My mother’s friend heard a knock at her door. When she opened it, there stood her X husband. He pulled out a pistol, put it to his head and shoot himself. In every case, suicide is mental illness. A society who fails to support the mentally ill is a society who has lost its way.
While none of us want to see or experience suffering, sometimes God allows suffering for a good reason. I would not want anyone to take away my opportunity to offer up my suffering to Christ, as he suffered for our salvation. Peace be with you.
Thank you, Michael. Though you focus on Canadian policy, the culture of death in the USA is not far behind. Assisted suicide, abortion, and even lack of care for the mentally unstable, leading to death of others at their hands, are examples of a shrugging of our shoulders that it is all OK…in the name of choice and somehow, compassion. Steve
Phony compassion, like phony charity, are the result of identifying outside forces as the cause of all of our discomforts. When we realize that it is our own projections on ourselves, first, and on others as well, we can have true compassion and sympathy for others, as well as for ourselves. We want to appear charitable, so we demand that society do something. We want to appear compassionate, so we demand that other people display the posture of concern. Meanwhile, the truth is that we are afraid that we will be inconvenienced, or deprived of our own desires, by the needs of others. We demand insulation from the pains and suffering of other people so we can focus on our own. Painless and effortless means of showing to ourselves and the world that we are generous and caring people are what we seek. Government run welfare programs and government sanctioned means of removing sources of pain like drug programs, abortion, assisted suicide, and asylums mean that we can ignore the soul sickness of others and still feel virtuous. The Bible instructs us in the genuine and, unlike government programs, effective means to minimize suffering in this world. "Love thy neighbor as thyself.", which is difficult, if not impossible, without the preliminary instruction, "Love the LORD THY GOD with all thy soul and all thy heart, and all thy mind, and all thy strength." Other commandments are elucidations of these two, but these are the keys. I sincerely doubt we would live among such self-loathing and hopelessness, such selfishness and despair, or such inhumane actions and hypocrisy that self-destruction would seem preferable to continued existence. "Brave new world, that has such people in it."
My husband and I really have prized your essays and thoughtfulness. We read them together and discuss the meaning to our lives.
My mother’s friend heard a knock at her door. When she opened it, there stood her X husband. He pulled out a pistol, put it to his head and shoot himself. In every case, suicide is mental illness. A society who fails to support the mentally ill is a society who has lost its way.
Excellent and sobering essay. Virtue guards against tyranny. “A society that mocks virtue, prepares its own collapse.” - Plato
"Eventually, every socialist, Marxist, and communist society gets around to the question of tangible worth of an individual."
Probably should have started this column with this statement.
When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Matthew 9:36
If Canadian culture had been in place in 1st century Israel/Judea then most of the people Jesus healed from suffering would have been euthanized.
And today Adolph and Sanger are laughing from. Hell.
While none of us want to see or experience suffering, sometimes God allows suffering for a good reason. I would not want anyone to take away my opportunity to offer up my suffering to Christ, as he suffered for our salvation. Peace be with you.
Thank you, Michael. Though you focus on Canadian policy, the culture of death in the USA is not far behind. Assisted suicide, abortion, and even lack of care for the mentally unstable, leading to death of others at their hands, are examples of a shrugging of our shoulders that it is all OK…in the name of choice and somehow, compassion. Steve
Phony compassion, like phony charity, are the result of identifying outside forces as the cause of all of our discomforts. When we realize that it is our own projections on ourselves, first, and on others as well, we can have true compassion and sympathy for others, as well as for ourselves. We want to appear charitable, so we demand that society do something. We want to appear compassionate, so we demand that other people display the posture of concern. Meanwhile, the truth is that we are afraid that we will be inconvenienced, or deprived of our own desires, by the needs of others. We demand insulation from the pains and suffering of other people so we can focus on our own. Painless and effortless means of showing to ourselves and the world that we are generous and caring people are what we seek. Government run welfare programs and government sanctioned means of removing sources of pain like drug programs, abortion, assisted suicide, and asylums mean that we can ignore the soul sickness of others and still feel virtuous. The Bible instructs us in the genuine and, unlike government programs, effective means to minimize suffering in this world. "Love thy neighbor as thyself.", which is difficult, if not impossible, without the preliminary instruction, "Love the LORD THY GOD with all thy soul and all thy heart, and all thy mind, and all thy strength." Other commandments are elucidations of these two, but these are the keys. I sincerely doubt we would live among such self-loathing and hopelessness, such selfishness and despair, or such inhumane actions and hypocrisy that self-destruction would seem preferable to continued existence. "Brave new world, that has such people in it."