Jamie Hubley's Suicide

[jprice66]

There have probably been more than a few threads about this sort of thing, but I saw the other day something about Jamie Hubley, a Canadian teenager who killed himself after bullying/harassment over his being gay.

Now, I know it’s always a heartbreaking situation when someone kills himself, especially at such a young age, but this got me thinking about bullying and its role in things like this. The bullying he went through (which is still wrong no matter the circumstances) didn’t seem to be any more severe than anything most high schoolers go through at some point or another. He was (from what I’ve seen at any rate) called a “f*g” and having his attempts to create some sort of GSA-type group mocked and squashed. It seems to me that it wasn’t so much the bullying at fault as his own (admitted) depression. He, at the end of his life, cursed his friends, lied to his therapists and posted all sorts of images of self-harm. I suppose what I’m trying to get at here is, what causes suicides and tragedies like this, and moreover,what is to be done about these suicides (and bullying)?

The cynic in me says that bullying is a constant of idiotic adolescents and suicides like this are caused by depression and attempts to eradicate bullying are doomed to fail, but I’m not sure by any means.

In short, in light of all this, what do you think about the problem of suicides and of bullying?

 

[ConstantineTG]

The problem with bullying gays is that often they do not have an escape. They’re bullied at school but at the same time they’re probably rejected at home as well.

I grew up in a Catholic highschool of 400+ boys. Its as tough as it can be. I’ve been teased and bullied for whatever reason. But after school, the bullying stops. I go home to the love of my parents. I have friends outside of school who doesn’t bully me.

Of course the problem here is advocates call for the acceptance of gays as a way to fight bullying. But Catholics should approach them with charity and love. The problem really and I believe everyone is guilty of, is that gays are treated harshly. Do we treat fornicators and adulterers the same way? We must all realize that we can teach them the right way but at the same time treat them with kindness and love, just as Jesus would.

 

[Earnest_Bunbury]

“Bullying” is merely one aspect of bad behavior. The problem is we have no current standard for behavior since most of this has been relegated to personal choice, and the worldly people do not want to be restricted by the true, overall standard that would encompass and judge a multitude of actions under one aegis. They have no objective standard so each action is now to be subjectively judged piecemeal.

It is the work of evil that is relativising acts according to man’s standard and ignoring the true way according to God. Today’s deficient philosophy and science is replacing the truth with man centered notions of judging reality. Even those in the Church who think themselves faithful read the perennial truth of the faith through this lens of deficient philosophical notions which severely affects the notion of God as the transcendent source of being and creation.

Both the bullying and suicides are the result of the same thing, the emptying of truth of the Godliness that is its source, its standard, and its final perfecting end. God is Truth and when we get this truth wrong we get our correct actions wrong too.

 

[Sherry_G]

Bullying has always gone on mostly among children, possibly more pronounced in the early teen years. All the media hype about this case has more to do with their agenda regarding “normalizing” gay lifestyle. As for the suicide question in general, of course, mental state of depression at the very least is present for someone to reach a point in their thinking that all is lost, so might as well end it all.
We love the sinner and hate the sin as Catholic Christians, of course. Most of us would never think of treating a person with anything but kindness, including a person who announces their sexual preference or even lives out the perversion openly. I dare say most of us treat homosexuals and lesbians just as well as we do adulterers and fornicators. Unless asked for advice, we don’t give it. I would not attend a mock “marriage” but I do socialize with a gay relative and his partner within my family circle. My neice is a fornicator and she is also part of my social circle.
Bullying is a really big deal nowadays, mostly because of the media hype, IMO. We are turning into a nation of whiners and wimps, crying out for justice, and seeking monetary damages for almost anything.

 

[The_Reginator]

As I’ve followed the reporting of this tragic incident I’ve noticed a change in some of the reports. His being gay is not so much the issue. Depression is at the root, probably caused, or certainly amplified by the bullying, etc. Here is an example:

But even though Hubley hated being the only openly gay kid at his high school—and felt sad about being called a “fag,”—the Ottowa(sic) teen’s suicide seems to have been prompted primarily by a chronic depression rather than bullying at school.

(Sorry about the source – I only had a quick peek at it. I was searching for an example of what I’ve been hearing. This is the first quote I stumbled across.)

It seems that one of the biggest problems many face is severe depression with little or no help available or looked for.

My brother was the most well adjusted of us three kids. He always had a smile for you. He, too, took his own life at the age of 59. It was only in the letter he left my mother that we found out how depressed this successful business man was.

We all need to take care of our spiritual and mental health.

 

[Robert_Bay]

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