Is Suicide a Sin?

Several weeks ago, I lost one of the few people whom I would consider to be my friend. I have known him for a little over a year, and thought we were in different platoons, we were in the same company while deployed to Afghanistan for twelve months. During that year, he was often in my room with my squad, and we would talk, watch movie, clean our weapons, ext. I do not normally call out to people who I know when I see them on the street, but every time I saw him I never hesitated to call out his name and take a few minutes talking to him. The last time I spoke to him, he was very happy. He told me that he was enjoying his job, and was even going to spend a few hours working after he was supposed to get off. He was also excited to hear of my recent career choices, and was glad that I was moving on for better things in life. This is the second person in my life who I lost to suicide.

After his death, I did not speak to anyone about it, but for those I worked with that also knew him. That is until yesterday. I was finally able to find some closure at a memorial service held in his honor. What I found so powerful about it was not the service itself, but its timing. For those of you who do not know, yesterday was the first Day of Rosh Hashana. Rosh Hashana is the Jewish New Year, and in Jewish culture, the next day is marked not by the sun rising, but by the sun setting. This means that the memorial was held in the last moments of the old year, and ended very close to the new one.

When I noted this on Face Book, my mother asked what the Jews believe about suicide. Well, that is an interesting question. Although I consider myself to be Jewish, and have seen Jewish funerals, I honestly did not know what they believe about what happens to suicide victims. Personally, I do not believe that it is an automatic sentence to Hell, but I have never heard what the Jews have to say about it.

So let us find out. First of all, when people think about taking life in the Bible –Yes I know that I am talking about the Jews, so I should use the Torah or Ta-NaKh, but the they are both a part of the Bible, so I am going to use the word Bible just so I can include everything- the immediately think of what is arguably the most famous of the Ten Commandments: Thou shalt not kill. This passage has been used countless times for people who think that War is wrong, or are against the Death penalty. Now what they do not understand is that in Hebrew, there are two words for “Kill” I tried to find them, but I could only get the original Hebrew writing, and not a phonetical translation, I apologize. But the difference between the two words in important. One simply means to Kill, or to justifiably end life. The other specifically means “Murder.” Which would be to purposefully end a life without justification. Now the Hebrew used in the Ten Commandments properly translated would be “Though shalt not murder.” The scriptures give plenty of times where killing is justified. In times of War being one. Now this is very important to my point as Jews do not believe that Suicide is contained within the sixth commandment. This means that Suicide is a case by case basis, as there are times when it can be justified, or at the very least, understandable. I am not saying that it is ever right, there is never any excuse for taking your own life unless it would involve others being saved. -Any Law can be broken for the preservation of life- What I am saying is that there are times when the person does have reason to take their own life, and it not be morally considered Justified. You need to understand that just because something is justified, does not make it right.

Readin the Bible, you would be surprised to find that there is in fact, no scripture directly stating that suicide is wrong. Some people believe that Gen 9:5 is an indirect prohibition of suicide, but after I looked it up with context, I do not think it has anything to do with that. Most people translate it as "I will require your blood if you yourselves shed it." But the King James Versions says “but surely your blood of your lives will I require; at the hand of every beast will I require it, and at the hand of man; at the hand of every man’s brother will I require the life of man. 6 Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man.” Now remember that special Hebrew word we talked about before? You know, Murder. That is the word it is using whenever it says “Shed Blood” so it is saying that if you murder someone, then God will demand your life in return. So this has nothing to do with taking your own life. The reason that there is no Scripture that directly states anything against suicide is most likely because it is not something a sane person would do.

As Rabbi Lewis Jacobs puts it, “It follows from this that suicide and murder are two separate offenses in the Jewish tradi­tion, as they are in most cultures. Suicide is not homicide and is not covered in the Decalogue [the Ten Commandments]. In the usual rabbinic classification of duties, homicide would be considered an offense both "between man and God" and "between man and man," whereas suicide would fall only under the former heading.
Maimonides' statement (Rotzeah, 2.2-3) that there is no "death at the hand of the court" for the crime of suicide, only "death by the hands of Heaven," is puzzling, since how could a suicide, no longer alive, be punished for the crime by the court?”

So why do we look at Suicide as a sin if it is never spoken of as such in Scripture? It is probably because by taking your own life, you are refusing God’s gift to you, and changing when God has your death planned. So you are taking God’s plan into your own hands and doing what you want instead. But that is the same as every other sin, so why are people fixated on Suicide being the ultimate crime that sends you straight to Hell no matter what you did while you were alive? Ultimately, the Jews believe

Another problem is; what defines suicide? Do you have to pull the trigger yourself? Or merely allow someone else to pull it? Would not fighting back morally be considered suicide? What if someone kills a pacifist, giving them plenty of opportunity to fight back and live? Would that be suicide? Or how about the Martyrs who allowed themselves to be murdered because of what they believed? Would that be considered assisted suicide? Who is at fault in assisted suicide? Is that considered Murder? At what point does allowing yourself to die become suicide? There is obviously a line, and I gave some very extreme examples, but that does not change the fact that when it comes to someone taking their own life, we are far too quick to judge whether they are right or wrong, or whether they are going to Hell or not. When it comes to my own life, I have an extreme faith in God. I believe that no matter what happens to me or what I do, I will die the absolute moment that God wants me to. Because of that, I tend to be extremely reckless, and do very stupid things. There have been numerous times in my life where by all rights I should have died. And a few of them could have been seen as suicide if you did not know the whole story. All of this is to say that both of the friends I lost were good Christian Men, and I have no doubt in my mind that when I die in God’s good time, I will see them both again.

Ethics of the Fathers 4:21: "Despite yourself you were fashioned, and despite yourself you were born, and despite yourself you live, and despite yourself you die, and despite yourself you will hereafter have account and reckoning before the King of Kings, the Holy One, blessed be He."

The Batman Trasformation

Last night, someone whom I have begun to speak frequently to on Face Book asked what would have happened if Bruce Wayne’s parents were never killed. Would he still have become Batman? Or would another hero have arisen in his absence? Would there have been any heroes at all, or would Gotham have continued its fall into the depths of Darkness, Sin and Chaos? Naturally, I could not help but examine what ultimately drove Bruce Wayne to becoming Batman, his psychological influences, his family, what sort of person he could have become, ext.

Let’s begin by looking at the history of Gotham City. Gotham’s origins are shrouded in mystery, and I would heavily suggest that you read the DC wikia page (Here!!!!) as I cannot begin to include all the details I desire to. So I will skip over all the good stuff and get to the point. Ultimately, Gotham was founded by two families. The Waynes and the Arkhams. These two clans, though both rich and powerful, were very different. Whereas the Waynes were known for having a desire to help others and be incredibly self-sacrificial, spending entire fortunes to help push society into the light, the Arkhams –though not obviously so- did the opposite. In the shadows, they worked to promote chaos, and worshiped insanity. Though it is debatable where and when it started, the Arkham family passes a twisted gene down generation to generation, causing the individuals to develop some sort of psychotic illness. Many Arkhams even turned into some of the lesser known –but still vital- Gotham Villains. Amadeus Arkham was able to best disguise his family’s illness by founding Arkham Asylum. By managing the insane, they were able to hide their own insanity.

We're not crazy! I promise!

So what does all that have to do with Bruce Wayne’s transformation to Batman? Well it is well known that Bruce Wayne's Father, Thomas Wayne, was a Wayne. Obviously. But in some versions –such as Earth One- his mother, Martha, was originally an Arkham. This counted for an odd balance between the genes for Bruce. One the one side, he had the Wayne genes which gave him a kinder heart and a desire to help people. While on his mother's side, the Arkham side, his psyche was twisted, and had a more dark side. Unfortunately, before he even had the chance to grow into a man and decide who he wanted to be, his parents were murdered in front of his eyes.

Although this is obviously the most attributed aspect of the Batman Transformation, I believe that it is also the most overlooked. Although it pains me to say this, there are children that have the deep and scarring misfortune of seeing their parents murdered in front of them all the time. It is sadly not as rare of a thing as most of us would so desire it to be. So what is the difference between them and Bruce Wayne? –Apart from him being a fictional character, I mean- Some would argue that it was his fortune that was able to make him carry out the Batman Transformation. But do you honestly think that if Bruce Wayne was a poor as you or I, then he would not have ever become Batman? Bruce’s most attributable characteristic is his undying stubbornness. Once he has his mind set on something, nothing will change. He is not the type of person that would let a lack of finances get in the way of his vengeance. So what is the difference? 

Even Damian admits it.

The difference –though great and numerous- would ultimately be the malevolent Arkham gene in him. He had a desire for personal gratification through vengeance, a strong Arkham attribute, while his Wayne side would never let him leave it alone. The Wayne mentality drove him to use the skills he acquired for his own vengeance for Justice. He had to help others. In some ways he did not have a choice. Torn between the two opposing ideologies and genes, he was thrown into a downward spiral of insanity. Forever cascading farther, losing himself in vengeance and justice. It has never been denied but by the most unknowledgeable
of fans that Batman was insane. Unbelievably and undeniably insane. He has Multiple Personality Disorder, suffers from severe depression, and is a sociopath. As I previously mentioned, many of the Arkhams turn out to be just as large villains than Batman was a hero. In a lot of ways, Batman was one generation away from becoming possibly the greatest villain the DC universe has ever seen. Owl Man, anyone?
 

So all of that is to ask, what would have happened if Thomas and Martha were not killed? What if they walked out of that theater, and went home, safely? This presents a plethora of other options for young Bruce. Now he has the opportunity to peacefully explore his psyche, and discover all the hidden aspects of his mind that the Arkham family is responsible for. Now it is impossible to say what sort of person he would have become; unfortunately, no amount of research and analyzing would decide that. I will say however, that he would either have become a greater man than his father, using Wayne Industries to build Gotham unlike any era before him, or he would have used his power to support the Arkham side, and pushed Gotham farther down, becoming corrupted in the underworld. I have no doubt that either way, once Ra's Al Ghul came to destroy Gotham, Bruce would be none too happy about it. No matter which path he took, the Waynes or the Arkhams, he would not have let that threat be fulfilled. He would fight with everything he had to save Gotham, no matter his personal reasons. But if this were the case, I doubt that it would be a Batman like persona that we know so well. I believe that he would fight in a far different way than we are used to seeing. Instead of himself going on a one man rampage against his enemies, I believe he would use Wayne Industries, and all the men under him. He would utilize the police force; he would use his money to bribe people. It would be more of a political war than anything else.

Behold. The face of Evil

Another aspect we would have to look at is the question of another hero rising if Bruce's parents were never killed. I have no good answer to this either. If Bruce never became Batman, there would never have been a Robin, or any generations thereof (Nightwing, Red Robin, Red Hood, Cat Girl etc.) All of Gotham's heroes stem from Bruce Wayne, and if he never became Batman, then I don't think there would have been any others at all. Of course, that is not to say that another Hero from a different town would have come to Gotham. But that is so unpredictable, that I will not touch the subject.

Lastly, I would like to mention the Flashpoint Paradox. In this timeline, Bruce is killed instead of his parents, and Thomas Wayne becomes Batman (Who uses guns and kills people) and his mother becomes the Joker. Now something that is very different here is that Thomas Wayne is more of a Murderer than a Hero. He has no issue with using guns and slaughtering his enemies. I do not know what the difference is between Thomas and Bruce, but whatever it is, it played a huge role in determining what sort of people they were, and what tactics they used.

Back away. Very slowly.

No matter how you look at it, something was bound to happen to this family eventually. But the sheer, twisted, unpredictability of their minds makes it impossible to even guess what the outcome would be to any deciding event. Bruce was destined to be incredibly powerful, no matter what happened to his family, but the line he walked on between Good and Evil was so narrow, that it was only sheer luck that he became the World’s Greatest Detective we all know and love today.