Yes, some people judge and do not know how to put the shoes on the other foot. I believe that if someone cannot be empathetic to others in any given situation, God will allow that same experience to darken their doorsteps in some form or another (be it them, a loved one, a friend etc) so they can gain understanding and compassion

Answer 4

Everyone nowadays seems 2 be saying saying what God should & shouldn't do. The problem is that many people believe that the judgement of God is like a court case where there are arguments for & against. They do not realise that God is God & it is he who makes the rules.
God said that he will put no more on a man than he could bear. Do u believe that people who kill themselves really had more pain in their lives than me or you or the millions more people out there. There are homeless people all over the world, there are people in Africa who have no money, no food, & they have children to feed. There are people with some serious problems out there. Yet they are trying their best 2 survive.
Lots of people who commit suicide do not know the meaning of real hunger, or real proverty, yet at the first seemingly unsolvable problem, they commit suicide. And some of the reasons are things like their partner leave them & they cannot take it, or they have too much debt, or they committed some crime & is facing exposure.
I am not belittling the problems that those who commit suicide have, I am just saying that everyone in life have had huge seemingly unsurmountable problems. If they havent yet, they will at some point. Michael Jackson had to be at an extremely low point in his life when he had that jail sentence staring him in the face. Can u imagine how Paris Hilton feels right now? And they are millionaires.
The point is that despite what, we have 2 face our demons & defeat them, not kill ourselves. That is our strength. The ability 2 stand up, take our blows & move on.
And never let satan win by by allowing him 2 make us believe that we are losers & that we are too weak 2 overcome whatever he throws at us.

Answer 5

Well, I believe it is our fault. God gave us free will so we would have the power to make our own choices. Yes he can intervene in moments of crisis, but you must have faith in God for that to happen. I know that if you pray for something and believe it with all your heart, that God will intervene in some way.

As for this man going to Hell, that is not my place to talk about. I know that in the bible, it says that If you hold all the commandments of God, you will go to Heaven.

I am not saying it is anyones fault. I think that this was probably a wake-up call from God. I think he is saying that the next time you think there is a problem in someones life, trust in God. Pray to Him and he will fix the problem.

Well, in answer to your second question, Humans aren't perfect. This man's actions were another persons Gossip. I am guilty of judging. I know I shouldn't, but I do. I hope that people come away from this situation with the attitude that "maybe, instead of judging people, I will pray for them and help them out in any way I can." I know I need that attitude.

Answer 6

I believe that the God that I know would forgive a tortured soul that saw no other way than to take his or her own life. I realize that suicide is a permanent solution for a temporary problem, but I also have suffered from despair in my life. I certainly would never condemn a person that made this ultimate decision. Not my place to judge in the first place.

Answer 7

People believe those that commit suicide will go to hell because misery loves company. No one likes to think that someone will escape from misery in, what they consider an easy manner, while they must consider to toil on. Therefore to encourage the unwashed masses to continue with their suffering, the threat of even greater suffering had to be present. Hence eternal damnation.

Heaven is supposed to be wonderful. If people thought they could simply die and get there, no one would be here. So people have to be made to believe that it is better to stay here than to try to get there before their due time. Contradiction may be present but that can be explained away but telling them to not question but live by faith!

The issue of repentance may come up, but death bed request for forgiveness are given all the time. Do you think those committing suicide don't ask for forgiveness before committing the act? Is that not "death bed" repentance? Nay, it would not be allowed to qualify. Again they must suffer.

It is easier to judge someone else, less time to critique yourself.

Answer 8

Any God that would condemn a person to Hell for committing suicide when that person is in unbearable mental and emotional agony is, to me, no God worth honoring.

People who haven't been there simply can't imagine what it's like to be in that much pain, and their ignorance shines through in many of the answers previously posted.

Answer 9

I believe that we continue to be reborn into life and repeat the challenges of the past until we learn and move on. Mental illness and depression are very challenging things to overcome in life but the sad part is what brought him to that point will happen again until he choses to overcome it. I agree that people should not judge others, for all we know he made vast improvements in other areas of his soul that will allow him the higher path next time. God/Goddess can save even the soul of the murderer, if in one life he kills in the next he may be the mother of the killed child, just to live again and find himself faced with the same choice once again. At that crossroad he might stop and realize the impact of what he is thinking and chose not to act, that is concience, that is evolution of the soul, that is god at work. Your friend may have failed this time for reasons we cannot even fathom, so that he can move on in his next life.

Answer 10

This idea comes from repentance. You can be a mass murderer and be forgiven, but to be forgiven, you need to repent. How can someone repent committing suicide when he/she is dead?

Also take into account no one knows what God thinks, just because people say he'll go to hell, that doesn't mean it's true. I've never been so confident in believing I know what God thinks.

IMHO we are here to learn. The terrible thing about committing suicide is taking away your chances of learning, thus failing the lesson and having to repeat it in the next life, maybe in a tougher way. You are delivered the lessons you need in life, and no experience is that strong that we cannot survive it. God does not put in front of you what you cannot stand. A saying in spanish says "God tightens but doesn't choke".