Suicide and punishing the dead by punishing the living.

This from the National Newspaper today Maori MP: ‘Condemn’ suicide victims

Q.How far up your own arse does your head have to be to not think like Waiariki MP Te Ururoa Flavell?

Waiariki MP Te Ururoa Flavell suggested a “very hard stand” should be made on suicide. “If a child commits suicide, let us consider not celebrating their lives on our marae; perhaps bury them at the entrance of the cemetery so their deaths will be condemned by the people,” he wrote. “In doing these things, it demonstrates the depth of disgust the people have with this. Yes it is a hard stance, but what else can we do?”

What the heck has remembrance of a dead person have to do with punishing the relatives and friends by making them suffer indignities?

How does making an example of a dead body by castigation and lack of respect improve things?

How does condemnation and shunning someone aid, assist or promote suicide or suicide prevention?

What cockery is it that denying someone dignity is the cure for suicide?

Any free-thinking, forward thinking society should be able to come to terms that we fail people. We fail young people. As parents we are failing children who commit suicide, as peers we are failing children who commit suicide, as a community we are failing children who commit suicide. Feel free to substitute the world children for people.

Taking your own life, by design or by accident, is horrific and confusing to us. It tortures our own beliefs and boundaries, and causes us to question many things about ourselves, whilst at the same time questioning the motives, mindset and reasons that someone has chosen to end their life.

If you’re of a religious bent then you’re more than horrified, you’re mortified by the sin of it. A ridiculous place to find yourself in, and leaving you to punish the relatives, friends, peers and memory of the deceased.

The continued stupidity of ‘leaders’ who stick blindly to dogma and ‘protocol’ are doing themselves and the people they represent no favours. It’s not the 17th century where we can make a blood sacrifice to your own deity, it isn’t.

For you,Te Ururoa Flavell, it’s about punishing the dead by punishing the living, and in the end it makes not one blind bit of difference if you bury a person outside the gates, whether you mourn only for 1 day not 2 or 3, and if you deny the dead person the dignity of remembrance, in the end it’s about how you’ve let that person down by not caring enough to prevent their death.

And that Waiariki MP Te Ururoa Flavell is the bottom line.

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