Unfortunately the posted image was a response that we received to one of our posts on FB. I wanted to share it with you in the hopes of educating others. I was going to respond to this individual but my husband wisely told me not to waste my time and energy, it wasn’t worth it. He was right. People say a lot of very ignorant and stupid things. Among them are suicide is a sin, people who die by suicide go to hell, and it is a selfish act. In the comments this person posted a YouTube video by Divine Truth. The speaker addresses suicide and benightedly states that when you die by suicide you feel that same hopelessness and despair for the rest of eternity. Frankly, that is bullshit. Suicide is neither selfish nor is it a sin. People who spout this are ignorant to mental illness. God does not punish people who are sick. Would they say or even believe that someone who had breast cancer is going to hell? What about leukemia, is it a sin? Is the person who has just been diagnosed with a brain tumor selfish because of the tumor? Of course not! People who die by suicide are desperately seeking help, they don’t want to die, they want the pain to end. They are unable to think rationally due to mental illness, not because they are selfish, a sinner, or going to hell!

These statements are not helpful nor are they correct. I am tired of people using God to spew their hate and intolerance. Romans 8:38-39: For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

It is not loving to send a soul to hell because it is sick, in fact, it is in direct contradiction to God’s love. If the god you worship is that hateful, it is not my God, and it is not a god I would ever want to follow.