illusionofjoy | Ragged edges and misguided crusades (Reply)

An article on MSN.com today reports that sites on how to commit suicide are "under legal scrutiny." As expected, it's nice and slanted to the right-wing. Personally, I say that if you're going to do something, do it correctly.

That misogynistic statement aside, let's talk about free will for a moment. I'd also like to say a thing or two about parental responsibility and accountability. Within the first few paragraphs of the article, we are painted a portrait of two parents waxing about the need for a crusade to shut down "pro-suicide" websites because their daughter decided to pull an Ian Curtis. The father (with righteous indignation, I'm sure) is quoted as saying, "These Web sites are evil."

The rest of the article is all over the idea that shutting these sites down is the solution to the problem of individuals killing themselves. Sounds nice, simple and clean-cut, doesn't it? Make sure the kids don't know how to do something and they won't do it; this is the type of simple-mindedness that makes this country pathetic. The fact is that kids have been killing themselves since the dawn of time and will continue to do so. Had the child in question not had access to the internet, a study of a medical textbook (available at any library) would have provided adequate instructions. The article mentions that the girl had a learning disability and "there [was] no way she would have known how to kill herself if they hadn’t told her how." I contest that statement with this one: she wasn't so disabled that she couldn't read - nor was she so inept as to be unable to follow instructions either. True that if the site hadn't been there she may not be dead, but it is equally as likely that she would be; whether it would have been a "clean kill" would be in dispute. The possibility also exists that the attempt would have been botched, leaving her worse off than before.

These are obviously grieving parents, and rightly so. The loss of one's child is not a light matter. However, they have to face the fact that censorship is not the answer. Censoring these sites will not prevent other tragedies like this and it certainly will not bring their daughter back.

The fact is that these parents knew their daughter already had problems. They should have been keeping a closer eye on her and what exactly she was doing online. A 21-year old with a learning disability who has sunken into a deep depression is not the type of person you want to leave on their own for too long. I wonder how much these parents actually talked to their daughter. Then again, I'll concede that she may not have had much she was willing to say.

The big question this article poses (since MSN.com isn't daring enough to ask the real big one - i.e.: should/does free-will exist?) is "should these sites be allowed to exist?" As an advocate of the 1^st Amendment, I have to say, "yes." If one wishes to have freedom of speech, one must be willing to accept that others are to be allowed that same freedom - even if what they have to say consumes you with rage. If one wishes to look at or create pro-suicide sites then I am not one to say, "you can't do this because I don't want you to" (with the exception of my own children, should that circumstance ever arise). Your self-determination is not my business.

Words and ideas don't kill; actions, however, do have that power. Those who wish to simply censor these sites however would do better to fight fire with fire. If you don't like the idea of suicide, speak out against it. Create a viable counterargument just as strong - if not stronger - than the original that so incised you. I'm certain that the statement "but she was not of sound mind - she was following base emotions and instincts" regarding the aforementioned daughter will be levelled at me. As I recall, self-preservation is also a base instinct. If this instinct had already been over-ridden by another determination, then I ask again: where were the variables (in other words: the parents) that could have reversed this trend?

So, what do I really think about suicide itself? I'm honestly not sure. As indicated by this journal entry, I've yet to off myself, nor do I intend on it anytime in the foreseeable future. Would I ever? I don't know. On this matter my mind turns to music as it so often does. In the Joy Division song "Passover," Ian Curtis sings, "this is a crises I knew had to come." Conversely, Bobby Gaylor summed up his views on the matter quite eloquently in a song actually titled "Suicide" - "you were born, finish what you started," a statement that one should tie up loose ends, rather than leaving ragged edges. A pair of mourning parents on a misguided crusade certainly seems like a ragged edge to me.