First off, as an amateur photographer, this is a hell of a snap. I can't imagine being able to point the camera and shoot, let alone frame, focus, and adjust. To think, this could be the last picture of this living, thinking, breathing human being. This person who had to make a conscious decision to die...or to die painlessly, and the photographer had to choose to snap it. When he decided to take the picture, what motivation do you suppose he had? Did that little bit of greed inside him tell him to capture these descents of death, knowing that the media would kill for these horrible images? Did he think twice about doing it? How many other people did he capture on film before or after this particular one? I'd hope that his own greed didn't drive this picture.
I personally think that the man chose to jump. The positioning of the body is a stabilizing maneuver, making him dive headfirst into the earth, rather than landing haphazardly. This makes me believe it was intended. It makes me believe that he wanted to end it, and the quickest way possible.
I've discussed many times with a christian friend of mine the "repercussions" of this man's actions as well as the others who jumped. In many opinions, this man committed suicide. Not mine. My friend believes this was an unfortunate incident and this person is "going to hell". I end up in an in-depth argument about the complexities of that particular "rule", and the situation this man was forced with. He knew he couldn't make it out. The building was collapsing. There was almost certain death awaiting him, so he took his life into his own hands. He did what he could with what he could. The rock gave way to the hard place, and he took the certain option. The option with less suffering. By the views of my friend, he's going to suffer more for what he did. I believe that this man did the right thing. My friend doesn't. My point is, there are very many people in America like my friend. I can't count the number of times the very same argument has come up, and I've tried to stuff it down. These people DIED for our country. Unwillingly. Yet we in America treat them as an unfortunate side-effect.
"If only they had stayed in the building..."
Yeah, well I'd like to see you in that situation. I would've called my loved ones and I would've been right beside that guy.
I would consider staying inside the building when there was no hope of surviving on par (as far as suicide goes) with jumping from the building. In fact, depending on the knowledge of the particular person in question, it might be 'more' suicidal to remain inside than to jump. (I have no idea as to how accurate this article is, but refer to: http://www.wikihow.com/Survive-a-Long-Fall ). As far as suicide always resulting in the person going to hell, I, too, would disagree. The typical argument that I've heard for that (at least when it applies to Christians) is that you can murder someone and be forgiven afterward. If you commit suicide, though, there's "no way to ask forgiveness after you're dead." I guess that's beyond His abilities, then, (especially if you've already gone the whole "getting saved" route), isn't it? Also, in a case like this, even if you assume that forgiveness granted is randomly taken back when a person commits suicide, it's possible that (s) he asked for forgiveness during the fall. Meh. I'd apologize for commenting with religious/philosophical ish in your journal if I considered it more of a religious rant than a logical rant.
Well, the point of the religious arguments was to illustrate that it's (sometimes) simpler to argue with someone by assuming that they're right about things that can't be proven either way. Of course, the most common instance of this is probably religion, but eh.
I personally think that the man chose to jump. The positioning of the body is a stabilizing maneuver, making him dive headfirst into the earth, rather than landing haphazardly. This makes me believe it was intended. It makes me believe that he wanted to end it, and the quickest way possible.
I've discussed many times with a christian friend of mine the "repercussions" of this man's actions as well as the others who jumped. In many opinions, this man committed suicide. Not mine. My friend believes this was an unfortunate incident and this person is "going to hell". I end up in an in-depth argument about the complexities of that particular "rule", and the situation this man was forced with. He knew he couldn't make it out. The building was collapsing. There was almost certain death awaiting him, so he took his life into his own hands. He did what he could with what he could. The rock gave way to the hard place, and he took the certain option. The option with less suffering. By the views of my friend, he's going to suffer more for what he did. I believe that this man did the right thing. My friend doesn't. My point is, there are very many people in America like my friend. I can't count the number of times the very same argument has come up, and I've tried to stuff it down. These people DIED for our country. Unwillingly. Yet we in America treat them as an unfortunate side-effect.
"If only they had stayed in the building..."
Yeah, well I'd like to see you in that situation. I would've called my loved ones and I would've been right beside that guy.
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As far as suicide always resulting in the person going to hell, I, too, would disagree. The typical argument that I've heard for that (at least when it applies to Christians) is that you can murder someone and be forgiven afterward. If you commit suicide, though, there's "no way to ask forgiveness after you're dead." I guess that's beyond His abilities, then, (especially if you've already gone the whole "getting saved" route), isn't it? Also, in a case like this, even if you assume that forgiveness granted is randomly taken back when a person commits suicide, it's possible that (s) he asked for forgiveness during the fall.
Meh. I'd apologize for commenting with religious/philosophical ish in your journal if I considered it more of a religious rant than a logical rant.
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