by Marea E. Johnson

Created on: August 21, 2008   Last Updated: July 01, 2011

There are so many misconceptions surrounding the controversial subject of suicide.

Many people falsely believe that people "decide" to kill themselves. These same people also believe that suicide, or threats of it, are done solely for attention, or as a means of spiting or hurting another. While this can certainly be the case in some situations, it most definitely is in the minority.

Before we can decide whether it's wrong for one to commit suicide or not, we first have to understand why anyone would do something as drastic as taking their own life in the first place.

If we believe that committing suicide is "wrong", then we must first believe that the individual has made the conscious, rational, and reasonable decision to commit this wrong.

An act can only be deemed wrong when the individual committing that act is aware of the wrongness in what he is doing. For instance, would the toddler who threw his father's cell phone in the toilet be "wrong"? We would be upset and we would try to communicate the "wrongness" of the act to the child in hopes of him not repeating it, but we cannot really deem it as being "wrong". Because the child cannot mentally comprehend the seriousness of his actions, nor be aware of any consequences that could follow, he cannot be held accountable. And because he cannot be held accountable, he has technically done no wrong.

To the surprise of many, most individuals committing suicide are not really wanting to "kill themselves". They just happen to be in such unrelenting, emotional anguish, or "psychic" pain, that they literally cannot tolerate it anymore. They see no other way out.

Imagine having third degree burns on the INSIDE of your body where no one can see them. The pain is unbearable and you have no one to help you. Friends and family are telling you to "snap out of it". You feel abandoned, alone, and utterly desperate. You finally reach the point where the pain is completely unbearable and you "know" there is no chance of it ever getting better, so you "make the decision" to put an end to your suffering by swallowing a bottle of sleeping pills and/or slitting your wrists.

Now some would argue that you "chose" to do this. But did you really? Does anyone have any idea of the suffering you were enduring? No. So then how could they then proceed to judge your actions, be they right or wrong, without first understanding what led you to such drastic measures in the first place?

Only God knows our hearts and minds and the true motives behind our every thought and action. And although most Christians would argue that it is wrong for one to destroy their "temple" since it "belongs to God", it would be impossible for them to make the judgement that it is "wrong" unless they knew the heart and mind of the one who took his own life, which of course, they do not.

The reasons for which suicides occur are the very same ones that absolve the person from any wrongdoing; they are unaware of the "wrongness" of their actions. Rational, healthy, happy individuals do not kill themselves. However, hopeless, hurting, desperate people do.

So the answer as to whether or not committing suicide is "wrong", is, in my humble opinion, something to be decided by God, and God alone, for it's only the Creator "who searches the hearts and minds of men", who has the right to do so.

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