Is suicide wrong if it's done to save the lives of others?

Question

4 example: in the movie "the day after tommorrow" 4 men were tied together hauling a sled while traveling thru a deadly snowstorm. as they walked over a glass ceiling it broke and they all dangled over a deep drop that would kill them. the man at the bottom cut his line so himself and the sled would fall and the other 3 could live. isn't that suicide/self sacrifice? now why would this man be condemned 4 this?

Answer 1

I don't believe sucide is wrong, whether it is to save other lives or one's own (on another level). As for it, or anything else, being condemned-that is the result of a judgemental society.

Answer 2

Uh...who said he'd be condemned?

The biggest sacrifice and act of complete selflessness that anyone can make is to lay down their life willingly and unhesitatingly for their fellow humans. And if you're willing to plunge to your death from a snowy cliff for the sake of your friends, I would say that you had a lot of guts and heart - dying from hard impact is NOT a pretty sight, and that's true for people suicide-jumping from bridges/cliffs into large bodies of water as well.

It's killing yourself for no reason other than you think you just can't "take" it anymore that's a selfish, senseless thing to do. Because when you see people fighting against all odds to live - dragging themselves across a glacier with a broken leg, sustaining themselves on urine, working 20-hour days, etc. - you ought to realize that dying by your own hand is like throwing away the most precious gift in the world; a gift that no currency can purchase.

By the way, does this question has anything to do with Christianity? Just for clarification, you see.

Answer 3

In the situation you have given, suicide is not wrong because there is a meaningful purpose in doing a self-sacrifice and that is to save the lives of others. Infact i will consider it as an heroic act. He should not be condemned for this because sacrificing one's life is an act of a great man.

Answer 4

It is our right to die by choice according to me, though those that love us or depend on us will suffer for it if we do decide to end it. These consequences clashes with our right to die and thus suicide creates a moral dilemma; the right to die versus the rights of those affected by it.

The question is then: How do we measure and weigh the consequences of suicide?

If a person is a hermit, with no family left alive and no friends to speak of, whom is so isolated that he/ she contributes nothing to the economy as he/ she is self sufficient on his/ her little plot of land in the middle of nowhere through growing organic food stuffs using rain water collected through a self constructed run-off pond etc., if such a person decides he/ she had enough for what ever reason and digs their grave and constructs a self- filling mechanism to bury him/ her afterwards, if such a person then do kill themselves, with no immediate or noticeable consequences for any other person due to this act, on what basis, besides the religious, can we condemn such an act?

The alternative situation could be a valued and loved person with many dependants whom are so engaged and entrenched in society in terms of family, friends, work, social and community activities, that the loss of their contribution after their suicide would severely affect those around them on an emotional and practical level. If such a person, for what ever reason, decides to end it themselves, would such an act it be more condemnable than that of the person of our first example?

Answer 5

Anyone that commits suicide is wrong. But if someone uses their on life to save the life of other(s') then no because there are soldiers sacrificing their lives daily so the lives of other can be saved. And it's not suicide because i would be considered a hero.

Answer 6

Suicide is generally deemed a selfish act, because the person killing him/herself doesn't take into account how their death will affect others. They only choose death because it's the easiest way to end their own problems, never realizing that it may burden others. They therefore make a choice to cause suffering in order to end their own.

But if you're willing to give up your own life in order to ensure that others will live, that's not selfish, that's heroic. There's a world of difference between suicide and self-sacrifice.

Answer 7

see the point is that u cannot call such act of courage suicide the better word for it is self sacrifice.just imagine if he would have not cut the rope and clinged together all of them would have died.he gave his life to save 3 other.its a heroic deed that only some perform.its not just the case in the movie many soldiers in the army and the marines killed and have died for their counterparts.

Answer 8

Dear Durrell,
To give your life to save someone else is self sacrifice. Taking your own life saves no one. Unless your a serial killer.
Knowing if someone doesn't make this sacrifice all will die.
I do not believe God would condemn such a person. Did not Jesus manipulate a population to crucify him to save all humankind?

Answer 9

The best thing is too not try be a hero,
not try act cool, and self suicide to save others,
that would just result in them feeling guilty,
for the 'REST' of there lives.

Answer 10

It's being a hero. It's not suicide. If you know the outcome that it will be certain death and the others will surely suffer if you don't cut yourself off, all of you will be dead.

At least 3 others could live.