In my area, two 16 year old girls committed suicide. They hugged each other while waiting for a high speed train which pulverised them. I wonder if they really understood the finality of death. I wonder if religious belief in an afterlife influenced their decision. Christianity & some other religions down play the importance of life on Earth & extol the joys of an afterlife. Is such a theology a good idea? Even if it does not encourage suicide, it seems to me to discourage ambition & the concept of enjoying life.
So because you don't believe in an after life it doesn't exist and death is the end of everything? Also, you may be underestimating the despair a teen can feel in this modern age. It may have had absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with religion. They could've been doing a lot of drugs, been molested as children or just disgusted by the unwavering corruption that we love to document so well on the television.
The ones boyfriend had been killed in a bike/auto accident months previous. I don't know why she would drag her friend along on her suicide nor why her friend would do it. I think the way they killed themselves was cruel and heartless. The poor train engineer has to live with it
i doubt that occurred to them, but i agree. pretty much anyway you do it someone has a nasty mess to clean. bar suicide by cremation. which having just pondered seems like it could be a really shit way to go - how long do they take to heat up?
Sometimes, people aren't fully rational and don't get that death is final. In their scenario in their head, someone will save them, someone will do something, someone will make it all go away.
ClusteringFlux: It was not my intent to argue against the belief in an after life, which is a silly issue to argue about. Such issues cannot be argued: They are based on faith/belief, not cogent arguments or proofs. I might say to you “Because you believe in an after life, it exists & death is not the end of everything?” BTW: I do happen to be an atheist. Belief in an after life is a theological concept which makes me both envious & annoyed. Envious because it is a very comforting belief & undoubtedly helps theists cope with the knowledge of their earthly mortality. Annoyed because some theists have smugly told me that they will be able to gloat when I discover that I was wrong. Many theists seem to have this smug point of view. Obviously, I can never expect to be able to point out that they were wrong. Since various religions extol the benefits to be had in an after life & denigrate our earthly existence, this religious view might very well tip a despairing teen in the direction of suicide
Visceral_Instinct: I think your view is likely to be applicable to some (many?) teenagers whio commit suicide.
