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Originally Posted by Dedicated Mind
Has anyone seen the new movie Seven Pounds? I think it is one of the best movies I have ever seen.
***Spoiler**** If you haven't seen the movie, don't read on. For those who will never see it:
It is about a man who kills seven people in a car accident. He then tries to find seven people he can help. He gets to know the people he tries to help to see if they are worthy of his help. He donates part of his liver to one, gives away his house to another. At the end of the movie he commits suicide in order to give a woman he has fallen in love with a much needed heart transplant due to a rare blood type.
What strikes me most about the movie is that he intentionally commits suicide in order to give the woman he loves a much needed heart transplant. Isn't that what Christ did for us? Could Christ have avoided his death by answering the pharisees, pilate and herod differently? Did Christ commit suicide for us? And does that devalue the redeeming quality of his sacrifice? Just some thoughts that the movie provoked in me as I pondered it.
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I did see that movie. I enjoyed the message, but I do think that martyrdom and suicide are two different things.
Suicide is maliciously ending your own life--by your own hand. Martyrdom is being put to death by another person or group of people for virtuous reasons.
For instance, I would protect one of my children with my life--but that isn't suicide--that's being killed by another person for a noble cause. Not by my choice, but by theirs.
Is a mother who runs into a burning house to rescue her child, only to lose her own life committing suicide? Of course not. She risks her own life to save her child, but it isn't with the intent to lose her own life, if it's possible to save it.
Christ allowed Himself to be martyred/sacrificed--yes! But did He take His own life? No.
As for the movie--I was disappointed with the ending, even though it was rather moving, because suicide falls outside of what I consider to be moral. I'm sure there are those here who think suicide is a perfectly acceptable way to end one's unhappiness or discomfort, and I find that rather disappointing. Life and death are in God's hands, and it is presumptuous, at the very least, for any human to step into God's place.