Dying to Die

In 2003, Japan saw 34,427 suicides, a record high for that country. A recent BBC article explains that this rising problem is due in part to suicide websites which encourage people intent on leaving this world to invite others along for the trip:

It is a growing, and morbidly frank underworld of chat rooms and websites with names like "Suicide Club," where thousands of (mainly young) people meet and talk and plan their deaths.

At least 26 people have died in this manner in the past two months. ...

... "It's almost like a cult...these internet groups," argues Yukiko Nishihara, a Tokyo helpline worker. "When people are lonely and suicidal—but afraid of death—they find these websites which egg them on. There's an inhuman element to it."

But others see the sites very differently.

"There's nothing bad about suicide," said Wataru Tsurumi, author of a graphic, and best-selling handbook on the subject. "We have no religion or laws here in Japan telling us otherwise. As for group suicides - before the internet people would write letters, or make phone calls...it's always been part of our culture."

The article points out that "Japan already has one of the highest suicide rates in the world, and so far the internet-related deaths are only a small proportion. But it's a growing one."

Suicide in Japan, infant euthanasia in the Netherlands, abortion in these United States—such devaluation of life demonstrates quite clearly what happens when human beings reject Christ, lose respect for God and His creation and embrace their own sinful desires.