“”Suicide is the fourth leading cause of death for adults between the ages of 18 and 65 years. Every day, more than 100 Americans take their own life.” –US Army grants $3 million for anti-suicide nasal spray research
Someone commented:
“Once again all about money and a quick fix for a very deep problem…of course this is exactly the solution I would expect from a naturalistic, secular society where science has become their god…”
This has nothing to do with science or secularism as the problem. Science is an instrument of discovery. Secularism is a worldview that posits no limits to that discovery. We have deep structural problems in our society, deep problems with instrumentalism and values. Addressing the problem would undermine the power structures, i.e. the agenda’s of powerful people and their methods of executing that power, viz. our current political and economic system. So they dont want systemic change. They want to maintain the system and treat the symptoms. It has nothing to do with god. When you introduce god as the catch all solution and the absence of him as the problem you throw out the baby with the bathwater. There are bigger issues at bay. It’s about the will to power, and the oppression of the individual that accompanies that will. It’s a natural consequence of accumulated power. Restoring power to the people, restoring their ability to sustain and affirm themselves is the solution.
Religion aided the task of affirming individuals by fostering quality relationships and a sense of self— at one time, but it was the practice that had the power. The greater the religion, the more pedagogy, the more parochial and pedantic, the more oppressive, and the more resistant to change. This goes for any institution. Education, government, religion, etc. this has nothing to do with god and everything to do with the diversity and diffusion of power to remedy our ills.
William Dare 