by diamondiiz 22 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
Of course, you can throw into the mix what about the suicide of a df'd jw? A few years ago the BOE decided to have the funeral talk in a non-jw building but have an elder give the talk.
There are so many "guidelines" that are interpreted a zillion ways by each BOE.
In our area the congregations are acutely aware of depression and the terrible effects it can cause . When a young man committed suicide here they had his memorial service at the hall conducted by an Elder . In a close by hall another suicide victim had their service at a funeral home with an Elder conducting . So attitudes have softened and individual circumstances are considered . As others have brought out you are pretty much up to the mercy of the local BOE.
Well you know what they say, that the funerals are for the living. I wouldn't be suprise that they decide on the person's spirituallity or if they were close to the elders.
I remember one case from my childhood, the attitude towards suicide was harder then that it seems to be today. It was mother to one mentally instabile child that took her own life. The child was already at that time taken in custody by authority and was placed in one children's home. She was not allowed to see her child. That was the last straw that broke camel's back obviously. She and the child were always looked down in congregation, the child behaved weirdly yes and was little rough, but was very amicable and tried hard to be allowed to play with us other "normal" kids. It was not really encouraged though.
I remember still the things people were talking, she had rejected the truth by killing her self, what a pitty that her child would not be able to see her in paradise as she did what she did. It was quite clear that common understanding about her was that she maid unforgivable sin and would not be resurrected. There was nothing else in KH as the announcement that she had passed away, funeral was arranged in the graveyard chapel.
CP
Why do some feel it is worse to kill yourself but not to kill someone else?
The JWs are not alone in politely distancing themselves from members who commit suicide. The Roman Catholic church, for example, has a clearly condemnatory viewpoint on suicide and I understand priests would not bless the deceased. As regards the Jws, from my observations, the funerals of Jws who commit suicide are seldom, if ever, held in kingdom halls - although elders are "free" to hold the service elsewhere such as at a funeral home. When I was in my early adulthood, I knew of at least 5 young ones who killed themselves over a few years in my area alone. Two had fathers who were elders. The memorial services for none of them were held in the kingdom hall. In more recent years, a former elder who was still active in the organization killed himself. He was well liked but his memorial service was held in a funeral home - and his death notice made no mention of his or his wife's beliefs (e.g., no mention of scriptural hope).
May seem weird but here are some of my favorite quotes on death.
The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man who lives fully is prepared to die at any time. ~Mark Twain
A man's dying is more the survivors' affair than his own. ~Thomas Mann, The Magic Mountain
They tell us that suicide is the greatest piece of cowardice... that suicide is wrong; when it is quite obvious that there is nothing in the world to which every man has a more unassailable title than to his own life and person. ~Arthur Schopenhauer
Death may be the greatest of all human blessings. ~Socrates
Death is a delightful hiding place for weary men. ~Herodotus
Death is not the greatest loss in life. The greatest loss is what dies inside us while we live. ~Norman Cousins
To die proudly when it is no longer possible to live proudly. Death of one's own free choice, death at the proper time, with a clear head and with joyfulness, consummated in the midst of children and witnesses: so that an actual leave-taking is possible while he who is leaving is still there. ~Friedrich Nietzsche, Expeditions of an Untimely Man
To the well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure.— Albus Dumbledore
Though Death searched for many long years, he was unable to find Ignotus, who successfully hid from Death for a good many years using the Cloak of Invisibility. Finally, when he was a ripe old age and had lived a long and happy life, Ignotus decided to take off the Cloak of Invisibility and gave it to his son. Ignotus then greeted Death as an old friend, and together they departed this world as equals. ~The Tale of the Three Brothers
I knew a man who once said, "death smiles at us all; all a man can do is smile back." ~From the movie Gladiator
No one knows whether death is really the greatest blessing a man can have, but they fear it is the greatest curse, as if they knew well. ~Plato
Suicide is man's way of telling God, "You can't fire me - I quit." ~Bill Maher, on Politically Incorrect, 1995
Suicide is... the sincerest form of criticism life gets. ~Wilfred Sheed, The Good Word, 1978
Death is a release from the impressions of sense, and from impulses that make us their puppets, from the vagaries of the mind, and the hard service of the flesh. ~Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
When I die I shall be content to vanish into nothingness.... No show, however good, could conceivably be good forever.... I do not believe in immortality, and have no desire for it. ~H.L. Mencken
And they die an equal death - the idler and the man of mighty deeds. ~Homer, Iliad
Death a friend that alone can bring the peace his treasures cannot purchase, and remove the pain his physicians cannot cure. ~Mortimer Collins
Diamonddiz you have pm
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I have been to two funerals of Witnesses who committed suicide. One of the them was in the Kingdom Hall the other one was in crematorium. Both were conducted by elders.
Thank you for the replies. Hopefully BOE is a decent bunch there, where they help this mother of two through this as sometimes there is a lot of blame going around after incidence such as this. It's a sad case where the wife is left with two young kids and as typical jw family in a small town, he worked and she didn't. I really hope she gets needed support and help to get through this rough time in her life without getting too depressed.
