Insisted Suicide - by Father Frank Gelli
Shalom aleikhem, SUICIDE Scotland has just rejected legislation for assisted dying, i.e. suicide. In England the Lords are still debating it. Which raises the question: is self-killing spiritual or morally permissible? 'Yes', the Stoic thinkers answered. However dire your troubles, remember: 'The exit door is open'. Still, they rejected suicide for banal reasons, like teenagers disappointed in love. Further, they believed the virtuous man's soul would not die forever but join the divine, universal reason encircling the cosmos. Death was not the end. You lived on, although not in personal terms. Seneca epitomised indifference to suicide by reminding his friend Lucilius in terse Latin that ' cotidie morimur' – we die a little bit every day. The march towards death begins when you emerge from your mother's womb. Every passing day brings the final one a bit closer Suicide isn't such a big deal then? Note that Seneca was nearly 70 when he severed hi...
