Matthew S: Don’t those people care about the poor souls with mental illness or depression who may kill themselves IF suicide info were so openly and readily available?

No.

"Those" people are doing the world a good turn by committing suicide. It removes unfit Genes from the Gene Pool. It's Natures way of "Survival of the Fittest."

Calm down old son. I noticed you were quite agitated when you wrote that. No one can make a rational decision in an agitated state.

Hi Helga,

It's got bugger-all to do with religion - there are plenty of atheists out here who have grave misgivings about assisting someone to kill themselves. Suicide - fine, assisted death - no.

People in the final stages, say the last few hours, of a mortal illness should, if they ask for it, be provided with some means to help them sleep or relieve severe pain, but only with disinterested medical and palliative care personnel, and only if thoroughly monitored and going by the proper protocols.

But please move on from the 'only Christians yada yada' line.

Joe

Suicide is, more often than not, a sin - because it is usually done with a selfish motive.
Assisting another to die is, more often than not, not a sin - because it is usually an unselfish act of kindness.

Go figure why a secular government punishes that which is not a sin rather than that which is a sin!

Of course, a secular body can have no idea about sin and no means whatsoever to distinguish between good and evil - so it should stay out of the way!

Whoever needs punishment will meet it in the pearly-gates, so to speak, but not by a human-monkey court.

Loudmouth it has everything to do with religion and control, control of course is the only reason religions exist. The church has been firmly against suicide not because they could care less about the people but because individuals will take control of thier own mortality something the church sees as a major threat to its domination. If you don't understand that about religion you really are a bit naive.

If you have any doubts about this the people of the NT voted in favor of euthanasia but who stepped in to stamp all over our democratic will the Catholic dominated Howard/Abbott government.

Hi Helga,

Yes, there's overlap, but I'm an atheist and I oppose assisted death. Suicide yes, providing terminally-ill people with morphine pumps, yes, but not assisting or counselling someone to top themselves. If you don't understand how people can get chronically depressed, enough to contemplate suicide, then you are indeed naïve.

Joe

Dear Helga,

It is true that religion has much to do with self-control, but it has nothing to do with controlling others. Churches have a duty to guide people and teach them that suicide is a sin which would take them away from God - however, to the extent that churches exercise power to prevent those who refuse to follow its teachings from making their own choice and to the extent they are into domination, to that extent those churches are irreligious.