How To Get Away With Murder

One thing is abundantly clear. Your garden-variety Christian is a cherry-picking hypocrite who must rationalize their way out of any question or debating point that threatens their beliefs or the comfort that they provide.

I could pick any of the thousands of examples of mindless rationalizations that Christians spew when logic and difficult questions rain on their comfort parade, but one in particular sits miles above the others in delusion and disingenuousness. Suicide, by its very definition, is an act of murder, and sometimes Christians do commit suicide.

Understand that I recognize that any death (self-inflicted or not) is a terrible tragedy that more often than not turns lives and families upside down. And while it’s completely understandable that such calamities cause some people to act out in odd or extreme ways or say irrational things in order to cope, rationalizing an act of MURDER that clearly conflicts with one’s professed religious doctrine is worthy of an unpleasant moment of pause. That they may be grieving is not an excuse to be spared a slap upside the head. Mama killed herself? Hey, I’ll send flowers tomorrow, but today you’re an idiot if you believe she’s going to heaven. Fuck you.

Enjoy this textbook case study in how to manufacture intellectual loopholes when you don’t like the (patently unfair) rules of your religious delusion – especially when they work against you or someone you care about.

Carolyn says:

“I believe that God is a loving and merciful God, and therefore he knows the pain these people are in. So, no, I do not believe that a Christian who commits suicide automatically goes to Hell. Some folks who take their own lives are not mentally capable of rational thought, so I don’t believe they will spend eternity in Hell, either. Some suicides are simply the result of great, unbearable pain, as in my brother’s case. He fought manic depression for years, and one day it apparently became too much for him. I believe I will see him again, and that now his pain has ended.”

For people who suffer from profound physical pain or emotional distress, I believe that suicide can be a rational act. (I know a bit about this from personal experience, but I’m not at liberty to elaborate.) Regardless, you came into this world by no choice or act of your own, so you maintain the absolute and irrevocable right to end it on your own terms and timeline. But I’ll proceed under Carolyn’s stipulation that the person in question was too distressed to think rationally.

Okay then, so the lack of rational thought is the key to being absolved of the act of self-murder. Gotcha. But Christian doctrine damns someone to an eternity in hell for denying god. Christians argue that god’s existence is proved by mere observation of the world. Moreover, to them, it beggars belief that any sane person can’t see this obvious truth. Okay, fine. But wouldn’t this then constitute irrational thought? You’d think so, but that would require Christians to have

The “irrational thought” excuse is a one-way street to be used exclusively by hypocritical cherry-picking Christians only when it suits their needs. In fact, it must be a one-way street else non-believers would get to play at will the same Get Out of Jail Free card that the delusion of salvation affords Christians.

Intellectually Acceptable:

“My irrational 12 year old Christian son MURDERED HIMSELF, but god knows what was in his heart so he’s in heaven with Jesus right now.”

Intellectually Unacceptable:

“My irrational atheist worldview clouded my judgment and that kept me from accepting Jesus. Fuck off. I get to go to heaven when I die.”

But putting that little problem aside, I’d like to know what rationalization Carolyn is forced to vomit forth when a clearly rational person takes their life. But we’ll just sweep that question under the carpet and pretend it wasn’t asked.

To make my point, Lissa chimes in with:

“If a person who is truly born again commits suicide, I don’t believe he/she will go to Hell. When the Lord saves a person, He forgives that person of all of his/her sins–past, present and future. We have an advocate with the Father (1 John 2:1-3); and it is the blood of Christ which washes away all of our sins. When the Father sees the blood of His Son, He sees His righteousness and not our unrighteousness.

I don’t believe that a person can lose his/her salvation because the Lord is always faithful–for His own name’s sake–even though we are not always faithful to Him. He cannot lie or break a promise because He is a holy and a just God and lying is sin.

The unforgivable sin is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit–denying that Jesus Christ is God’s only begotten Son and the only way to the Father–refusing to accept the Lord.

A born again Christian who commits suicide will stand before the Lord most likely unhappily, knowing that the Lord could have used him/her to lead many others to Christ. Realizing that the rewards that he/she would have placed at Jesus’ feet will not be available to give back to Him, the person will also feel some sadness at first before the Lord wipes away all of our tears.

But that person would still go to Heaven, and his/her works would still be tried as by fire to leave only what is good. Only the people who die without trusting fully in the saving grace of Christ will go to Hell.”

First she plays the Once Saved, Always Saved card (sending the self-murder to heaven), but closes her commentary without any consideration to the irrational atheist who couldn’t get past their lack of intellect (sending the those without trust to hell).

Murder, okay. Lack of trust, not so much.

But then again, this moronic mindset is perfectly consistent with Christian doctrine. God is overly concerned with what you think, not with what you do. Only faith gets you to heaven, not good deeds.

Ah, the consolations of religion. Such a neat and tiny way to avoid the unpleasantness of some realities.
 

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