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RE: Musing Daily Questions 🐮

in #musing-threads6 years ago (edited)

Well, that's a loaded question.

Actually, it's three very distinct questions:

What is your view on suicide? Utilizing the word "view" implies subjective opinion. In other words, you're presupposing that there is no definitive correct answer to the question. Which is fine, but it's important to recognize the distinction in order to properly answer the subsequent questions.

Is it wrong or right? Okay, you started off with "what's your opinion", then immediately jumped right into a question on ethics and morality. In order for concepts like right and wrong to have any value, they require (A) that certain absolute truths are knowable (ie, NOT a matter of opinion) and (B) that those truths are based upon an authority that is higher than ourselves (ie, God).

If you attempt to extend attributes of "right" or "wrong" to a situation without a basis for truth and authority, you're basically just talking out your butt. So back to the first question: "What is your view...?" If it's an opinion you seek, then you're better off leaving "right" and "wrong" out of it. What you really want to know is if it's "good/bad" or "better/worse". These are relative measurements that can easily adapt to the individual, family, society, region, or government. What's good for one person may be bad for someone else.

Do we have the right to end our lives? Wow, I guess it depends on what you mean by "right". In the previous question, "right" referred to a moral correctness. Now it seems you're using the word to indicate a legal or self-evident empowerment that allows you to self-terminate without judgement of wrong-doing.

I suppose you'd have to define from where your "rights" derive. Is it from God? The government? Nature? Your own personal sense of self-worth?

Here's the deal: You've got two ways to handle questions like this. Now, keep in mind, that this is dependent on a strict understanding of what you mean by "suicide". For the purposes of answering the question, I'm going to assume you mean suicide as a direct result of depression or something similar.

In other words, we're not talking about a heroic soldier leaping onto a live grenade to protect his comrades from danger. Or anyone who sacrifices their life for the benefit of others.

We're talking about someone who just wants to end it all because they want the emotional pain to stop.

Okay, so back to the two ways to handle it. Either there is a higher power (ie, God) that provides meaning, purpose, and rules (right/wrong) to the whole show, or there's not.

If there's NOT a higher power, then morality is what you make of it. Your "rights" are defined in any way you see fit. And like your thoughts on this subject, your feelings are nothing more than chemical responses that result from random events that have no meaning other than that they resulted in our existence. In which case, the majority of people frown at suicide because it subconsciously reminds them of their own mortality. Of course, most of us empathize, but few (within the context of a Godless universe) are able to logically explain why we should care one way or the other. At least, not in any meaningful way.

If you're in this category, you're best bet is to identify that your thoughts and emotions cannot be trusted. Seek help from a professional who can get your head screwed on right. Once you're thinking straight, you can then decide what to do next. After all, you don't want to make drastic choices when your judgement is impaired. 

If there IS a God, then your answer is simple. You have value. You have purpose. And you should definitely not take your own life, because it is fundamentally wrong. The wrongness of it is etched clearly on your soul, and any attempt to justify it is easily recognizable as an "easy way out". To end your life prematurely is to cut short the potential that God saw in you.

Solution: Don't stop fighting. Don't stop seeking help. Don't stop breathing and eating and taking another step. There is a reason for your existence, and it is not so you can die.