Suicide A Selfish Act Or Selfless Act: Does It Really Matter?
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.11113/sh.v9n3-2.1280Keywords:
Suicide, suicidal behavrious, religious perspectives, religious influence, suicide preventionAbstract
Globally, over 800,000 people die by suicide every year with one death every forty seconds. There are more deaths from suicide than from war and homicide together (World Health Organization, 2000). Some researchers concluded that suicide is as an act of eternal response to impermanent problems. One perspective is that suicidal behaviour a selfish act. Conversely, other quarters believe that suicidal behaviour is a selfless act. This study aimed to discuss the religious perspectives of suicide from the Christianity, Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism views. As, in the context of religion not all suicides are regarded as selfish acts. This study found that Hinduism accepts a man's right to end his life through the non-violent practice of fasting to death or to save one's honor. Suicide is morally valid if it is practiced one under divine command. Also at the same time, recommendations on suicide prevention in different religious contexts were addressed.
References
Aron, S., & Tomar, K. S. (2008). Sati: Belief Beyond The Law, Retrieved from http://www.hindustantimes.com/india/sati-belief-beyond-the-law/
Barrett, T. W., & Scott, T. B. (1990). Suicide Bereavement And Recovery Patterns Compared With Non-Suicide Bereavement Patterns. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, 20(1), 1–15.
Basit, A. (2009). National Suicide Prevention Resource Center: Your Life matters! Suicide - the Islamic Perspective, convened an Interfaith Suicide Prevention Dialogue, retrieved from http://actionallianceforsuicideprevention.org/sites/actionallianceforsuicideprevention.org/files/2015%20Islam%20Perspective_FINAL.pdf
Benn, J. A. (2012). Multiple Meanings of Buddhist Self-Immolation in China — A Historical Perspective. Revue d’Etudes Tibétaines, 25, 203-212.
Bhatia, M.S., Aggarwal, N. K., & Aggarwal, B. B. (2000). Psychosocial Profile Of Suicide Ideators, Attempters And Completers in India. International Journal of Social Psychiatry, 46, 155–63.
Biswas, S. (2009). Should India's Jains be Given The Choice To Die? Retrieved from http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-33998688
Colucci, E., & Martin, G. (2008). Religion & Spirituality Along The Spirituality Along The Suicidal Path. Suicide & Life Threatening Behavior, 38, 224-229
Craig, W. L. (n. d.). The Absurdity of Life without God. Retrieved from http://www.reasonablefaith.org/the-absurdity-of-life-without-god
Durkheim, E. (1897/1996). Suicide. New York : Free Press
Eckersley, R., & Dear, K. (2002). Cultural correlates of youth suicide, Social Sciences & Medicine, 55 (11), 1891-1904
Ginges, J., Hansen, I., & Norenzayan, A. (2009). Religion and Support for Suicide Attacks. Association for Psychological Science, 20 (2), 224-230.
International Campaign for Tibet [ICT] (2016). Self-Immolations by Tibetans. Retrieved from http://www.savetibet.org/resources/fact-sheets/self-immolations-by-tibetans/#sthash.2Abecdbj.dpuf
Keown, D. (1996). Buddhism and Suicide The Case of Channa, Journal of Buddhist Ethics, 3, 8-31
Kun-khyab, T. (2013). Is Self-Immolation Anti-Buddhism? Retrieved from http://tibet.net/2013/06/is-self-immolation-anti-buddhism/
Leach, M. M. (2006). Cultural Diversity And Suicide: Ethnic, Religious, Gender, And Sexual Orientation Perspectives. NY: The Haworth Press.
McCarthy, J. (2015). Fasting To The Death: Is It A Religious Rite Or Suicide? Retrieved from http://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2015/09/02/436820789/fasting-to-the-death-is-it-a-religious-rite-or-suicide
McDermott, J. J. (1991). Why bother: Is life worth living?. The Journal of Philosophy, 88(11), 677-683.
Nelson, G., Hanna, R., Houri, A., & Klimes-Dougan, B. (2012). Protective Functions of Religious Traditions for Suicide Risk. Suicidology Online, 3:59-71.
Phillips, M. R., Yang, G., Li, S., & Li, Y. (2004). Suicide and The Unique Prevalence Pattern Of Schizophrenia In Mainland China: A Retrospective Observational Study. Lancet; 364:1062–8
Radhakrishnan, R., & Chittaranjan. (2012). Suicide: An Indian Perspective. Indian Journal of Psychiatry 54(4): 304–319. doi: 10.4103/0019-5545.104793
Robert, B. (1997). The Biblical Teachings on Suicide, Issues in Law & Medicine, 13(3).
RT News (2009). Indian Women Still Commit Ritual Suicides. Retrieved from https://www.rt.com/news/india-ritual-suicide-sati/
Stack, S., & Kposowa, A. J. (2011). Religion and Suicide Acceptability : A Cross-National Analysis. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 50 (2), 289–306
Suicide Prevention Resource Center. (2009). The Role Of Faith Communities In Preventing Suicide: A Report Of An Interfaith Suicide Prevention Dialogue. Newton, MA: Education Development Center, Inc.
World Net Daily. (2006, September 27). Suicide Bombers Follow Quran Concludes Pentagon Briefing. Retrieved from http://www.wnd.com/2006/09/38120/
