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Re: not really otr, more adressed to those who have religiouspersuasions...
>so anyway, i've noticed some of you out in here have religious leanings, so i
>wanted to ask a question....
>
>i'm currently reading Jose Louis Borges (NP: ASR), and there's this little
>ditty he writes about how suicide is considered to be the unforgivable sin in
>catholicism...(not to worry, no thoughts about doing it here) but JLB says
>that Samson committed suicide (philistines and temples and big pillars);
>Christ committed suicide (Giving up the ghost); Stephen committed suicide;
>all the martyrs of the faith committed suicide. he then concludes that
>suicide, if done with appropriate altruistic motives, is not a sin, but is
>similar to killing someone in war (you're all familiar with the ban against
>taking a life except in war time conditions). So, I want to know, a) is this
>true (biblical figures skipping out) and b) if you all agree....
While martyrdom *seems* to muddle the picture, I think the injunction
against suicide has more to do with the thoughts and intentions of the
heart than "how" one kicks off. Jesus says that a man can do nothing
greater than to lay down his life for a friend-- sounds like suicide, but
there's a difference in intention.
Suicide in the human sense of the word is sinful not (just) because it is
the taking of a human life, but because it is an ultimate act of pride: in
essence, you say to God that He was wrong to create you, and that you know
better than he does how to direct the path of your life.
Not only was Christ's death on the cross absolutely *not* suicide (he was
"delivered unto death"-- essentially, killed by the mob), it was motivated
by the exact opposite of pride: Christ humbled himself to the point of
willingly shedding his own divinity to become just like us, and subjugating
himself to God's wish that he be killed as a sacrifice for our sin.
The italics below are mine--
Romans 5 : 6 - 8 "You see, at just the right time, when we were still
powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a
righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die.
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were *still
sinners*, Christ died for us."
(OK. Bring it on, lostees. We gotta have a dose of this every once in a
while.)
Peace,
jnf
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