Hunter S. Thompson kills himself

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Does that mean you have to blow your brains out with your wife on the phone and a 6 year old in the next room?

Sorry, but any argument in favor of the "dignity" of suicide does not apply to this situation. The circumstances are just grisly, selfish, and outrageous.

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Aristotle, I agree with you that this is gross. However, as you said, this is another discussion apart from whether suicide is a legitimate action.

I am not sure whether he even thought of how gross it would look... we will never know, we won't know whether he called his wife to be a prick or to get some help to pull the trigger... those considerations are only for us, the ones who stay here, he has been relieved from them.

Salimar

The articles referenced by the Townhall.com article all suggest that the family were aware that he intended to end his life by suicide, and that he had been discussing it recently, and that his wife, son and daughter-in-law were all understanding about what happened.

It seems that this is something that his family were prepared for. It appears that they've adjusted remarkably well (none of the articles seem to mention the 6 year old child much though.) But when it's all said and done, if the family are coping, then what's the big deal here?

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Originally posted by Malacasta
But when it's all said and done, if the family are coping, then what's the big deal here?

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Um..... They guy blew his brains out with a 6 year old in the next room and you wonder what the big deal is?

It was a shock to the wife actually, who was on the phone talking to him about (among other things) his next column.

Whatever it is.

In my opinion, i do not ever agree that suicide is a good way to go. I have always been taught to live. Not die.

And when I die I will rather die a cripple, rather die handicap, rather die brain dead, rather die a broke, rather die a bum on a street then dishonour myself by commiting suicide.

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Originally posted by Jarkis

In my opinion, i do not ever agree that suicide is a good way to go. I have always been taught to live. Not die.

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I could not agree more.

I strongly contend: Suicide = A cowards way out of life.

The only exception I give to this belief are instances of euthanasia. Particularly those who are in constant pain.

And while I admire Thompson's work (I loved Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas) I'm utterly disgusted to hear about this. I don't care if the man's family did know about it and understand, it makes no difference. Simple fact is this man -intentionally- removed himself from this world, and his family, on what seems to be a whim. And perhaps the most disgusting thing about this situation is how many family members were near (Or on the phone) when he decided to kill himself.

At the very -LEAST- he could have ran out in the middle of the woods or waited until his family was not around.

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Originally posted by Salimar
Alydar, allow me to answer you with a poem which shows how other people can have other opinions, so far from yours that define cowardy as the act of staying here bearing all this for fear to find the unknown.

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I hope you meant to have addressed this post to Jarkis and not to me, Salimar.

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Originally posted by Azoryn
I could not agree more.

I strongly contend: Suicide = A cowards way out of life.

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Do you guys have terminal cancer? Have you had some severe depression that makes it difficult for you to get out of bed in the morning? Do you have chronic back pain that makes your life a living hell? Have you ever felt so miserable with your life, and have you gone to therapy only to find that it doesn't work for you and you still remain miserable?

Maybe before Jarkis and yourself are quick to label suicide as a cowards way out of life you should stop and consider the actual pain people go through when considering suicide. Jarkis' stupid sentence in his post said it all. Here's the quote.

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And when I die I will rather die a cripple, rather die handicap, rather die brain dead, rather die a broke, rather die a bum on a street then dishonour myself by commiting suicide.

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Well Jarkis, reality check for you. You are not a cripple, you are not handicapped, you are not brain dead, etc. And here you are blowing hot air saying shit like this when you have NOT even experienced any of it. Now if you do end up broke or handicapped, maybe you'd realize why some people would think suicide as a way out. Oh yeah it's easy for Azoryn and you to be all noble without even considering the pain others actually go through.

Before anyone labels suicide as a cowards way out, they should at the very least consider the circumstances around it rather than jump to conclusions. That goes for you especially Jarkis and Azoryn.

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Originally posted by Alydar
Do you guys have terminal cancer? Have you had some severe depression that makes it difficult for you to get out of bed in the morning? Do you have chronic back pain that makes your life a living hell? Have you ever felt so miserable with your life, and have you gone to therapy only to find that it doesn't work for you and you still remain miserable?

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Perhaps when you take the time to read my post, Alydar, I'll take time to respond to yours.

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Originally posted by Alydar
Do you guys have terminal cancer? Have you had some severe depression that makes it difficult for you to get out of bed in the morning? Do you have chronic back pain that makes your life a living hell? Have you ever felt so miserable with your life, and have you gone to therapy only to find that it doesn't work for you and you still remain miserable?

-SNIP-

Before anyone labels suicide as a cowards way out, they should at the very least consider the circumstances around it rather than jump to conclusions. That goes for you especially Jarkis and Azoryn.

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Terminal cancer? No. I do know someone (relatively close to me) who is slowly dying from it though. Chronic back pain? Check. Other illness that's affected my quality of life for the past 10+ years and made it nearly unbearable at certain points? Check.

I find it odd that you list severe depression along with the above. People who are severely depressed suffer from a skewed vision of life, due mainly to a chemical imbalance. Medication CAN and WILL help these people -- and yes, it may take time to find the right combinations. It may take a lot of time, but quality of life can be improved, unlike a person with terminal cancer or a chronic, presumably-untreatable illnesss. And since someone who is severely depressed will be more likely to commit suicide, are you saying that it's right, even with the understanding that they can get better?

My view of suicide? It's an incredibly selfish act and goes completely against everything I believe. I believe our lives should be lived in service of others (and in my particular case, God) no matter what our circumstances and to the best of our abilities. My friend who is slowly dying of lymphatic cancer has found that she, while in pain herself, is able to comfort others with the same illness, others who have no friends or family to be with them. And while that doesn't seem like much in the grand scheme of things, it is better (in her opinion, mind you) that she suffers with them than that she dies and they have no one.

Setting aside religious reasons against suicide, I'd like to propose that allowing suicide sets a bad precident for the following reason.

Once it's acceptable to allow suicide, why not euthanasia? What's wrong then with ending a baby's life if they are born with severe handicaps, or ending an old person's life when they suffer from health issues?

Then, when it's okay for that, who gets culled next?

You may say that this is not liable to happen, that I'm stretching the point. I'd tell you to take a good look at the policies that Adolph Hitler instituted sometime.

And as someone already pointed out, someone in severe clinical depression is not thinking clearly. How can someone in this condition honestly assess that his or her life is worth ending? I know I couldn't. And several rounds of prozak/zoloft/a couple suicide attempts and such later, I have since married, had a child, and made many friends. None of which would have come if I had been successful in hanging it all up years ago.