A Poll on Death

[PokerAce]

When you take your life, you destroy not only your own life, but the lives of those who love you and you negatively affect the lives of anyone who knows you.

Let's take an average american teenager. This kid dresses funny, acts funny and gets picked on a lot. He has no friends. He starts feeling sorry for himself (boo-hoo) and decides to take a shotgun to his head. This kid, who had no real problems, has just threw away a possible happy future. He has also destroyed the lives of his parents, siblings, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins. His classmates are all affected, even those who weren't close to him. His actions have accomplished nothing but cause pain for others.

The same situation for the middle-aged man who lost his job, wife and is buried in debt. If this man takes his life, he is destroying the lives of those who loved him. His ex-wife's life is likely destroyed by guilt because she will feel responsible, which she isn't. The boss who fired him may feel responsible, but he isn't. If this man had children, or living parents, siblings or cousins, their lives are turned upside down.

It's a completely different story for the elderly or those with terminal illnesses. They are not wasting their lives, as their lives have been lived and are nearly over. People know they are dying and easing the pain may be a valid choice.

It does not take a "Sunday Christian" (which by the way, I am not) to see that the action of suicide destroys lives. Most people who kill themselves do so because of petty reasons (picked on, no friends, lost wife/job/home, etc). None of these things are worth losing your life and future over and destroying the lives of those who love you.

When a person kills themself, they are not thinking of other people, they are selfishly thinking only of their own pain. They don't bother to reach out for help or to even think about what will happen to those around them once they do it.

Go talk to a mother of a child who has commited suicide for a while and see if you don't think that action was selfish.