A note on suicide: Im waiting for Fox News Anchor Shep Smith and/or Speaker Boehner and the GOP-Teabaggers to blame President Obama for the suicide of Robin Williams. That should happen by this evening..... Seriously, I am unsurprised that the knuckledragging news directors and producers at Fox would hastily arrange for an on-air barrage by one of their equally paleo propaganda anchors against the mentally ill. Robin Williams was a coward because he took his own life, decried Mr. Smith. Well, heres my response: suicide is not an act of cowardice. However, speaking ill of the dead just to incite hatred in viewers and boost a television networks ratings certainly is an act of cowardice. While Im a strong proponent of the freedom of the press clause in the First Amendment, its a shame that the FCC doesnt have the power to slap Fox News and Smith with a big fat fine. Indecency on the airwaves doesnt have to always be the result of obscenity and profanity. The decision to end ones life by suicide is extremely complicated and is arrived at by influences that we will never completely understand. Arguably, it is a selfish act, because the victim ultimately discards, as a reason not to off themselves, the legacy of pain, regret and guilt left to their survivors. In a sense, the loved ones left behind are the real victims of a suicide. But to say that suicide is a cowardly act belies the terrible, destructive power of depression. Perhaps those who choose to apply that label after the tragedy are themselves afraid of falling into depressions black hole. I have no credentials qualifying me as a mental health expert, but I have known depression firsthand. I have experienced its meaty hands around my neck, its fingers squeezing relentlessly in an attempt to suck all life out of my lungs. Luckily, I fought back, and I proved to be stronger than my foe. But only because I had the power of someone even stronger than me intervene on my behalf. In my moment of darkness, Christ sent me an army of angels, some of whom were in human form. Friends, family, physicians, clergy, strangers who cared about one solitary human life. Now I am no fundamentalist, born again Christian -- my faith is so complex, even I dont fully understand it -- but I have to believe that to some extent, evil plays a central role in suicide. You can call evil by whatever name you choose: the Devil, Satan, Lucifer, Beelzebub, etc. Yet it exists, and when evil can do so, it takes away reason. It takes away the ability to cry out for help, the ability to see that depression is a temporary condition, but death is eternal. It gleefully whispers to the mentally ill person that there is no other way. It promises relief, rest, an end to the pain; when in reality, evil intends nothing else but to inflict as much pain on as many souls as it possibly can. Robin McLaurin Williams was no coward. Anyone who can stand in front of a camera, knowing that millions are watching and waiting for him to make them laugh, is a brave individual. In fact, he is more than that: he is a hero, for he has put his audience and those who love him ahead of his inner pain. And he undoubtedly did that far longer than he thought he could. In contrast, anyone who sits in front of a camera, knowing that millions are watching and hungrily waiting for information, yet feeds them falsehoods, is bereft of bravery. He is instead a prime time example of his ill chosen adjective -- coward -- and simply another unwitting inhabitant of evils toolbox. But let us not damn him for all time, just as we should not condemn Robin Williams for being overpowered by an illness of malevolent origin.
Posted on: Tue, 12 Aug 2014 19:13:54 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015