Draft of essay

What causes a man to want to end his own life?
There are many causes of suicidal thought and behavior, far more than can be explored in a simple brief such as this. Entire library sections are devoted to the subject. The overwhelming research available all have one thing in common, however: They are largely inconclusive. I suspect that, in large part, much of this uncertainty is due to one simple fact: Every person is different from every other person. It may be easily said that suicide is the product of biological causes. We have to wonder that if we attempt to determine the cause of the cause, as it were, what are the possibilities?

Quite simply, the possibilities are endless and testing for the possibilities must also be endless. We may not ever have the ability to determine the answers to the question of whether or not suicide can be caused by any particular effect, especially religion.

Psychololgy

The human mind is varied and complex. We still cannot fully explore the processes of thought within the human mind or the effects of the biochemical processes which create thought and respond to thought. We have even less ability to determine the effect of outside influence on these biological processes. To discover these things requires the ability to analyze countless variables and to rearrange them into infinite combinations.

This leaves us in the position of trying to come up with an answer spoken in general terms and deferring the specifics to a time when we may have the ability to confidently say, “We know what is causing people to consider taking their own lives.” This essay hypothesizes that religion is one possible cause of the psychoses which result in suicidal desires. (Hassan 39). In other words, the cause of the cause. More study is called for in order to move closer to the answers we seek, however, this essay suggests insights into the possibility that religion could be a cause of suicidal tendencies and rationalizes these insights.
In the course of this essay, suicidal tendency is our focus, not successfully accomplished suicide. Note that:
  - Successfully completed suicide rates are not as high in religious environments as in non-religious environments but the desire to commit suicide may very well be as high or higher than in the rest of the population.
  - Suicides are reported but suicidal tendencies are not. Estimates on the unreported rate of suicidal tendencies vary greatly. Determining the causes of suicidal tendencies is ultimately necessary in order to determine what curative measures may be implemented.
  - Lacking specific data on suicidal tendency rates we can merely theorize about the causes. This article proposes that a hands-on study is in order.

James

“Tasteless. I’m sitting here in my car in front of the school building. I’m attempting to eat. My dinner is usually very good, very enjoyable and something I look forward to every evening. Tonight, chicken/squash that my wife makes sometimes. It’s the same as it always is but I literally can’t taste it. I’m feeling similar [sic] about how the other aspects of my life are right now.” (James)

And so begins a description of a pained life. We’ll call this soul “James.” He’s got everything in the world going for him: Straight “A” student. Married two dozen years. Fairly well paid in a well-established career. A great many people around him who enjoy his presence and in whose company he enjoys an ostentatious social life. He has hobbies and interests and his intellect is extraordinary. Yet, he feels a powerless emptiness which he feels he has not adequately expressed. Not even to his loving wife or his closest friends. He continues:

“Tasteless. A couple of bites more and still, no taste. You know what the stupidest thing is? The only reason I didn’t go home 30 minutes ago to get a gun and blow my head off is because I’m about to go to my math class where my last test grade is going to be handed out. I’m curious (not interested) to see how it was graded. ‘A’ or ‘F’ though, I don’t really care.” (James)

James’ letter goes on for several handwritten pages. He’s preparing himself. He explains his beginnings as a suicide contemplator. He doesn’t know for certain but he speculates as to how he arrived at this despair he now feels. He understands much of biology and in his recent past he has taken at least one anti-depressant drug which was prescribed to him by a doctor. But that isn’t all. Throughout his life, he explains, he has felt various declines. He describes his efforts on four prior occasions to take his own life and attributes his failure to naiveté about how to go about it. That was over twenty-five years ago. He describes how he went to a psychiatrist back then and was prescribed an anti-depressant which worked, seemingly miraculously. The doctor had told him, quite correctly, “sometimes, the brain gets in the habit of producing ‘down,’ chemistry and we have to help it get back to a normal state.” (James)

Now, many years later, James has what he believes to be a fairly good understanding of his current crisis. His suicide note goes on to describe emptiness and a failure to feel that his life has value or that he is needed by anyone. He describes an awareness of a need to get another boost to his brain chemistry because of the damage caused by the prior years’ prescription. He mentions how it’s odd that a prescription for an anti-depressant could cause him to become depressed and even more suicidal than ever before. He writes an unfeeling farewell to his wife, devoid of loving words and he tells of a friend who is partially aware.

What makes a man decide to end his life? James believes that last year, when a doctor prescribed an anti-depressant to him as a solution to an entirely unrelated nerve problem that it messed up his brain chemistry probably by aggravating his prior imbalances. Now James has come to believe that the solution to his dilemma is a different, more suitable prescription. Yet, he doesn’t make an appointment to go see a psychiatrist. He’s too depressed. A self-perpetuating destructive spiral is well under way.
 
Religion as a Cause of Suicidal Tendencies

Although James does not mention it in his suicide note, he tells of being raised in a repressive religious cult where his value as a human being was continuously assaulted by his family and leaders who reminded him continuously that he was nothing, “in the sight of god.” A key tenet of his cult religion says, “. . . the natural man is an enemy to god . . . “ and that it is his responsibility to put off this natural man. (Smith 153). Additionally, he was taught that, “. . . the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God . . . .” (Holy Bible) Life, of course is not so simple and in James’ early life as a human being, his increasing awareness of the fact that he is a natural man collided with the beliefs of his religious peers and the teachings of his religion. The results were then and now remain psychologically catastrophic.

James lived among fellow cult members who had all the appearances of living wonderful lives. They spoke to him regularly of their many spiritual experiences and of their personal relationships with a loving god. They professed to know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that they were telling the truth in all that they said to him.

James never experienced any of these things and as he realized, more and more, that he was unable to put off the natural man of his cult training, he began to spiral into greater and greater despair of ever accomplishing this ever-important goal of becoming, as it were, holy. Within the ranks of the same religious cult in which James was born and raised, polygamy is a fundamental belief. Countless women who lived and still live in this cult and its offshoots frequently speak of being suicidal as a result of cult polygamous practices. (Moore-Emmet 71, 80, 94, 147, 174-175, 196).

Ironically, it is shown that within religions, rates of completed suicides are much lower than those of the general population. In Islamic countries, the rate is nearly zero (Bertolote 7). As such, it is easy to trumpet the idea that religions have a beneficial effect on humanity. That such religions have a reducing effect on suicide rates, however, may be a result of fear-mongering and other deleterious fear tactics that religions tend to use on their followers. Christianity often tells its followers that suicide victims are condemned to an eternity in the fires of hell. A search for “Christianity suicide sin” on Google lists many references on this subject covering many permutations of the issue, often quite contradictory. It’s almost as if Christianity is unsure of the effects of its own teachings on its membership and make untrained, ill-founded efforts to prevent suicidal thought while, ironically, having exactly the opposite effect.

Religions may justify their use of scare tactics by suggesting that extending life provides opportunity for saving souls. While the use of fear may indeed be partly justifiable as a life saving technique it doesn’t mitigate the possibility that suicidal tendencies may be caused by religion. It also does not excuse an organization for creating circumstances, even unwittingly, wherein suicidal tendencies are created and fostered within the minds and hearts of religious followers. James’ experiences suggest that a religion would prefer to turn a blind eye to the possibility that suicidal tendencies are actually caused by their teachings and pressures rather than being the professed cure to such tragedy. In his eyes, prevention would be better than cure. Quite the reverse of religious tendency.

Does religion, then, cause suicidal thoughts? James firmly believes it does. In his personal contemplations of his own suicidal tendencies, he reflects back to a childhood rife with guilt and fear based on teachings from his religious parents and their cult. He refers to them as “nutballs,” a harsh commentary on a parental relationship destroyed by the cult of his early life and missing ever after. That lack of genuine parental nurturing only contributed to his mental decline. As a child, various aspects of that religious cult weighed heavily upon him and promoted a psychosis based on scriptural references as listed previously. Not being able to rise above his own accursed humanity, he learned to hate himself for his religious failures and was never taught to feel a sense of accomplishment for anything meaningful in his life. (James). Ultimately, he realized that all he had ever wanted, and lacked, was to be valued by others.

As his long-ago psychiatrist had once described to him, his brain chemistry seems to have developed the habit of creating negative chemistry as he progressively focused more than ever upon the failures of his life and was continuously told about his own “unworthiness.” Endorphins were no longer being regularly created in a normal fashion and the pleasure/reward centers of his brain began to decline without the supportive influence of this chemistry. The results were tragically predictable.

The Cause of the Cause

Psychiatric disorders are the leading cause of suicide, depression being the most significant of them all. (Hegerl 12) The problem becomes one of determining whether the causes of these psychiatric disorders are biological or if they are environmental. Can we say that biology, including genetics, is a cause? That the influence of James’ “nutball” parents over a lifetime caused him to want to kill himself? Is it a combination of the two? Does one exacerbate the other? Perhaps we will discover a gene that causes people to believe in religion and simultaneously causes them to have a predisposition toward suicidal tendencies. Cause and effect are difficult to determine for any behavior so we must be careful not to assume a connection greater than that which truly exists. However, they can and should be hypothesized and explored.

James observes that his mother was manic-depressive but he doesn’t say much more about it. What may be significant is the idea that as a religious zealot, his mother may have originally been attracted to the cult as a way to avail herself a promised hope of getting past the depression in her life. Perhaps her depression drove her to seek out a solution and when religion came along, she gravitated toward it. It is conceivable that the relationship between her depression and her association with religion was merely coincidental but we wonder: Did she have a “depression gene,” that she passed to her son? Unfortunately, in our interview, we did not explore whether or not James’ siblings have had any issues with depression or suicide.

What about those like James who were born into their respective churches and still have this tendency toward suicide? Perhaps a genetic tendency is there to begin with and religion has nothing to do with creating it or exacerbating it. We simply don’t know. We do see a preponderance of evidence which shows that religious followers have displayed or verbalized suicidal tendencies and attributed them directly to their respective religions. As previously cited, the women of polygamous cults frequently say as much. (Moore-Emmet). That these individuals restrain themselves from committing suicide may be a testament to the ability of the churches to inspire fear in their followers rather than inspire them to live fulfilling lives.

Group Suicides in Cults

November, 1978 is notorious as the month in which the religious cult founded by Jim Jones committed suicide as a group. There were about 900 members of which nearly 300 were children. (Schnepper) Thirty-three members of this cult escaped. But what was it that caused this group to commit such an extreme act? Parents even assisted their children in this horrific event, mixing kool-aid into cyanide in order to make it easier for them to drink and therefore, to die.

Marshall Applewhite led his Heaven’s Gate cult of 39 to commit group suicide over a period of three days in March of 1997. They believed that by doing so they were preparing themselves to be picked up by a group of aliens who were supposedly arriving in the shadow of the Hale-Bopp comet. (Robinson) Again, we have to ask ourselves, what caused people to commit this horrendous act?

A search on Google’s web site for the words “suicides of religious cults,” returns over a million web links of articles on this subject of group cult suicide. It might be safe to assume that there have been thousands of documented events wherein a group of religious believers committed suicide based on some facet of the religious teachings of their cult. Is it because of the charisma of their leaders? Is it a mental psychosis? Do people have that much belief in the teachings of their respective cults to compel themselves to take their own lives and the lives of their children?

The Church of Euthanasia founded by Chris Korda proposes that suicide is one of the best things a human being can do for the benefit of our planet. Their premise is that humans have overpopulated the Earth and consume an excessive amount of resources. According to this group we are better off doing the planet and everyone else a favor by killing ourselves. I must point out that the group’s web site gives the impression of being more of a tongue-in-cheek comedic site rather than a truly legitimate church. However, their site claims tax exempt 501(c)(3) status as a non-profit educational organization and they solicit tax deductible contributions as such. Their motto: “Save the planet. Kill yourself.” A link is provided where one may find ways in which to kill himself. (Korda) It may be abhorrent to the mind to suggest that suicide could actually be good thing but there are other groups and individuals who believe suicide is good for many varied reasons.

Acts of Religious Terrorism

It is worth noting that the majority of acts of “religious terrorism,” are not motivated by religious causes; they are motivated by political ideals, revenge, etc. (Hassan)

Kip Eliason

On March 2, 1982, 16-year old Kip Eliason committed suicide. His suicide note to his father reads,
"Dear Dad,

I love you more than what words can say. If it were possible, I would stay alive for only you, for I really only have you. But it isn't possible. I must first love myself, and I do not. The strange feeling of darkness and self-hate overpowers all my defenses. I must unfortunately yield to it. This turbulent feeling is only for a few to truly understand. I feel that you do not comprehend the immense feeling of self-hatred I have. This is the only way I feel that I can relieve myself of these feelings now. Carry on with your life and be happy. I love you more than words can say.

Your son, Kip" (Taylor)

The battle Kip had been fighting was a battle against masturbation as forbidden by the cult religion of which he was a confirmed member. He was a consummate “natural man,” and was unable to stop the natural human urges that come to all men and women but the difference for Kip is, he was labeled a sinner by the teachings of his church and family. A devout journalizer, he wrote often of his personal battle against himself. One journal entry reads, “I know immorality is a very serious sin. I really want to repent and be free of this terrible and degrading burden of masturbation. I am willing to do anything I have to do, even excommunication, to be able to repent and be free of this sin. I would rather go to hell and suffer there than be unworthy." (Taylor)

Kip’s story is one of serious tragedy regardless of any of the other implications of his life’s tragic end. A significant impact of his story is with regard to the pressure of religion having been brought to bear to devalue his worth as a human being rather than to build him up. The preservation of life is a goal of paramount importance to most religions and yet, there is a distinct and contrary devaluation of the person as he suffers under the burdens of no greater sin than that of being a mere human being.
Even greater tragedy is heaped upon Kip’s by the discovery that his is not the only such story.
Homosexuality + Christianity = Suicide?

A significant group of people who firmly believe that religion, especially Christianity, causes suicide is the gay and lesbian community. Biblical quotations are used within Christianity to support the idea that homosexuality is satanic and that homosexuals are doomed to hell. Christianity to this day preaches an extreme hatred of homosexuality and lip service is given to the effect that it is the act that is hated, not the actor. Unfortunately, actions belie the words and it is very difficult to consistently take words at face value. Hateful words and actions are frequently foisted against homosexuals by Christians. To be fair, not all Christians feel as such, however, there are a significant number who do. (Robinson) Christianity is not the only source of such hatred. Radio talk show host, Dr. Laura Schlessinger once said on the air, “gays are a biological error.” It caused an understandable uproar. (Herscher)

It is suggested that Christianity is indirectly responsible for at least 496 youth gay/lesbian suicides per year. (Robinson) A Google search for the term, “Christian gay suicide,” returns over 500,000 links to references of gay suicides. Many of these links are for blogs, articles and forums of organizations in support of gays and lesbians who have been rejected and despised by Christianity.

Can’t we all just get along?

Since this essay attempts to show that religion causes suicide, it may be said to have failed. There simply is not enough definitive evidence to support a conclusive statement of cause and effect. On the other hand, the evidence to support the idea that religion causes suicide is very suggestive. There are many heartbreaking stories of people who assert that, because of the teachings of their religion seriously contemplated, attempted or succeeded at taking their own lives. Indeed, a commissioned study is encouraged in order to determine the rate of correlation between religion and suicidal ideations of its followers.

It is important to note that this essay does not necessarily attempt to connect actual suicides with religion. It was shown earlier that statistically, incidence of suicide is actually less within religious populations. The supposition of this article is that if a religiously beleaguered person could accomplish their own end, they would. Granted, successful suicide may be inhibited by religious imposition. Realistically, however, we must ask, Is the quality of life compromised by religion? How many people simply wish they were dead but don’t attempt it and choose to continue to suffer? Personally, I am brought to wonder: How many people are hiding their suicidal ideations from the outside world while they suffer agony within?
 
Bibliography
Bertolote, Jose Maoel and Alexandra Fleishmann. “A global perspective in the epidemiology of suicide.” Suicidologi. 2002, volume 7, no 2: 6-8

Hassan, Riaz. “Religion is Not the Primary Motivation of Suicide Bombers.” 2009. The Daily Star. (www.thefreelibrary.com)

Hassan, Steven. Releasing the Bonds. Danbury, CT. Aitan. 2000

Hegerle, Ulrich. “The European Alliance against Depression: A four-level intervention programme against depression and suicidality.” Suicidologi. 2008, volume 13, no 1: 12-14

Herscher, Elaine. “Dr. Laura Show Provokes Backlash.” Sfgate web site. 04 March 2000. (www.sfgate.com)

Holy Bible, The. King James Translation.

“James.” A suicide note from a tortured soul. Personal permission granted for use so long as use is anonymous. Interview notes included.

Korda, Chris. www.churchofeuthanasia.org)

Moore-Emmet, Andrea. God’s Brothel. San Francisco, CA. Pince-Nez Press. 2004

Robinson, B. A. “Heaven’s Gate: Christian / UFO Believers.” 25 Mar 1997 (www.religioustolerance.org)

Robinson, B. A. “Suicides Among Gay and Lesbian Youth.” 01 Aug 2008 (www.religioustolerance.org)

Schnepper, Jeff A. “Jonestown Massacre: The Unrevealed Story.” USA Today (Society for the Advancement of Education). January, 1999

Smith, Joseph. Salt Lake City, UT. The Book of Mormon. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, The. 1981

Taylor, Mark A. “Sin and Death in Mormon Country: A Latter-day Tragedy.” 1986. Affirmation web site. (www.affirmation.org) (Note: this article is HIGHLY recommended.)

Chick Bikerz

Hot. Chick Bikers are hot. I don't mean just hot, I mean HOT HOT HOT. Oh yeah.

Just what is it, though? Maybe it's the idea that if a woman can handle that much power between her legs, she can handle me in there, too.

Maybe.

You're surprised that there's a sexual attraction there? Of course it's sexual. Could it be anything else? There's a woman on a bike, her legs wrapped around the sides and the seat pressing up against the center of her and EVERY man who sees this has a quick surge, an impulse, thinking, "I wish I were underneath her."

No maybe about it.

Look at what happens when a girl on a bike goes by a group of boys on their bikes. Mating ritual. Yup. Mating ritual. They strut their stuff, drive fast, do wheelies, ride right past her. All for . . .

They obviously are doing a mating ritual. Every one of those boys is saying that if she rides a bike, she'd just love to ride him, too. More than she'd like to ride that other guy doing his wheelie over there.

Yeah, a boy who sees a girl on a motorcycle is seeing porn in public. As close as he's going to get out on the road and believe you me, it piques his interest immediately. It's a very short half-step away from seeing her in a the female superior position, riding him instead of that motorcycle. Her hips are formed around that motorcycle in the same position, giving that same shape to her hips and any time a guy sees that, he's instantly interested.

At least, that animal breeding instinct is interested. For a man to deny that this is true is tantamount to denying that he masturbates from time to time. Or every day.

A lot of chick bikerz don't know this. Even better. Gives a certain innocence to her riding.

Maybe.

Can it be suggested that at some subtle, animal instinctive level all girl bikers know what they're doing to the boy bikers?

It used to be that the boys could cruise a motorcycle down to Main Street in the evening and be surrounded by girls who wanted to be on the bike behind him. Almost as if they want to have that much power between their legs. Almost? Nah. Definitely. Now, a boy on a bike on Main Street barely gets a glance 'cause the girls are on their own motorcycles and having much more fun.

Except that she gets to control the bike, form it to her wants and needs. There are better reasons for her to be on a bike than on a boy.

And she won't give it up for him, for sure.

Okay, sometimes.

--Wag--