by blondie 13 Replies latest jw friends
He would have been still known as a JW to outsiders even if he was DF.
I don't want to jump the gun, but maybe he was DF and still believed it was the truth, which lead him t to take his own life because of guilt "living in Sin".
Or it could have been cronic depression.
Side note
Simon (if you read this) your board I am certain as helped to save many lives. I know it helped me to sort mayself out....Thanks.
Qwerty
**Tragic. One wonders why the reporter felt it necessary to cite his religious affiliation so prominently in the story, mentioning it in the lead but then failing to elaborate subsequently on any possible relevance to the story.
Funny thing: I used to get really perturbed when an article of this sort would have the fact that a person was a JW.....and I wondered why you never saw that soeone was Catholic, for instance.
I admit that I'm completely biased (grin) now--but the other way---I'm glad that the JW aspect is brought out.....the "happy people" that knock on doors telling people how THEIR religion is wrong, and they "have ALL the answers". Hopefully it will make someone think twice about listening to them.
I hurt for ANYONE who is desperate enough with their lives to want to committ suicide, it's the worst place to be.
Annie
This is a very sad story, made far more sorrowful because it could have been prevented.
It is also written by a very talented reporter. He can't fill in all the details because of professional rules etc. Many of your replies here indicate you have read between the lines. I wish to add a few other comments.
I can relate to this story, to a degree that I don't want to reveal right now.
Several years ago my wife and I received a desperate call for help from a young university student in the middle of the night. He had just stepped down from a chair with his mountain climbing rope tied around his neck and also to the light fixture. The grim reaper was robbed, barely.
Later when asked by the university psychologist why he did not go through with it was because he did not want to hurt his parents. To prevent him from attempting to do himself in again in the future, she made him swear solemnly that he would never attempt it again, that he would seek help if he had any tendency to do so.
In the story of the suicide reported in this post. the young man ( A-student) told his GP that he did not "do anything because of his girl friend". (Do anything I suspect means do away with himself.) He did not say because of his family and/or his girl friend. It also says that the girl friend did not enter the open door because of her boy friend's mental state. So it is possible that the reason he did not end his life before was no longer in existance. HIs girl friend may have become somewhat alienated from him.
It says the young man's parents were present at the coroner's inquest with a young baby. Why did the reporter mention this. Whose baby?
It would be interesting to find out if the father was a Jehovah"s Witness. Perhaps a few of us could write the reporter and thank him for his story. Especially anyone not to far from the newspaper.
One added note: What is the attitude of Jehovah's witnesses towards the mentally distressed? I heard it from the horse's mouth back around 1959. Jack Redford, instructor of Gilead school then at South Lansing, told the class: A- student crack up first! This statement along with N H Knorr's comment at graduation, Go to your assignments and die there if necessary! will remain in my memory til my dying day. I hope it will remain in a few more memories also.
belbab
I just sent the reporter the url for this post. His name is John Sheerhout. I could not find an e-nail addy so I sent the url.
belbab
