Mormons and Suicide

[_Pokatator]

Scottie,

Thanx for returning to the original subject of the OP.

We should be trying to help Yorick. I wish he would return, maybe he would if we stayed on topic.

[_Gazelam]

Scottie,

Why can't you just go into the celestial room to ponder and pray?

You can. Last time my wife and I went to do sealings we stopped by the Celestial room and just hung out for a while. I'm sure they wouldent care if you simply went to the Celestial room straight away and just sat.

[_Trinity]

I have a Mormon friend whose cousin just committed suicide. I don't know very much about Mormonism, but do they believe he'll go to hell? The family is having a burial but not a funeral. What does this mean about their perception of the cousin?

Hi Yorick,

I have been to three Mormon funerals where suicide was the cause of death. All teens, ages 13, 15, and 18. In all three funerals, great care was taken by those speaking to comfort the family that God is just and kind, understanding the trials that could perhaps lead to suicide. Hell was not mentioned. In all three funerals, there was a strong emphasis that the person was in a much better place now. All three were buried vs cremated.

As to the burial vs funeral, you'd have to ask the family about that one. It could be any number of reasons. Perhaps the cousin who committed suicide had left these instructions.

[_Doctor Steuss]

I have a Mormon friend whose cousin just committed suicide. I don't know very much about Mormonism, but do they believe he'll go to hell? The family is having a burial but not a funeral. What does this mean about their perception of the cousin?

“A level of despair is reached, where people are willing to die to punish their tormentors.”-William Kammeraad

Like a mild abrasion with no scar to prove the pain
I’m drowning in water, yet I’m praying for rain
Like a burnt effigy whose likeness is unknown
Sitting… waiting… contemplating. Better off alone -Doctor Steuss


Your friend’s cousin has already been through hell. I can’t imagine G-d would make him/her go through hell again.

[_Zoidberg]

I think the basic quality that indictes maturity is the ability to put one's own interest in second place to another's. What do you think it is?

By this definition, anyone who does nothing about being exploited is mature.

I think maturity is the ability to adequately respond to one's surroundings and be able to take care of oneself and others in one's care.

But back to the original topic - I've always found that Mormons were pretty liberal when it came to suicide and I've never heard anyone be judgemental of anyone who committed suicide after it happened. Depression, on the other hand, is a sure indicator of transgressions (e.g. the usual argument about the bitter, unhappy exmos). It takes killing yourself to stop the accusations, I guess.

[_ludwigm]

A story of a helpdesk call:

I was feeling a bit depressed the other day, so I called the Help Hotline. I was put through to a 'call center' in Pakistan . I explained that I was feeling suicidal. They were very excited at this news and wanted to know if I could drive a truck or an airplane.

[_the road to hana]

I have a Mormon friend whose cousin just committed suicide. I don't know very much about Mormonism, but do they believe he'll go to hell? The family is having a burial but not a funeral. What does this mean about their perception of the cousin?

yorick, if you're still out there, you might read an article on suicide on the LDS Church offiicial website that was given as a talk some years ago in LDS General Conference by Elder M. Russell Ballard:

http://LDS.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?vgnex ... &hideNav=1

This page might also be helpful, also from the LDS.org website:

http://www.providentliving.org/ses/medi ... 71,00.html

From that page:

Suicide
The taking of one's life is a moral issue and therefore should be examined with great care and sensitivity. The Encyclopedia of Mormonism notes: "Suicide and attempted suicide are painful and dramatic aspects of human behavior, but this does not mean that they should not be dealt with in terms of the same basic principles as those applicable in understanding and managing any other aspect of human behavior. Thus, principles associated with concepts of agency, accountability, atonement, eternal life, immortality, resurrection, and family establish the frame of reference Latter-day Saints use to guide their responses to such behaviors as they occur" (vol. 3,"Suicide," 1422-23).

Elder Bruce R. McConkie taught: "Suicide consists in the voluntary and intentional taking of one's own life, particularly where the person involved is accountable and has a sound mind. . . . Persons subject to great stresses may lose control of themselves and become mentally clouded to the point that they are no longer accountable for their acts. Such are not to be condemned for taking their own lives. It should also be remembered that judgment is the Lord's; he knows the thoughts, intents, and abilities of men; and he in his infinite wisdom will make all things right in due course" (Mormon Doctrine, 2nd ed. [1966],771)