Do suicides go to Hell?

[Fone Bone]

I don't think you offended anyone at all. I'm just in the habit of saying "the Divine" when I talk to others about religious terms because I'm aware that others may think of the Divine in terms of God, the Holy Trinity, Jesus, Allah, or whatever. But I certainly am not offended by someone else using "God" in their posts.

Whew! I try to always be polite.

 

[SirLemming]

By the way, for those who aren't well-versed in the Bible, just to re-iterate a point that I'm almost 100% sure of:

THE BIBLE NEVER SAYS THAT SUICIDE TAKES AWAY YOUR SALVATION.

Really, I don't think it ever even implies it. It's a human fabrication based on a certain view of salvation and repentance. And in fact the Bible has quite a few instances of righteous self-sacrifice, although I suppose there's a difference between that and suicide. But it's still not all like, "NEVER KILL YOURSELF".

 

[Eddie G.]

First of all, suicide is a bad thing, and nobody should commit it for any reason whatsoever.

Once again I think that is a little unfair, maybe you're right and I won't say you are. But the fact is you haven't been in every situation, you haven't lived what others lived through and I don't think it is right to say "There is no reason to do what you did" when you really have no idea what every suicide victim was going through. You're also discounting situations where someone kills himself for the sakes of others.

I'm amazed how little sympathy has been shown here for those who commit such an act. Religious lore aside, has no one any empathy for people who are driven to suicide?

 

[Caffeine King]

I was taught when I went to a Catholic school (kindergarden to 5th grade I went) that suicide is bad and that you go to Hell if you do it.

But my uncle commited suicide a year ago and he was a good man and I have a hard time thinking that God sent him to Hell just because of that...

 

[TimTwoFace]

I'm amazed how little sympathy has been shown here for those who commit such an act. Religious lore aside, has no one any empathy for people who are driven to suicide?

I can sympathize with people who are reaching out for help because of an issue in their lives. I'd do whatever I could to help these people. But if they go ahead and kill themselves anyway, I still have no pity for that one act - no one should ever be that far gone. If they're lonely and haven't a real friend or family in the world, there are people they can call for help.

Really, suicide doesn't say anything to me except that, at least in that one instance, you were a terribly weak human being.

I know it's harsh, but I still believe it. As I said, I'd do whatever I could to make the person avoid such a horrible outcome, and usually it works; I'm all for being a warm, loving, caring person in order to help someone that is that depressed. Threatening suicide is often just an outlandish tactic just to get noticed, in case it wasn't abundantly clear already. But, at the same time, there should be nothing that should still push a person to do that.

It's harsh but that's how I see it - especially after seeing my sister going through the exact same thing a few years ago.

-Tim

 

[EinBebop]

They did in Dante. Are you reading that by any chance?

Indeed.

 

[Dark Soul]

Yeah I heard that if you commit suicide you go to hell because its like taking somebody's elses life which falls under thou shall not kill. But thats just me so.

 

[Jade_GL]

I am going to be brief.

I had a best friend of mine commit suicide when we were both 13. I am now 22.

After a lot of thought, I would say that even if there was an afterlife, a person could not, and should not, be damned for one act if the rest of their life was spent as a good person. I think that this idea was created by church officials, not by any deity. I don't recall a *Thou shalt not kill thyself* passage in the Bible, and I doubt it's as cut and dry as a person either being in or out.

Then again, I don't really believe in anything like an afterlife at the moment, ut even when I was an avid churchgoer, I didn't think that God would be so cruel as to throw aside someone just for one sin.

 

[Zach]

According to the Bible, one sin and your screwed for life unless you repent to Jesus. The Bible teaches that works aren't the number 1 thing, that faith in Jesus is. However, it is said in the Bible that faith without works is dead. I believe in God and Hell, and to take your own life is like insulting God for even allowing you to live on this planet. I'm not really religious, but I do remember this stuff from church. I really don't live like christians say I should, so don't take it like i'm trying to brainwash anyone reading this. Make up your own freaking mind about religion.

 

[SirLemming]

Yeah I heard that if you commit suicide you go to hell because its like taking somebody's elses life which falls under thou shall not kill. But thats just me so.

Indeed. But plenty of murderers go to Heaven. Well, I mean, I guess there's no proof, but most people agree on that.

 

[Zach]

Well, it depends on what terms the murder was commited. Like, say if you kill someone in self-defense, you will go to heaven. But if you walk up to some guy on the street, bust out your nine, and cap him in the head, then you'll go to hell.

 

[Scythemantis]

I despise the entire concept of heaven/hell/sin/judgement and consider it only a sick and twisted fabrication. I don't know or care what really happens when we die, there's too many possibilities to worry about any of it.

But I will say that I have heard far too many stories of people who lost a loved one and were told by christian friends/relatives/even random passersby that the person was already burning in hell for dying in sin. I have to ask - even if someone FIRMLY believes that such a thing is true, WHAT makes them think they're accomplishing anything by saying something so hideously cruel? It goes far beyond being inappropriate and straight into the realm of "completely batshit insane". They always seem to think it's somehow going to "save" whoever they're talking to, somehow NOT understanding when they've just created a new aethiest ....or gotten their face kicked in.

 

[SirLemming]

I'd say that anyone who doesn't believe in Heaven or Hell should probably stay away from this thread. Just a thought...

Well, it depends on what terms the murder was commited. Like, say if you kill someone in self-defense, you will go to heaven. But if you walk up to some guy on the street, bust out your nine, and cap him in the head, then you'll go to hell.

I don't believe that at all. Killing someone in self-defense really isn't even "murder" in my book. I believe that even if Osama Bin Laden were to accept Jesus as his savior, he would go to Heaven. We've all done bad stuff and no Bible I've read says anything about where God draws the line between bad and REALLY bad.

 

[Phantasm]

According to my beliefs yes. God gave us life, ONLY he has the right to take it away.We aren't the ones to decide when we should move onto the next life.

 

[Fone Bone]

I despise the entire concept of heaven/hell/sin/judgement and consider it only a sick and twisted fabrication. I don't know or care what really happens when we die, there's too many possibilities to worry about any of it.

But I will say that I have heard far too many stories of people who lost a loved one and were told by christian friends/relatives/even random passersby that the person was already burning in hell for dying in sin. I have to ask - even if someone FIRMLY believes that such a thing is true, WHAT makes them think they're accomplishing anything by saying something so hideously cruel? It goes far beyond being inappropriate and straight into the realm of "completely batshit insane". They always seem to think it's somehow going to "save" whoever they're talking to, somehow NOT understanding when they've just created a new aethiest ....or gotten their face kicked in.

Actually SirLemming Scythe has a point and I'm glad he made it. I don't believe athiests or agnostics should feel uncomfortable about entering this thread.

I think it is horribly cruel for people to tell families who lost a loved one to suicide that their loved one is burning in hell. In my opinion there should be a special place in hell reserved for people who are that callous and heartless.

Edit: So you know I was being snarky. Like I said before who goes to Hell is God's judgement alone and you or I have no say in the matter.

 

[Czar Gato]

But I will say that I have heard far too many stories of people who lost a loved one and were told by christian friends/relatives/even random passersby that the person was already burning in hell for dying in sin. I have to ask - even if someone FIRMLY believes that such a thing is true, WHAT makes them think they're accomplishing anything by saying something so hideously cruel? It goes far beyond being inappropriate and straight into the realm of "completely batshit insane". They always seem to think it's somehow going to "save" whoever they're talking to, somehow NOT understanding when they've just created a new aethiest ....or gotten their face kicked in.

People like that come close to making me ashamed of being a Christian. Honestly, I don't know what possesses them to say that. I personally would much rather them say they were praying for my deceased love one, because I think prayer helps everyone even after they die, and like I said earlier, You cannot possibly know what was going on in the head of the person who just committed suicide. They could have been sick, overwhelmed with emotion, or they could have possibly even had complete reconciliation between the time the act was committed and the time they actually died.

 

[sun]

This is absolutely right....

I'm amazed how little sympathy has been shown here for those who commit such an act. Religious lore aside, has no one any empathy for people who are driven to suicide?

Suicide is a horrible thing. Yes, it leaves a terrible bereavement on the family, a horrific hell for them, but consider how far gone a person must be to feel so little for their family to care? Imagine being so mentally ill, that even those you love no longer matter.

For many this is the state of suicide, a mental illness.

We don't damn people for depression, so we shouldn't damn them for any other form of mental illness.

Personally I believe if there is a god of any form, he'll be a little more understanding than his human scribes. Suicide, like any form of depression is a mental issue which is very hard to deal with. It's easy for those who don't suffer to judge and declare "how could he do that to his family" without trying to understand the mental state of that person.

I think as we become more learned as a species we should becoming more understanding to medical condition and human fraility. Rather than condemn it, be it by our religion or by our own opinion, we should feel pity for those who are so ill they want to take their own life.

IMO, We need to stop judging people by our standards of living and look at the issue more objectively. Christianity teaches not to judge and to show compassion, I worry when I don't see much of it going around on such an issue.

I won't be replying much to this thread as I think it's a dead topic. Like politics, it's one which people have their view and being so personal, it's unalterable. Therefore such threads just exist to try and prove our view is more relevant than someone elses. *shrug* My apologies for sounding grouchy on this, I've learned sadly that when it comes to religion and politics, there is little that changes and we tread a dull path of declaration and explanation.

I needed to add mine simply because I think it was a viewpoint needing reflection, I don't expect it to change anyone's opinion here which, if I was utterly honest, is disheartening, but not unexpected.

All the best - whatever your opinion on this subject maybe.

Again SJJ you are absolutely correct...those who suffer from that level of depression, do not need condemnation, but sympathy and understanding. Especially for those left who have no idea why. I have known 3 that have done it...A medical condition that serious, should be treated as such, rather than some sort of condemnation or "You are a sinnner," SJJ's post is well thought out, and written..Please think about it...Stuart

 

[Ben]

The samurai way of life didn't clash with Christianity for quite some time. Unfortunately I'm not too knowledgeable on Japanese history and the major religious beliefs of the country - but it'd be interesting to see what that unique point of view would be.

This looks like a job for... Eastasianculturefreakman!

Anyone who's seen The Last Samurai has seen that prominent samurai defeated in battle were often allowed by their enemies to cut open their abdomens before their enemy lobbed their head off, but samurai were also ordered to commit suicide by their masters for various reasons. Often this occurred in situations where their master had been left in a tough position by another lord, and so the samurai also served as a kind of noble "fall guy" so their master didn't lose face. The most famous case is that of the "47 Ronin," the forty-seven samurai who found themselves caught between a rock and a hard place-- basically their master Asano took a swing at one of his enemies, Kira, in the shogunal palace and Asano was ordered to commit suicide and give up his realm to the government. The 47 former samurai of Asano waited to Kira to let his guard down and then they killed him in honorable revenge and in keeping with standards of loyalty to their former master. They gave themselves up and were ordered to commit suicide to atone for their crimes, even though they had done nothing wrong in the eyes of the samurai code.

The fact is that suicide as a symbolic act is not limited to samurai. It also has a long history in Confucian doctrine as a punishment and as a protest. My favorite example is the large group of Confucian Korean scholar-bureaucrats, the most intelligent and formerly the most powerful people in Korea, who committed suicide together in the middle of Seoul in 1911 IIRC to protest the Japanese occupation of the city. Another famous modern example is that of the martial reactionary author Yukio Mishima, who in 1970 barricaded himself inside the commandant's office in a Tokyo Self-Defense Forces base and committed ritual suicide to protest the loss of traditional Japanese values.

Eastasianculturefreakman, away!

 

[Psycho Fox]

I despise the entire concept of heaven/hell/sin/judgement and consider it only a sick and twisted fabrication. I don't know or care what really happens when we die, there's too many possibilities to worry about any of it.

But I will say that I have heard far too many stories of people who lost a loved one and were told by christian friends/relatives/even random passersby that the person was already burning in hell for dying in sin. I have to ask - even if someone FIRMLY believes that such a thing is true, WHAT makes them think they're accomplishing anything by saying something so hideously cruel? It goes far beyond being inappropriate and straight into the realm of "completely batshit insane". They always seem to think it's somehow going to "save" whoever they're talking to, somehow NOT understanding when they've just created a new aethiest ....or gotten their face kicked in.

I agree, I also don't understand why people think that if there is a hell it is there for some sort of pointless eternal torture . Since we change over time, I would think all but the most thick headed sent to hell will eventully change. Thus there has to be more complexity to an afterlife system or you'd have innocents traped in hell that figured out their sins long ago making their torture pointless.

 

[Elven Moon]

I don't believe in heaven or hell. So, you can't go to a place tha doesn't exist, in my opinion.