Goin' to heaven

From my hometown paper:

Former Editor Writes Letter

Editor,
The Leader has admitted to no wrongdoing but has agreed to print this letter because I was never allowed to express my opinion on the topic of suicide while I was managing editor of this paper.

While I was managing editor of the Leader, the community was suffering from a rash of suicides and suicide attempts.

After a suicide in the community the Leader would publish glowing obituaries which glorified the deceased and often stated that the person who just committed suicide had gone to heaven. After such obituaries were printed there would immediately follow more suicides. This is called the contagion effect of suicide.

When I objected to publishing a glowing suicide obituary that claimed that a certain individual who killed himself had just gone to heaven I was demoted and immediately resigned from the paper. The Leader ran that obituary anyway and within two weeks after it was printed there were two more suicides in the community.

I believe that the obituaries printed by the Leader contributed to the high suicide rate in this community.

I believe that our bodies are sacred gifts from God. I believe that killing yourself is equal to murder in gravity.

I believe that being depressed or suffering great pain are not justifiable reasons for killing yourself.

Many people in this area quote from Bruce R. McKonkie’s book, “Mormon Doctrine” where he says that people who have no control of their thoughts and actions should not be condemned for killing themselves. This is true but this statement has been so distorted around here as to now justify all suicides.

I believe that very few if any of the suicides in this community were so completely insane as to have no control over their thoughts and actions. And to the degree and extent that you do have control you will be held accountable.

Suicide is a big lie promoted by Satan. Those who glorify suicide as a way of getting to heaven will be held accountable by God to the extent and degree that they have encouraged others to kill themselves.

Sincerely,
John W. Cannon
Elk City, Okla.
(formerly of Portage)