Death through suicide is usually discouraged socially as well as religiously. Most religions consider suicide as sinful because when a person takes his own life, he ruins his opportunity for spiritual growth and enlightenment by misusing his free will.

After all, spirituality lays emphasis on the eternal nature of the spirit soul and hence, inspires us to progress in life through spiritual advancement.

Unlike other species of life, humans are better equipped to understand spirituality due to their higher level of consciousness.

In addition, death of a loved one through suicide leaves the bereaved family and friends devastated as it causes immense emotional damage.

In earlier times, cemeteries did not even allow placing headstones on the graves of those who committed suicide.

However, the situation has changed now as it is believed that the victims of suicide require understanding and compassion.

Thus, during the funeral service, prayers are said to invoke consolation for the bereaved family members and forgiveness for the deceased.

Plus, there are several memorial products’ sites like The Comfort Company, Memorial Gallery, Memorials.com, In Time Of Sorrow, and so forth that offer a wide variety of funeral and memorial products to honor the departed soul. Furthermore, books about dealing with grief after suicide can be of great help.

More often than not, people suffering from depression repeatedly ponder over the thought of committing suicide in an attempt to seek a way out of their miseries and end the unbearable pain of living.

Besides, certain other psychological conditions like schizophrenia, anxiety disorder, bipolar disorder, etc. increase the patient’s chances of committing suicide.

In addition, though there is no genetic predisposition still, as suicide has a negative impact on the survivors, suicidal behavioral patterns do seem to run in families.

Furthermore, according to the Spiritual Research Foundation, negative energies are also likely to influence and encourage a person considering suicide.

Plus, at www.near-death.com, there is there is detailed explanation on the three classifications of suicide NDEs.

It gives examples from different accounts of Near Death Experiences and explains how suicide is considered unfavorable because it shows rejection and disregard for God’s gift of life.

Studies have shown that men are almost four times more likely to commit suicide than women. Scientific research has shown that those who are at a risk of committing suicide tend to have low levels of a brain chemical called serotonin.

Although suicide is a voluntary act of taking one’s life, there are certain warning signs and symptoms that indicate the possibility of a suicide. Some such symptoms are:

• isolation
• helplessness & hopelessness
• fascination over one’s own death
• talking about wanting to kill oneself
• talking about being a burden on others
• lack of interest in future plans
• dramatic personality changes
• changes in eating/sleeping patterns
• unusual risk-taking behavior
• giving away prized possessions
• increasing drug/alcohol intake

Hence, do not neglect your near and dear ones’ suicide attempts or their talks expressing their desire to die. When suspecting the possibility of suicide, it is recommended not to leave that person alone.

Rather, it is best to get professional help. In addition, talk about the suicidal individual’s feelings and do not act judgmental and shocked.

To get a better idea on how to help a suicidal person, visit websites like www.suicide.org and www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org.

Basically, death penalty or capital punishment is meant to curb crime rates. Thus, in earlier times, it was universally used as a means of punishment. However, gradually, countries started abolishing this practice due to a number of factors.

For instance, criminologists have found that death penalty does not prove effective in reducing crimes.

In fact, according to Norma Shapiro, former legislative lobbyist for the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts, states that impose death penalty tend to have a higher crime rate. Hence, it cannot be considered viable for crime control.

Furthermore, there is risk of executing innocent people as there are chances of error. In addition, being arbitrary and irrevocable, it denies the person on death sentence an opportunity to derive the benefit of new laws and amendments.

Cost, too, is another important factor because the death penalty usually costs high due to complicated legal process. It is even considered more expensive than life imprisonment without parole.

Plus, needless to say, it is regarded as a cruel and unusual form of punishment, and a denial of civil liberties. Opposition to death penalty or capital punishment does not show lack of sympathy for the murder victims, though.

It is merely deemed as state-authorized violence or simply, a lack of respect for precious life. In addition, there have been instances of post-traumatic stress in the staff members who carry out the death penalty.

At the American Civil Liberties Union website, there is a detailed description of the various reasons cited for the abolition of capital punishment.

On the other hand, some argue that ideally, the death penalty imposed by authorities acts as a severe punishment for the person convicted of crime so as to reduce and avoid punishment by God that would fall upon him later.

At deathpenalty.org, you can find a statistical account of the different countries that have abolished the death penalty.

Moreover, as per the 2012 Gallup Poll, almost 63% Americans favors death penalty as a punishment for murder and other capital crimes.

This is a significant decline in support of death penalty which was high during the first part of the century.

Coming to death penalty in North Carolina, it has been prevalent in the state ever since it was a British colony. In earlier times, it was executed for a wide array of crimes but later, it emphasized more on capital crimes like murder, rape, burglary, and arson.

However, with the passage of time, the local officials started imposing death penalty unjustly due to racial prejudice. Besides, formerly the death penalty was carried out by hanging but in 1909, it was replaced with electrocution.

In 1917, though, the electrocution of a criminal (Rufus Satterfield) that lasted for about six minutes raised doubts over the use of this method as “cruel” and “unconstitutional”. You can read more about the cases of capital punishment in North Carolina on this page.

Thus, the means of capital punishment was again modified in 1935, as the North Carolina General Assembly passed a bill to change the official method of execution from electrocution to lethal gas.

As for now, it has been changed to lethal injection and execution by lethal gas has been eliminated, since 1998.

Furthermore, in the recent years, there has been a drop in the number of death sentences and executions due to US Supreme Court’s ruling about death penalty being a cruel and unusual form of punishment.

During 1967-1972, there had been several cases which emphasized that capital punishment violates the Eighth Amendment.

If you are wondering as to what constitutes “cruel and unusual punishment” as per the Eighth Amendment then, visit this page.

Grieving and mourning over a trauma or loss of a loved one is not a mere reaction or response. It is a process that helps you cope with the pain in a healthy way.

The whole process is divided into certain stages that eventually give you time to reflect over the loss and gain new strength for moving on in life. Symptoms associated with grief, however, can vary from one person to another.

Nevertheless, the most common signs and symptoms are frequent crying, becoming withdrawn from others, staying extremely busy so as to avoid confronting the pain of loss, lack of sleep, change in appetite, fatigue, physical distress and pains,

For each and every one of us, it is essential to realize the true meaning of life and acknowledge the importance of the love and support that we get from our near and dear ones.

Thus, grief is extremely useful for emotional healing. It is meant to help you deal with your emotions instead of repressing them, only to explode violently in the future.

At times, people succeed in repressing strong emotions of grief and unhappiness temporarily, but the intense emotions tend to find their way out in a most unexpected way at inappropriate occasions.

Plus, you are likely to develop emotional and psychosomatic symptoms over a period of time. So, do not try to bottle up your emotions.

You can read about repressed emotions, their undesired effects, and ways to release them, on this page.

It suggests learning to accept your emotions and deal with them rather than trying to change or control your emotions fruitlessly.

Furthermore, it gives ways and means to release buried emotions so that they disappear gradually.

When dealing with grief associated with the loss of a loved one, you can also consider getting a memorial item like memorial stone, garden rock, etc., to facilitate healing.

In fact, there are a wide variety of memorial keepsakes in large as well as small sizes and several options for customization. Some memorial rocks even have hollow space underneath for holding a cremation urn.

Online stores like Memorials.com, The Comfort Company, Amazon, Target, etc. offer a number of products that can be used as comporting memorials to keep the memories of your loved ones alive in a healthy way. Moreover, you can join a support group.

When striving to find ways for using grief in a constructive way, remember that it can be unhealthy and even destructive, if it persists for a long time.

Generally, it is believed that grief and mourning tend to subside, to some extent, after three to four months. Intense or complicated grief, though, is likely to last longer.

Coming to the different stages of grief, they are chiefly identified as Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, and Acceptance. These stages do not necessarily appear in the same order or with the same symptoms.

For instance, at times people vent their anger and frustration by blaming the doctor or hospital staff for negligence and lack of concern.

Some people, on the other hand, blame themselves for having ignored things or just letting things happen. This sort of anger dissolves into guilt and remorse.

Moreover, these stages do not follow a specific pattern and tend to recur. Besides, the intensity of grief is likely to be more severe in case of sudden death, suicide, or death of a family member or close friend.

You can find more information of the stages of grief in our article, “What are the Stages of Grief and Loss?”

When you go through the process of grieving and ultimately accept the loss, you accept the reality of the situation.

Acceptance, here, does not refer to happiness; rather, it means that you are at peace with the situation and trying to re-adjust yourself.

As the term itself suggests, ungodliness refers to disregard of God and His teachings. Consequently, ungodly deeds are sinful and impious as they are not in accordance with the divine commandments.

In the human society, we have a tendency to disregard the scriptures and follow our on concocted ideas based on our whims.

We question the word of God due to lack of faith. Hence, we prefer to rely on our tiny intelligence and imperfect knowledge.

“Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so.”
~ (Romans 8:5-7)

Moreover, taking advantage of this faithlessness, several ungodly members of the society cheat others and trick them into ungodliness in the name of godliness.

They promote unrighteous behavior as natural. At times, innocent people even accept some mere worldly men as God.

Besides, even people who claim to be believers of God and His Son, yet speak and act simply to please other men, not God.

Gradually, as ungodliness becomes dominant, it ruins the society and robs it of its purpose and piety. Thus, it is suggested that we stay away from ungodly people but close to the godly as they can deliver us to God.

The distinguishing factor between godly and ungodly people is that the former is engaged in acts that are right in the eyes of God whereas the latter is engaged in acts violating God and His commandments.

It is difficult, however, to determine the right and wrong in case of the spiritually advanced who has transcended virtues as well as vices.

“Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly.”
~ 2 Timothy 2:16

In addition, ungodliness prevails due to the influence of Satan. In order to stay away from this influence, it is all the more important to follow the Lord’s will and His instructions that we find in the scriptures.

“Blessed is the man that walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful.”
~ Psalms 1:1

The demons, devils, and fallen angels allow themselves to be consumed by their own lust, in spite of having an understanding of God and His commandments. Consequently, they remain in separation from God and pave their way to damnation.

The Lord, however, is so merciful that apart from protecting the godly souls, he desires to save the ungodly, too. Thus, He has love and compassion for all, irrespective of their position.

“You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
~ Romans 5:6-8

Death, or rather fear of death, is another factor that can prove helpful in reformation and save us from ungodliness. In addition, we can gain inspiration and learn from the lives of the godly people around us.

Furthermore, giving them a fitting final resting place and honoring them in a funeral or memorial service after their departure from this world can be a meaningful way to acknowledge their respectful position and keep them alive in our hearts.

Nowadays, funeral providers as well as online stores such as The Comfort Company , Heart to Heart Sympathy, Memorials.com , and so on also offer a number of items, whether simple or luxurious, for keeping the motivating memories alive.

Planting trees, for instance, is a meaningful way to pay a tribute to someone special. In addition, by planting a tree and taking care of it, we get an opportunity to serve a living entity, a creation of God.

Interestingly, there is even an unusual cremation urn named Poetree funeral urn. It is a biodegradable urn that comes with a boxwood tree sapling. You can find out more about it in this article .

The Black Death is an important part of the European history since it brought about a huge change in the social, economic, and religious views.

The Black Death was the outbreak of a plague that struck the European population during the Middle Ages.

The devastating plague lasted from 1347 to 1352 CE and killed almost 75 to 200 million people. It was a real deathblow, the worst demographic disaster.

Thus, the Black Death considered as the most significant bubonic plague in the Western civilization.

This disaster was actually caused by a bacillus called Yersinia pestis. It usually infects rats and fleas but when it infects humans, it reaches epidemic levels because humans do not have resistance to this disease.

As a result, the plaque hit the human population with great speed and violence, leaving them terrorized. The affected individuals mostly died within five days after the initial symptoms showed up.

Amidst all this havoc, the people were clueless about the cause of the disease and its cure.

Thus, they looked to the Church for help and guidance, but to no avail. The Church itself was clueless regarding the explanation and cure for the epidemic.

Prior to the plague, people had always sought help from the Church for general matters as well as disasters like crop failure, bad weather, battle, etc. It had told the people about the right and wrong of things.

Now, the religious leaders, although accepting the Black Death as God’s punishment, did not have much to offer to the people.

In fact, they did not even perform the funerals and burials with the proper last rites due to the fear of contamination.

In addition, most priests, even the ones with good reputation only added to the confusion in the situation and eventually vacated their posts.

Furthermore, some members of the clergy flatly refused visits to the sick and dying but still went to see the rich who paid them highly.

Nevertheless, there were a few revered priests and nuns, too, who served the patients to their last breath, even with the risk of contacting the infection themselves.

However, as most priests and bishops also contracted the disease, there was a shortage of clergy. Therefore, new priests were appointed but they were inexperienced and less educated.

Plus, the Church started charging money for the services to gain wealth. So, the overall reputation of the Church deteriorated in the eyes of the people.

To get a deeper insight into the history of Black Death and its social and religious impact, you can visit this page .

Furthermore, when people saw that the priests were also contracting the disease and dying, people even started suspecting that the Church officials were responsible for the spread of the plague. Thus, the seeds of the Reformation were sown.

Moreover, the Black Death caused numerous deaths and hence, there were way too many bodies to be disposed. Consequently, mass graves were dug and the bodies were simply dumped in these extensions of graveyards.

This was obviously against their religious teachings and beliefs. In the later years, mass cremations were also adopted.

The process of cremation is considered a pagan practice as per Catholicism. To read more about Catholic beliefs about cremation, you can read this article .

Besides, a group of individuals called flagellants emerged who carried scourges and leather whips with sharp iron spikes. They used to travel from town to town.

At the center of each town or village, they used to whip themselves with their scourges in an attempt to absorb God’s wrath and shorten the duration of time of suffering for others.

However, as they traveled to different town, they themselves became affected by the plague. Thus, by traveling from one town to another, they actually contributed in spreading the plague instead of curing it.

Ultimately, Pope Clement VI declared the flagellants to be heretics and along with other secular authorities, made attempts to repress them.

Due to the disaster, people also starting blaming the Jews for the plague. They even proposed that the Jews had contaminated drinking water wells with poison because they were anti-Christ.

On this pretext, they started exiling and murdering the Jews frantically. The only way for them to escape their fury was to get converted into Christians.

The Church, however, was pro-Jewish in this matter. The Pope even issued a bill denouncing this accusation. You can read more about the massacre of the Jews at www.fighthatred.com .