Essay/Term paper: Suicide

Essay, term paper, research paper:  Sociology Essays

I'm about to take up a position which is going to be deamed by some, if not all, as a terrible stand to take. As a matter of fact, if anyone were to agree with me on ths subject, I'd be surprsed. For you see, rather than arguing from the postion of suicide being an unjustified and inane way to die, I shall argue the other point. That being suicide does have its merits. Before you people start screaming, hear my case out. Most people argue that nothing justifies the taking of someone's life. Yet what makes life so valuable? Why do people cling to it so? All we consist of is a bunch of carbon atoms, bound together to form an exoskeleton, organs, and tissue. In this light, there really is not much to life. Out of the 5 billion who inhabit the planet, very few of them shall emerge to be true world leaders. The rest will just lead a mediocre life of work and little play. The taking of ones life can be argued from a populistic view as well. It makes little sense to preserve life in an over populated world. True, one less person here on there will not make a large dent. Yet if everyone who attempts or had attempted suicide were not stopped, the impact would be noticed. Another popular argument for stoppers, people who want to prevent suicide, is that nothing can be bad enough. Yet how do they know this? They do not have to put up with the same stuff the suicide victim does everyday. How could they possibly know what the potential suicide victim feels. Just as a severely burned victim may wish to be allowed to die in peace, the suicide victim wishes the same. To die in peace with no argument from others. The argument of "look at the people you will hurt" also does not hold. Imidiate family members will be the only ones to suffer any great pain. Friends will go on with thier lives and in time forget about the death. Imidiate family too will forget the loss in time. Although it will take most considerably longer for them than it will for friends. Finaly, the argument of suicide being selfish is hard to grasp. Selfish in whose eyes? Certainly not the eyes of the victim. To them, they consider it selfish of others to try and preserve their life. Again, the argument of the stoppers don't know what the victim has to go through. They are not the ones enduring the pain. Religious people also crop up into the debate. Catholics claim that for someone to committ suicide sneds their soul straight to Hell. In many religions, suicide is considered taboo. However why is this so? Why should it be looked upon as disgracefull, when some religions claim death the be the reward for people after their time on earth is done. Suicide is an issue which should be examined at by all angles. Not just from the angle that it is "wrong". End of debate. Rather it should be looked at from the point of view that "yes" for some people, they should be allowed to die in peace.