Suicide is a big taboo in the 'western' christian society, but there are (and have been) lots of cultures were suicide is looked at differently - as something honorable, good, etc.<p>Even our culture has different interpretations for it - eg suicide vs sacrifice.<p>We morally condemn the former but elate the latter, even though the outcome is the same - a person dies.<p>Metaphysically, the meaning of suicide is given by the perceived meaning of death and the [lack of] belief in some sort of afterlife.<p>Is it a sin or not ? If there's an afterlife, will you be punished for committing suicide? What about the loved ones ? They will judge..<p>But for example, if you knew that this life is actually a realistic VR simulation that you've entered into, then suicide would be perceived as a sort of 'ESC' key - a way out of the simulation. Like exiting a game.<p>If a person's circumstance in life is such that the person is bound to suffer until death (eg. disease, mutilation or loss of everyone), then suicide might be looked at as a sort of release - a good thing..
There's the whole controversy regarding assisted suicide..<p>Then there's the sacrifice - going into battle screaming is a form of attempted suicide combined with attempted murder. At the end of the day, the battlefield participants are eventually split into killers and those who committed suicide. From this perspective, going to war is collective [attempted] suicide.<p>War is a form of temporarily suspending the moral rules we obey by (do not kill others or self) and people gladly participate in both killing others and themselves.<p>I guess my point is that tfa is looking at a very narrow spectrum of 'suicidal people' - suicide is a lot more prevalent than that and it's practiced not just by people with mental illness..