In Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (or, at least I think it was in there... It might have been in the follow-up, Lila, but I'm pretty sure it was the first one), Robert M. Persig argues that any death is immoral, whether it be suicide or murder or execution, becomes it damages humanity irreparably. His reasoning is pretty simple: Even if you imprison someone for life, their brain is still there, and any brain has the potential to come up with something invaluable to human existence. Removing human potential where it would otherwise have existed he sees as immoral.
(Note: In case you're thinking about it, no, he doesn't go into those crazy forced-choice scenarios, e.g. some lunatic says, "Kill me, or I'll kill this person, and there's no way of getting out of it: one person has to die.")
The way I understand it is not just that it is a sin of violence, albeit against one's self, but also a sin of despair. What does that mean? Well, one of the three theological virtues of the Church is hope. By denying hope, you deny God.
Hmm. That makes sense. Although I find it hard to reconcile this with almost every spiritual/gospel song I've ever encountered -- they all seem to say "Dying is awesome, because heaven rocks and this world sucks! I wanna cross over Jordan!" What stopped these people from turning into a suicide cult? (Granted, these songs are from a completely different branch of Christianity than Catholicism.)
There's a world of difference between martyrdom/dying a non self-imposed death and suicide in Christian theology (of all branches). The latter is done for almost entirely selfish means, while the former can be done as an act of ultimate witnessing to others or as a confirmation of one's solid belief in God (as described by St. Ignatius of Antioch).
That's valid, but what does martyrdom have to do with it? The message of those songs is not "Martyrdom is awesome", it's "Dying is awesome". Cause of death left unspecified, although I think natural death is implied.
By the way, I'm well aware that you and RJ don't come from this tradition, and I'm not trying to make you defend it or resolve my misunderstanding. Just curious what you think.
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(Note: In case you're thinking about it, no, he doesn't go into those crazy forced-choice scenarios, e.g. some lunatic says, "Kill me, or I'll kill this person, and there's no way of getting out of it: one person has to die.")
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By the way, I'm well aware that you and RJ don't come from this tradition, and I'm not trying to make you defend it or resolve my misunderstanding. Just curious what you think.
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