What the Bible Says About...Suicide

Islamic Ideology

09 Aug 2008, NewAgeIslam.Com

What the Bible Says About...Suicide

By Kelli Mahoney, About.com   Your life is a gift. However, most Christian teens have at one time or another contemplated ending their life by committing suicide. Christian or not, there are few that see suicide as anything less than a tragedy. Our Body is a Temple?   God is pretty clear throughout the Bible that we are to take care of our bodies. In 1 Corinthians, we are urged to see our bodies as a temple of God, and it is clear that God will judge those that destroy that temple.   1 Corinthians 6:19-20 - "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body." (NIV)   1 Corinthians 3:16-17 - "Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you? If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him; for God's temple is sacred, and you are that temple." (NIV) Is Suicide Murder?   While we consider that our body is a temple, and we should care for it, God also tells us that we are not to murder. There is debate as to whether God says we are prevented only from murdering others, but many believe this verse also tells us that we are not to murder ourselves.   Deuteronomy 5:17 - "You shall not murder." (NIV) Suicide = Hell?   Many Christian teens believe that if they commit suicide, then they will go to Hell for the act. However, the Bible never explicitly says that committing suicide will result in eternal damnation. While some Christian denominations believe that the person committing suicide will have to face consequences for the sin, many adhere to the only unforgivable sin being thina of "Sweeping new measures introduced in Kardze to purge monasteries of monks and restrict religious practice." The measures include:       * Monks who express dissent or refuse to 'conform' can be expelled and their residence demolished.     * Tulkus (reincarnate lamas) could be 'stripped of the right to hold the incarnation lineage' if they communicate with foreigners or engage in protests against the Chinese authorities - a measure that is consistent with an earlier ruling that all reincarnate lamas must have the approval of the Chinese government.     * Buddhist practice will be suspended in monasteries where a specific percentage of monks have engaged in protest or dissent.     * Senior religious teachers could face public 'rectification' or imprisonment if they are shown to have even 'tolerated' peaceful protest activity.   Pervasive Oppression   It's true that China has invested a great deal of money into Tibet to modernize it, and that the Tibetan people overall enjoy a higher standard of living because of it. But that does not excuse the pervasive oppression of Tibetan Buddhism.   Tibetans risk imprisonment merely for possessing a photograph of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. The government of China even insists on choosing the reincarnated tulkus. This is tantamount to the government of Italy muscling it's way into the Vatican and insisting on choosing the next Pope. It's outrageous.   A great many reports say that younger Tibetans, including monks, are much less likely to try to compromise with China as His Holiness the Dalai Lama have tried to do. The crisis in Tibet may not always be on the front pages of newspapers, but it is not going away, and it is likely to get worse.   http://buddhism.about.com/od/vajrayanabuddhism/a/Chinareport.htm?nl=1