May News
Hope or Hopelessness? Help or Helpless?
Every society has someone who is going to commit suicide but in Japan, this is one of the leading death numbers and those numbers are the highest in any of the G-7 nations!! Why is suicide so easy to accept as a way out? Why do so many escape in such a drastic way?
Reason number one: from old, it has been ‘honorable’ to commit suicide to get away from what you are going through, has committed, to help your family avoid the repercussions of all that is connected to you. One article said that it is considered a way ‘to take responsibility’. Especially if you are older and alone, you see it as a way to even provide whatever family is left extra rather than having to do things for you or pay out money to help you. Pressure might even be put on a person that this is the ONLY honorable thing to do. A culture that has no background in Christianity sees nothing wrong with suicide. It is just a means to an end.
Who commits suicide? Other than the short answer of anyone? Mostly men (who find the work, or the uncertainty of work, or the family pressure too hard) and recently during covid, wives as well. Due to the pressures of having children in the home around the clock and then sometimes their husbands have also had to work from home or lost their jobs, the conflicts within the home have deepened and many times the couple does not understand how to work through these issues. Children are taught to follow rules within the framework of the school they attend but many times is not understood at home.
Another group is through the internet. Whether it’s a smartphone or having a computer at home, young people especially because of bullying or any other number of reasons, might seek out a group suicide site. These groups will then describe the way to commit suicide and make a pact for a certain day. Young people and single adults also use the internet as a way to escape the real world to eventually become a part of a community of people that never leave their rooms or home for months to years on end. They become content with their virtual reality.
Hope and love are needed in any person’s life or there is no reason to live for someone who has neither of those in his or her life. And with no Christian background to teach that there is another way, suicide will remain a way to escape. After all, there is nothing after death. Or if they believe in an afterlife, it is all available for anyone. Religion is not a priority in Japan and beyond that religion is perceived as tradition here. It is part of who they are as Japanese. Not a way of belief in a higher being.
Teaching the Japanese about a Creator God who loves them and wants to give them hope and that there is an eternity related choice –death to death or death to life–is a great need here in Japan. It is why we are here. It is why we want others to know they are not actually alone. They can have a reason to live. They can know a Person who can help them through difficult circumstances.
Feeling despondent? Not sure what to do? Don’t know why you should even go on living? Please call a local hotline for help, find a Christian church near you or call us! -01632-2-2462 We want to help you! We want to see you get help! You are important!
落胆している？ どうしたらいいかわからない？ なぜあなたも生き続けるべきなのか分かりませんか？ 地元のホットラインに電話して助けを求めるか、近くのクリスチャン教会を見つけるか、私たちに電話してください！ -01632-2-2462私たちはあなたを助けたいです！ 私たちはあなたが助けを得るのを見たいです！ あなたは大切です！
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