Of Presuming Believers, and Skeptical Dissent

In light of recent high-profile tragic deaths, I have listened to and read numerous hot takes about the supposed lack of God in the lives of people who commit suicide. While, even as an unrepentant agnostic, I value the freedom of religious expression guaranteed by the Constitution, I could not disagree more. Depression, mental illness or any other diagnosis one cares to ascribe to possible causes of suicide, faith in a higher power earnestly has little to no domain in the matter. Certainly, no benevolent deity would selfishly command absolute worship at their altar and abandon someone at the time of sincere need because of any purported deficiency on their part to do so. To be even more candid, God, if reasonably existent at all, should not, and conceivably does not, vaingloriously anguish over whether belief in Him prevails among his creations, as much as He is contented to humbly believe in them.

Granted, many attribute all of this to God’s will in the grand scheme as a testament to those who seek Him. Fine, perhaps that is true; my agnosticism (or heathenism, as some may interpret it) allows such an interpretation. But is there a manifestation of God in that last desperate, evidently hopeless moment? A preeminent understanding of Him presented at that moment? In my opinion, God undoubtedly either is or is not present - any lack thereof in the person's life not withstanding. This is not meant to dismiss, disregard or disparage religion as an explanation for the circumstances. Yet, we should not do the same when it comes to psychological, social or other plausible explanations - with the caveat that sometimes there are none to discover - in favor of the former. We do a disservice not only to society by doing so, but especially to those persons inwardly suffering from depression, mental illness or any other diagnosis, while they simultaneously battle any stigma attached to it, that goes beyond an existential scope.

Individual free will, manifested by a moment of clarity and the expression of it therein, always will supersede any external forces’ avowed transcendent providence over our actions, meant to justify nothing less than dogmatic coercion. While the latter may appear to lessen the burdens on our soul, it misguidedly lays responsibility elsewhere beyond our own conflicted psyche and personal situation. As Doyle’s Holmes proclaimed, “once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth.” In this context, we have yet to fully eliminate, let alone understand, the impossible that would allow the improbable, because sometimes the impossible is not easily packaged into a generalized narrative that demands specific answers to satiate the inherent need for closure.

In the end, there is no rationality for judgmental speculation concerning whether living a life with or without faith plays a role. Compassion and understanding for a life lost should be the lone priority, and to the accompanying grieving of those affected by it. A spiritual path may be the calling for many in this world toward the next, but there is no mandate for it to be the sole way to attain purpose for the few or the one. A meaningful life simply is a life lived, and a life lived simply is a meaningful one.

©2018 Steve Sagarra