THE EDITOR, Sir:I OFTEN read Devon Dick's columns and enjoy them with all The Gleaner columnists who check the country's pulse and temperature every day.
His column on suicide, however, gives rise to some important questions. He states in a manner of speaking that the person who is going to commit suicide should be more considerate of his relatives; that the suicide note is not enough and the suicidal person needs to prepare the family for what is going to happen. This just doesn't sound realistic.
The person who intends to commit suicide intends to commit self-murder and get away with it. He doesn't intend to be apprehended before carrying out the deed. The article goes on to say that when the person commits suicide the "matter is over" for that person, but the relatives are traumatised.
Well, this depends on whose perspective we're taking it from. The family may be traumatised, but for the person who commits suicide (and I say this for the person who is thinking of suicide and reading this, that you reconsider, and save yourself from a punishment worse than death), the matter is far from over. Suicide is a grave sin regardless of the person's reasons for doing it. To take one's own life is to give up on the power of God. Only God will decide who gets punishment or not. Yet, it is understandable that the person who does this is in so much agony that he/she cannot go on. Where is the answer?
The answer is in a social system that values all human beings: children, women, men, the healthy, the sick, young and old alike. Each one has a purpose, whether they are successful or not, or productive or not, because if they are not successful, we need to know why and if they are not productive, we need to know why.
Of course, the one who is planning suicide often cannot save himself by himself. Support systems need to be in place. It is relatively easy for people to form support groups that do not cost much. Responsible people who will follow the rules of privacy and anonymity if needed can be of a lot of help to a suicidal person. If the person has become dysfunctional as a result of their mental state, then other people have to step in to help. Ultimately, it is the suicidal person who must help themselves to stand on their own and value their life.
I also do not see how removing the stigma associated with suicide would reduce suicides. What we should remove is the stigma associated with seeking help. The statement "to believe that the last act that one commits even, if it is a sin, will determine our eternal fate, is weak" goes against good advice to one who is planning suicide. This may not make much difference to someone who doesn't believe in God, but ask the believing person if he wants to die displeasing God or pleasing Him.
To die while committing a sin is very unfortunate; if most of us believe there are tough consequences of dying while committing a sin, we'd sin less, and we'd be constantly seeking help against temptation and seeking forgiveness.
No, I don't agree that we should pamper the person who's thinking of suicide by saying that God understands and will forgive them. We have no knowledge of that. He may or He may not. That's like saying that it's okay to kill someone you don't like and not fear jail or hanging, because those punishments aren't real. Suicide is self-murder. The commandment says: Thou shalt not kill. It doesn't say: Thou shalt not kill others, but yourself is excluded.
Perhaps the reason there is more suicide in addition to social and economic stressors, is that the line between good and bad and between right and wrong is getting blurred.
I am, etc.
A.M. ANSARI
Nashville, TN 37222
Via Go-Jamaica
