Article October 27, 1997 Issue

Suicide: it's never a solution

Charles F. Rasoli

In an editorial titled "Life and the Law," in The Christian Science Monitor (January 10, 1997), the debate over doctor-assisted suicide was briefly touched upon. The editorial's rejection of suicide as a solution coincides with an experience I had a number of years ago. At the time, I was taking a doctor-prescribed drug for a condition diagnosed as "nerves," but the condition worsened. When I told the doctor this, he couldn't understand why it was happening. I thought, "If you don't understand it, what am I supposed to do?"

At one point during this time, I felt a silent influence to commit suicide. Intuitively my response was "I have no right to take life; it is not mine to take." I decided to pour the drug down the drain, and gave no further attention to that condition. I was just becoming interested in Christian Science, and since then I have better understood the basis for my refusal to commit suicide. It breaks the Scriptural command "Thou shalt not kill" (Ex. 20:13).

Science and Health declares, "Death is not a stepping-stone to Life, immortality, and bliss" (p. 203). The reason death cannot help us is that our very nature is spiritual. You and I are the children of God, divine Life! This Life is permanent, indestructible; there is no way to take away this Life. That doesn't mean we need to accept mental or physical anguish, however. Instead, we can take control of our life and see it from a higher, more spiritual perspective.

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