<Snipped quote by TheDookieNut>
I got the point she was trying to make. Luckily A) Jewish with an emphasis on the 'ish' and B) I don't bother to even take religious beliefs that can't accommodate the scientific method as well as its observations seriously. I get what she means by that thinking of mental illness as a 'choice' people can 'shake off' but it's like people that think the world is 6000 years old -- fuck 'em and their feelings. ;)
But I'm not singling out Christianity on that one. Judaism has its fruitcakes, Islam obviously does and just because I haven't encountered any Buddhist nutballs doesn't mean they aren't out there... Same response to all of them; we shouldn't be making policy to cater to myopic and increasingly unsupported belief. And the US Justice system needs a revamping while we're there.
Would not define the difference between Christianity to Judaism to be that different, if we look at the difference with mental illness during the twenty century forward. True, some would not say bring religion or a social group that is a defined religion into the debate. I disagree, as religion in general does dine what we feel about mental illness during historical practice. What part of religion I will bring up to compare mental illness, is what western civilization defines what is the failure of moral person: and that is the 'suicide of a person that suffered' from mental illness.
For most religions, a suicide is the one way ticket to hell. Christianity and Judaism in the last thousand years has defined from century to century the sin of suicide. But, it's first century practice: was worshiped like the death of Jesus or the indifference with the suicide of Judas Iscariot that only was told he hanged himself. Now why would I bring these two men into the debate. The simple reason being, if a modern man willfully committed a capital crime to be executed by the state, even the common man would say the person has some forum of mental illness. With the suicide of Judas Iscariot, it was just defined as a simple suicide and nothing important to say. If we were to write the bible today, an angle would come down and say, "behold" and other words to change his mind. Interesting, that the church of the twenty-first century will toss people under the bus when the church of the first century would give one high marks and the other indifference.
Now before someone starts to post against me think of this as a question of logic. What we decided that is rational actions today, would be irrational to the same group of people and the same culture of a people centuries before. If I was in Greece two thousands years ago, or in Rome, or any other part of Europe or the middle east, or in northern Africa: suicide would be acceptable and in a number of cases: supported by society. Now, if I was in Japan less then 100 years ago, or before western contact, suicide was a social norm. And in a number of cases, supported more then to live out their natural life.
With myself, even that I am bipolar I, I have little problem with accepting suicide if and only if it is a good death.
