How do Christians handle suicide of family member

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not suicide but my MIL lost her 4 year old daughter to cancer years ago. She was a Christian all of her life up until then but the death of her child made her no longer believe in God.

I would imagine that a child's suicide would make many people question their faith.

OP here-I understand that. I had a friend years ago who told me when her husband lost an eye in a tragic accident she stopped believing in God.

I will likely never have a discussion with my friend that involves her faith or beliefs, it is not something we discuss, but this tragedy has caused me to actually hope her Christian faith is helping her somehow but I fear it isn't.

You don’t think her Christian faith is helping her? Why not? What has lead you to judge this woman and her faith so soon after her grandson took his own life?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not suicide but my MIL lost her 4 year old daughter to cancer years ago. She was a Christian all of her life up until then but the death of her child made her no longer believe in God.

I would imagine that a child's suicide would make many people question their faith.

OP here-I understand that. I had a friend years ago who told me when her husband lost an eye in a tragic accident she stopped believing in God.

I will likely never have a discussion with my friend that involves her faith or beliefs, it is not something we discuss, but this tragedy has caused me to actually hope her Christian faith is helping her somehow but I fear it isn't.

You don’t think her Christian faith is helping her? Why not? What has lead you to judge this woman and her faith so soon after her grandson took his own life?

I'm just worried about how she's coping with this, but maybe her faith is helping her, it's probably too soon to tell.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not suicide but my MIL lost her 4 year old daughter to cancer years ago. She was a Christian all of her life up until then but the death of her child made her no longer believe in God.

I would imagine that a child's suicide would make many people question their faith.

OP here-I understand that. I had a friend years ago who told me when her husband lost an eye in a tragic accident she stopped believing in God.

I will likely never have a discussion with my friend that involves her faith or beliefs, it is not something we discuss, but this tragedy has caused me to actually hope her Christian faith is helping her somehow but I fear it isn't.

You don’t think her Christian faith is helping her? Why not? What has lead you to judge this woman and her faith so soon after her grandson took his own life?

I'm just worried about how she's coping with this, but maybe her faith is helping her, it's probably too soon to tell.

Too soon to tell?

[Anonymous]

Christians is such an incredibly broad term. It encompasses over 45000 denominations and more than 2 billion people around the globe.

Her own personal faith and beliefs will likely come into the play the most, followed by the teachings of her particular religious affiliation or religious leader.

[Anonymous]

My mom committed suicide in the mid-1990s. She was a devout member of a conservative protestant church, as was most of my family. Although some of us had some sort of crisis of faith, most ultimately found comfort in our beliefs. Even 30 years ago, there was recognition that her suicide was the act of someone who was mentally ill and thus was not a sin. There was comfort in the belief that we would see her again in heaven, where she would be well.

For me, my faith changed somewhat, although I still consider myself Christian. My mom's church has always talked about Christ as somewhat as a buddy, who would carry you through hard times. (Read the "Footprints" poem for an example of what that entails.). I felt like that hadn't been true in my mom's case--Christ hadn't carried her through this storm. I embraced a more formal view of Christf as our Redeemer and Lord but not necessarily as our friend.

I can only speak from my own experience and my own religious upbringing. Your friend's experience may vary significantly, but her church will probably treat her grandson's death as a terrible tragedy and not a moral failing. There will be a lot of talk about God working in mysterious ways.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here-I'm not sure why this thread has focused on the Catholic approach to suicide, my friend and her family are not Catholic. My question really had to do with whether Christians typically find comfort in their faith when a family member commits suicide, especially as in this case when it is a teenager.

Yes, their faith will likely provide some comfort - support from their church community, belief that they will be reunited in heaven some day, belief that God still has a purpose for their own life here on earth, possibly finding some purpose/silver lining in the death (such as raising awareness of mental health issues). But it is still an unimaginable loss that they will never fully recover from.

[Anonymous]

OP here-On a positive note it appears my friend is doing relatively well, better than I thought she would at first, although it is quite a rough road she is on. I agree with those who say she will likely never fully recover.

On the other hand, I just found out that the grandson had been struggling with his gender identity and was attempting to live as a female, something I had not known. I fear that his extremely evangelical parents and church family made this very difficult for him and that is likely at least partly why he decided to end his life. I do not know the details. It's really hard for me to imagine how his family's Christian faith is helping them under these circumstances, although I hope it is. I think my friend, his grandmother, is probably handling it better than his parents are.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here-On a positive note it appears my friend is doing relatively well, better than I thought she would at first, although it is quite a rough road she is on. I agree with those who say she will likely never fully recover.

On the other hand, I just found out that the grandson had been struggling with his gender identity and was attempting to live as a female, something I had not known. I fear that his extremely evangelical parents and church family made this very difficult for him and that is likely at least partly why he decided to end his life. I do not know the details. It's really hard for me to imagine how his family's Christian faith is helping them under these circumstances, although I hope it is. I think my friend, his grandmother, is probably handling it better than his parents are.

So, more speculation from you. As you admit you don’t know the details, why opine at all?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here-On a positive note it appears my friend is doing relatively well, better than I thought she would at first, although it is quite a rough road she is on. I agree with those who say she will likely never fully recover.

On the other hand, I just found out that the grandson had been struggling with his gender identity and was attempting to live as a female, something I had not known. I fear that his extremely evangelical parents and church family made this very difficult for him and that is likely at least partly why he decided to end his life. I do not know the details. It's really hard for me to imagine how his family's Christian faith is helping them under these circumstances, although I hope it is. I think my friend, his grandmother, is probably handling it better than his parents are.

You are either a troll making this story up, or not really friends of the family. Friends of the family (grandmother is a “good” friend) would have known about the grandson being transgender.

This thread reads like a failed attack on Christianity for sending suicidal people to “hell,” and once op realizes that’s not how Christianity treats people who commit suicide anymore, they switch the story to the suicide was over the Christian parents and church bullying a teenager to suicide.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here-On a positive note it appears my friend is doing relatively well, better than I thought she would at first, although it is quite a rough road she is on. I agree with those who say she will likely never fully recover.

On the other hand, I just found out that the grandson had been struggling with his gender identity and was attempting to live as a female, something I had not known. I fear that his extremely evangelical parents and church family made this very difficult for him and that is likely at least partly why he decided to end his life. I do not know the details. It's really hard for me to imagine how his family's Christian faith is helping them under these circumstances, although I hope it is. I think my friend, his grandmother, is probably handling it better than his parents are.

You are either a troll making this story up, or not really friends of the family. Friends of the family (grandmother is a “good” friend) would have known about the grandson being transgender.

This thread reads like a failed attack on Christianity for sending suicidal people to “hell,” and once op realizes that’s not how Christianity treats people who commit suicide anymore, they switch the story to the suicide was over the Christian parents and church bullying a teenager to suicide.

Yep

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here-I'm not sure why this thread has focused on the Catholic approach to suicide, my friend and her family are not Catholic. My question really had to do with whether Christians typically find comfort in their faith when a family member commits suicide, especially as in this case when it is a teenager.

Respectfully, the answer is obvious: and Christian with any sense recognizes that most people who die by suicide had serious mental health issues and that mental health is as real as physical health. So if they take comfort in their faith when losing someone to, say, cancer, why wouldn’t they take comfort in their faith to losing someone to suicide?

The faulty premise to your question is that Christians view suicide as a moral wrong, which most don’t when it is the result of mental health issues.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here-On a positive note it appears my friend is doing relatively well, better than I thought she would at first, although it is quite a rough road she is on. I agree with those who say she will likely never fully recover.

On the other hand, I just found out that the grandson had been struggling with his gender identity and was attempting to live as a female, something I had not known. I fear that his extremely evangelical parents and church family made this very difficult for him and that is likely at least partly why he decided to end his life. I do not know the details. It's really hard for me to imagine how his family's Christian faith is helping them under these circumstances, although I hope it is. I think my friend, his grandmother, is probably handling it better than his parents are.

You are really disgusting. As you said, you DO NOT KNOW THE DETAILS. So STFU.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here-On a positive note it appears my friend is doing relatively well, better than I thought she would at first, although it is quite a rough road she is on. I agree with those who say she will likely never fully recover.

On the other hand, I just found out that the grandson had been struggling with his gender identity and was attempting to live as a female, something I had not known. I fear that his extremely evangelical parents and church family made this very difficult for him and that is likely at least partly why he decided to end his life. I do not know the details. It's really hard for me to imagine how his family's Christian faith is helping them under these circumstances, although I hope it is. I think my friend, his grandmother, is probably handling it better than his parents are.

You are really disgusting. As you said, you DO NOT KNOW THE DETAILS. So STFU.

Meh, OP “doesn’t know the details” because she made the whole scenario up. So it’s not like real families are being disparaged here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here-On a positive note it appears my friend is doing relatively well, better than I thought she would at first, although it is quite a rough road she is on. I agree with those who say she will likely never fully recover.

On the other hand, I just found out that the grandson had been struggling with his gender identity and was attempting to live as a female, something I had not known. I fear that his extremely evangelical parents and church family made this very difficult for him and that is likely at least partly why he decided to end his life. I do not know the details. It's really hard for me to imagine how his family's Christian faith is helping them under these circumstances, although I hope it is. I think my friend, his grandmother, is probably handling it better than his parents are.

You are really disgusting. As you said, you DO NOT KNOW THE DETAILS. So STFU.

If op isn’t a troll, which I think she is…what kind of “good friend” analyzes the faith of a grieving grandparent, and then blames the freakin’ parents for the suicide of their own child without knowing all the details? That’s terrible! If this child existed and was trying to live as a female, op, once she knew, totally misgendered the child while blaming the parents and church for not accepting the child’s gender identity. What a cruel person you are op.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As a progressive Christian, I believe mental illness is real and the suffering just got too much for the person who committed suicide. It's a disease like any other.

Catholics believe differently, so not all Christians are the same.

Holy crap, that is just not true. Why would you type such a thing?