Can suicide ever be acceptable under certain extreme cicrumstances?

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hmikell7

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In reading Bishop Eusebius’ History of the Church I’ve come across several passages in which Christians who were facing tortures and death at the hands of the Romans would throw themselves into the fires intended against them, would throw themselves from high places and into rivers to cheat the Romans out of taking their lives. From what I’ve been able to tell they were regarded as having reached their “fulfillment in martyrdom” and were honored as such.

So can it be acceptable to commit suicide in such a scenario as this? When a person undoubtedly is facing death at the hands of the enemy, should they be glad to face the various tortures and persecutions, or does suicide remain an act which separates the soul from God, even when committing it for his glory?
 
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well if you’re already being burned to death, i don’t think accepting that fate by throwing yourself on the fire to prove God working inside of you is the same as suicide. They’re being killed, they’re just accepting that fate, as Christ did.
 
True I suppose. However Christ accepted the coming crucifixion without doing anything to avoid it. In this instance they’ve taken deliberate steps to avoid what’s coming. It’s just a very interesting moral dilemma to me, and I’m trying to unwrap it
 
hmikell7 said:
It’s just a very interesting moral dilemma to me, and I’m trying to unwrap it
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Don’t think you are going to find a satisfactory definitive answer this side of judgment day and the Final Judge.
Shalom.
 
Suicide is intrinsically evil, so it would be a sin to kill oneself although culpability may have been reduced in some circumstances.
 
There was a great fire(maybe the Chicago fire) and some families, after realizing they were surrounded by flames and not wanting their children to burn to death, shot their children and themselves instead of being burnt alive. Terrible moral dilemmas. I’m not saying it wasn’t sinful, but parents were being motivated by not wanting their children to burn to death(which is said to be one of the most painful ways to die)

The Peshtigo Fire :

“The heat of the fire turned sand to glass. Whole families were found bound together in desperate heaps, charred beyond recognition. It is said that 200 men died at a single tavern. Some townsfolk, knowing the certain anguish of death by flames, killed themselves and their children before the fire could.”
 
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From my understanding, suicide is morally permissible in order to avoid an extremely painful death. The point of it would be to bring suffering to a minimum.
 
That’s what Euthanasia is, which isn’t morally permissible though.
 
Good question. I always wondered when I read those stories of virgin/martyrs who seemed to take their own lives.
 
I’m not talking about euthanasia. In that, you’re dying, but it’s not an “either I shoot myself or I burn to death” situation.
 
It’s just a tricky argument. I know it isn’t the “exact” same as euthanasia. Its hastening death so it won’t be so painful. Self mercy killing? I dunno. Tough one.
 
They’re different situations. If someone is considering euthanasia, it’s probably because they’ve been diagnosed with a fatal illness. They have days, weeks, months or even years to undergo treatment, either in hopes to prolong their life or reduce their pain. That’s not quite the “death or death” situation that, say, being trapped in a burning building is.
 
From CCC;
Suicide

2280 Everyone is responsible for his life before God who has given it to him. It is God who remains the sovereign Master of life. We are obliged to accept life gratefully and preserve it for his honor and the salvation of our souls. We are stewards, not owners, of the life God has entrusted to us. It is not ours to dispose of.

2281 Suicide contradicts the natural inclination of the human being to preserve and perpetuate his life. It is gravely contrary to the just love of self. It likewise offends love of neighbor because it unjustly breaks the ties of solidarity with family, nation, and other human societies to which we continue to have obligations. Suicide is contrary to love for the living God.

2282 If suicide is committed with the intention of setting an example, especially to the young, it also takes on the gravity of scandal. Voluntary co-operation in suicide is contrary to the moral law.

Grave psychological disturbances, anguish, or grave fear of hardship, suffering, or torture can diminish the responsibility of the one committing suicide.

2283 We should not despair of the eternal salvation of persons who have taken their own lives. By ways known to him alone, God can provide the opportunity for salutary repentance. The Church prays for persons who have taken their own lives.
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Those who jumped from the Twin Towers took a different route to certain death. I’ve often wondered if their choice was worse or even quicker.
 
I was just thinking of those who jumped from the Towers as I read the thread and your post beat me to it. Such a horrible choice…burning or falling like that. May God have mercy on all those who are faced with such terrors. I would assume that anyone in extreme fear and mortal danger like that is not culpable for a quick decision in trying to avert the worst form of death.
 
ElizabethAnn said:
Um, I don’t think so…
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Mark posted citations from the Catechism earlier. Did you read them? Particularly the second part of 2282, where it says:
Grave psychological disturbances, anguish, or grave fear of hardship, suffering, or torture can diminish the responsibility of the one committing suicide.
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Nobody kills themselves because everything’s going great in their lives, and some people kill themselves when they would otherwise desire to live in order to avoid dying in a more horrific manner. Grave matter is involved, and they may (or may not) know it is grave, but consent isn’t necessarily there since they don’t really desire to do what they’re doing to themselves, merely finding it preferable to dying in a more painful way.
 
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it can diminish the responsibility but not for sure if that makes suicide acceptable…
 
Right, it absolutely would lessen the culpability of the sin. In extreme circumstances, as the Catechism says, it could diminish the responsibility, but it doesn’t make the sin not a sin. Whether the person would incur even any guilt at all would be up for debate.
 
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