to cut a long story short, i know a married couple who had seperated for whatever reason and they were both witnesses. even though he wasnt a regular goer at this time....the guy must have had several meetings with the elders and this particular day he was suppose to have a comittee meeting with 2 elders....they went around to see him and he had comitted suicide......he was also on prozac and apparently he had stopped taking them...at his funeral his brother said that he was mentally, emotionally and spiritualy ill. and i nearly forgot, they didnt even mention his passing away at the kingdom hall...............what is the witnesses view on suicide..last i knew, if you comitt suicide you dont get a ressurection.
Question on suicide
by fairy 9 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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joannadandy
I believe that is still the view, and that those who do kill themselves cannot have a funeral at the kingdom halls.
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LyinEyes
For years after my mom committed suicide , I dug thru all kinds of magazines , volumns etc, trying to find the answer to this,,,,,,,,will she be resurrected? I had a very mean sister announce to everyone that she would not be.
I did come across some things, but have no idea where they are in the magazines, it was awhile back that I read this. But when I was a faithful JW it did give me comfort on what they said. The magazine said something to the effect that Jehovah will read the heart, and he would know if someone would be repentant , if mental illness( I don't know many suicides that do not involved some mental illness dah!!) or severe emotional trauma. Jehovah would take into account all in that persons life and read the heart. I always felt my mom would be resurrected because she was very sad and sick,,,,,and I always remembered the scripture the wages of sin are death. So she paid the price even thou she checked out early by her own hands. Plus there were other parties who were involved in an indirect way with her death, and they too will have to answer for their part in it.
Basically the WT says that it is JW who will read the heart and judge......... BUT,,,,, they leave it up to the elder if he feels he should do a funeral talk,,they may not hold the funeral in the hall, speak of the dead, or even send flowers. So the JW's have no love and no compassion, they try to make the magazines words sound pretty for outsiders ,but they really don't show love or fellow feeling for those who commit suicide , in my opinion and experience.
Since I am not a JW anymore, I despise the way they handle funerals in general and especially those of a suicide, by their actions of choosing weither to do the funeral talk, they are still judging the dead person, and can not even honor them in death,,,,, the seem to keep hurting them as they lay there asleep in death , feeling no pain, but yet the JW's still find ways to hurt that person and their family.
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fairy
funeral was at the grave site...........no kingdom hall
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happyout
LyinEyes, you are correct in your quote "the wages sin pays is death". So then, once you've paid the price, when / if you come back, you should have a clean slate. I know why the society doesn't want to understand this easy concept, though, because it takes away the fear factor. As for suicides, I refuse to believe that God is petty enough to harshly judge a mentally ill person who only harmed themselves. Unless there was some crime comitted (suicide committed after killing someone else), I see no real reason the society doesn't allow funerals in the KH. Just another unloving, ruthless, cruel thing to do, and they can.
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calamityjane
We actually went to a funeral of a brother (who was an elder, in charge of the financial ends of the KH) who committed suicide. It had to be at least two years ago. His funeral was conducted at the Kingdom Hall, with a full hall attendance. The brother who gave the memorial service implied that this brother was in a lot of pain, and also talked about the resurrection crap, the whole nine yards. The only reason we went was because my older daughter had grown up with his daughter. I was taken aback by the funeral arrangements and wondered what the dubs viewpoint on suicide was. It looked like suicide was ok if you were in a lot "pain".
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RAYZORBLADE
For the life of me, I cannot locate this story, but apparently, it happened in Atlantic Canada, but not recently.
Speaking of suicide, well, there has to be something said regarding Mental Health/Mental Illness. Happyout, you said it best about (God) not being petty about such things. Seems to me, a loving god would be the epitome of compassion and understanding.
Some time ago, a woman in Atlantic Canada (Nova Scotia, I think) for some reason or another, had been disfellowshipped/disassociated (not sure), and was shunned by her family and of course, the congregation. Whatever toll this took on the young woman, sadly enough, it brought her to suicide.
From what I remember, when the young woman died, the family would not allow the casket to be brought into their home; her casket stayed outside of the house in full view of anyone passing by. The citizens of this town were none too impressed, to put it mildly. They, of course, did not have a JW funeral. But to be driven to suicide, then, to add insult to injury, no respect or dignity was afforded this poor woman, even in death.
If anyone knows of this story, or whether it's complete bunk, please let me know. I cannot remember where it was I read this, but I know it made me sick to read it. I can only hope it was not true, but something tells me, it was .
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ESTEE
I recall in my previous life as a jw, attending a funeral where the man had committed suicide by carbon monoxide poisoning by running his car in the garage. He left behind a grieving wife and two young daughters. The funeral was held at the kingdom hall with the largest attendance ever. Several years prior he was involved in a serious car accident, and was never the same again. Very seriously depressed fellow. The elders claimed/declared/judged that he was mentally ill, therefore not thinking clearly, therefore eligible for a resurrection. Judges they are, after all.
ESTEE
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fairy
got this from the witnesses official website....and you can tell from reading these tid bits i copied here for you that absolutely NO-ONE can say that if you committ suicide, you wont get a ressurection.
it would be interesting to read the article mentioned just below in the sept 8 awake, 1990 to see what it actually says...........................
Rest assured that the future life prospects of those who have committed suicide are in the hands of Jehovah, "the Father of tender mercies and the God of all comfort."2 Corinthians 1:3. *
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You will find a balanced view of the future prospects for those who have committed suicide in the article "The Bible's Viewpoint: SuicidesA Resurrection?" in the September 8, 1990, issue of Awake!
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While suicide cannot be justified, it is comforting to remember that the future prospects of our loved ones rest with a God who fully understands that weaknesses and frailties could push one to such desperate action. The Bible says of Jehovah: "As the heavens are higher than the earth, his loving-kindness is superior toward those fearing him. As far off as the sunrise is from the sunset, so far off from us he has put our transgressions. As a father shows mercy to his sons, Jehovah has shown mercy to those fearing him. For he himself well knows the formation of us, remembering that we are dust."Psalm 103:11-14.
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rebel
I hate all this horrible shunning of those who commit suicide and their families. It is a taboo subject and many people feel uncomfortable talking about it - particularly with someone who has lost a loved one through suicide.
Many who take their own lives do not want to die - they just want to escape all the horrible crap going on in their lives at the time of their death. They seem to think that things will never get better and they will always feel this bad, so suicide is the only way - living is no longer an option.
However, there are those who do decide to take their lives after careful consideration and because, basically, they have had enough and want a rest. I know a friend of mine who did this - she was quite calm about it and spoke about her death as if it was the most natural thing in the world. I couldn't talk her round - she had made up her mind to do it - and she did. When I thought about it afterwards, it seemed quite logical. She told me that, just as many people would fight to stay alive, she felt as if her time was up. She had nothing to offer and had no dreams and ambitions anymore. It was all very sad.
I think, if God is all-loving, he understands the many reasons that drive people to do this.
xxR