Dishonourable Courage- Is there such a thing?
If one knowingly allows someone to commit suicide, are they considered a murderer? Is the person committing suicide a murderer, considering they just killed someone who happened to be themself?
It must take a lot of courage to commit suicide. Since this word is typically used in a positive manner, it doesnt seem quite right to associate it with something as ’criminal’ as suicide.
Courage- |
The quality of mind or spirit that enables a person to face difficulty, danger, pain, etc., without fear |
So does this mean that you cannot be courageous if you’re afraid, even if you hide it or deny the fear? What if theres a war, and a man gets honoured with a medal for a ‘courageous deed.’ He was probably scared while performing this act of heroism. So does this make suicide victims courageous, but dishonourably so? Maybe its a pun, but they had to have been brave if they had courage enough to end their own life.
People believe that you have the right or the freedom to do what you want with your life, and although its morally wrong throughout the world to end said life yourself, some people do think it a right you have in being in control of yourself. It doesnt solve anything, but Im sure the ones doing it know that, as they ARE ending all hope of solving anything anymore in THEIR lifetime. Maybe its a cop-out. Maybe its a hopelessness. I dont believe suicide to be right at all, I think though, that in the future it wont be so frowned upon. It’ll probably be like the drug stations we have in places like vancouver, where the drug addicts can go use their drugs legally. Maybe they’ll have suicide booths as in ‘Futurama.’ I wouldn’t doubt it.
What about all of those young men who join the army and participate in some grueling war. When they used to get drafted with no choice at all and a lot died, when they kill the enemies, why wasnt/isnt this considered murder? Because the leader of their country says its okay to kill these men, who are indeed real people like themselves. Because they have a Corporal forming plans with them to find the ’enemy’s’ base camp to blow them up. I’m sure its a traumatizing experiance for a lot of men, to be thrown out there and actually have to be COMMITTED to aiming that gun and pulling that trigger at a real human being, as opposed to the target cutouts they’ve been practicing on. War is brought on out of self defence, you defend your country by fighting back, or selfishness. Maybe they have what you want, or have what you need and dont give it to you out of malice or selfishness. Everyone knows war doesnt solve anything, yet its not a surprise that we keep going on with them. It would be tough to decipher who would be the murderers though, the people who allowed them to go to war obviously know the chances of death are high. It could be just as easily considered suicide. The men know they have a chance of death yet are still wilfull in joining. The ones sending them could be considered assisting the suicide. Its ridiculous I know, and untrue due to the fact that they WANT to live, but they are placing themselves into death’s grip knowingly.
War in general has always been a hard concept for me to grasp. You’re supposed to love everybody for who they are and what they do, dispite their actions; we’re even supposed to love our enemies. But then we go off and kill them? We don’t even know who they are, what they do, if they’re married, have kids, or what role they play in society. They could be just like us, only living in a different country. You come to an arguable conclusion that war is wrong, but they had wars in the Bible, didn’t they? I’m not going to use specific quotes, because my Biblicle knowledge is atrocious, but I know that in one situation, somebody had a very small little army and they won against this huge one. That’s a large amount of bodies to have killed. Isn’t that wrong? But God didn’t look down upon it…it’s just all so confusing.
As for suicide, I think it’s parallel to murder. You’re killing someone out of your own free will, are you not? That person is just yourself.
the weird thing about suicide, that differenciates it from murder, is that the murderer suffers no consequences that they must endure – other than their own death. but they knew they were going to die.. and who knows what is after death? i’m sure we’ve all thought of suicide at one point in our lives or another, but personally, i could never bring myself to do it. i DO think it’s a cop out. and selfish in a way. and yeah, sometimes it seems like there is no way out of the depression or misery, but think of how you would affect those around you. i think of my family. and how much ME killing MYSELF would affect them. would they blame themselves? thinking ” if i had just done this differently.. ” they would probably be very angry and some would turn to substance abuse. i think of you, and john and naomi the most. and how it would influence you guys. then i think about sonia. and amanda. and how it would RUIN them. i’m not saying it’s cause i’m so amazing. but i know that if one of them committed suicide, i would wonder what i did wrong, or why i didn’t see it. and why i couldn’t help them. this has nothing to do with war. but what about all the people affected by their loved ones who are dying for their countries? What if your husband/wife was going to war – you would have to say goodbye to them, wondering if it’s the last time you will ever see them. that’s sad. I don’t get why people want to fight for their country so bad. yeah it seems glamorous at first, but when you actually get there and are forced to kill human beings, and watch them die, or suffer – i think that stays with you for the rest of your life. then again, i think some people are just cut out for that kind of thing. Coroners for exapmle, and people who do body removal. I think it’s a gift that they can see a dead body, sometimes in the worst possibe state, and be able to even look at it. Let alone pick it up, or examine it’s every detail, which mirrors your own. and the smell. imaging what a field full of dead bodies must smell like.