Should this type of book be banned:

[Deja Q]

"Final Exit", especially the 3rd edition...

Why or why not?

Especially the 'why nots'...

[Burma Jones]

1. You do not ban books. Period.

A book is NOT a coercive force. A book cannot MAKE you do anything. It is an inanimate object, it performs no action. It contains thought. Are you going to make thought illegal?
Can you designate certain thought as inappropriate for minors, OK, I can go with that since I hope we may agree that children do not enjoy full citizenship. But Adults? No Way.

[Deja Q]

4. But it tells people how to do something drastic, in ready to access form

Why allow this yet keep suicide pills, lethal injection drugs, and other things locked up from the general public?

[Burma Jones]

7. Because they are not ideas

They are drugs that have a direct physical effect.

[Cooley Hurd]

16. Kinda like the difference between...

...WMD's and WMD program-related activities.

[BlackVelvetElvis]

2. Forgive my ignorance

What is this book about?

[Deja Q]

3. Suicide and how to commit it painlessly

It gives a long sob story justifying itself.

It also says that if you're depressed or mentally ill to go seek psychiatric help. (where's the animated emoticon of a smilie face laughing hysterically?)

Page 154 I think it is goes into detail on how to painlessly end your life in 30 minutes, with family around... The next page states how it can be done in just 5 minutes and just as painlessly.

[Wonk]

5. Is this a cryptic way of saying you're having suicidal thoughts again?

If so, get help. Try calling 1-800-SUICIDE (1-800-784-2433) for starters.

[Deja Q]

19. For once, it isn't.

I appreciate the concern, thx! Although I may be as stable as a manic barometer, I'm not ready to hit the proverbial off button just yet... :D

Edit: Spelling

[RobinA]

6. Indeed....

<<Why allow this yet keep suicide pills, lethal injection drugs, and other things locked up from the general public?>>

Legalize drugs now!

[BillZBubb]

8. Absolutely NOT!

Someone who is determined to kill him or her self will find a way--with or without "Final Exit". If I recall correctly, there were plenty of suicides before that book was published. Correct me if I'm wrong!

The book actually provides useful information for someone so determined. Sure, it's morbid, but still useful.

Once you start allowing books to be banned, you open a can of worms that will hard to close. Who will decide which books to ban? If it's an elected governmental entity anything like the elected school boards in this country (stuffed with religious right wackos), we'd be in big trouble.

[Goldom]

9. scary statistic

this book is about 4,500 on amazon top sell list. That's not very high, but considering that the list goes into the 100,000s, there must be a ton of suicidal amazon customers. For reference, Kucinich's book is 8,000. Twice as many people want to die as elect him. I'm scared.

[DemBones DemBones]

10. Final Exit has had years to

reach that point in the ratings.

[Snazzy]

12. You'd think Amazon would ban it

Must cut into their business.

(No, we shouldn't ban books. Knowledge is power, and there are circumstances where one might want that knowledge and be right in wanting same. Pain, real pain, hopeless pain, sucks. Just because one can learn how to do something, doesn't mean that one should do that something. But, so resolved, do it right and proper. Always ask for help.)

[gator_in_Ontario]

11. No book should be banned

ever!!

[Fla_Democrat]

13. Banned, hell

It should be handed out, free of charge, to anyone who wants it as a PSA.

If someone wants to check out, let em. :hi:

Heck, I think it's a good idea that they do it at home, less trauma and accidents than if they threw themselves in traffic, or jumped off a building. Don't have to worry about stray bullets like you have to when someone commits suicide by cop. No worries about them blowing out the pilot light, and filling a building with gas, only to have it explode when Jimmy upstairs lights a cigarette.


Not only should it be handed out, there should be a toll free number on the cover, so if they don't have family or friends, they can call for the body removal, so it won't bloat and stink. Maybe 1-800-DED-MEAT.

"The ultimate result of shielding men from the effects of folly is to fill the world with fools." Herbert Spencer, English Philosopher (1820-1903)

[rasputin1952]

14. No book should ever be banned...

w/that point in mind, it might be a good idea for people to read this book, (I haven't, btw). Using it as a tool to help avoid people taking their own lives might be advantageous.

Most books can be used in different ways to propose different opinions and options. Ideas are brought up, and the merits and fallacies of those ideas are discovered in discourse. The book may well be a diamond disguised as coal. If it can be used to alert loved ones to the problems someone feels, it can be of great use in prevention of suicide.

As for those that are terminal and in great pain; I believe their pain should be alleviated, but I am not in favor of assisted suicide on moral grounds. There might always be that 'one last person' that needs to be there before a patient passes on. I worked for many a year in the medical field, and I know that some have hung on just long enough to see a loved one and settle something. then they drift away, it happens more than you would believe.

O8)

[dbt]

15. NO book should be banned. Why not this one?

On the subject of suicide, if you've ever been considering it, you need a dependable resource--the same way you need a "how-to" guide if you're rewiring your house or planting potatoes.

If you are serious about taking yourself out, you certainly do not want a method that might not work the first time. And you just might want something that's not as messy as a gun.

Only this and nothing more.

:freak:
dbt

[Cooley Hurd]

17. This book, like any book, should not be censored or banned...

This book is very helpful to people (and their family members) who are dealing with terminal disease - it does a good job explaining the process of death.

However, if anyone is thinking of this book as a blueprint for suicide, I implore you to contact your doctor, any doctor, and talk to them about how you're feeling. If you lack the energy to contact your Dr (depression can be so debilitating that even making the phone call is difficult to do), please tell someone - a friend or a family member how you're feeling.

Remember that every feeling is merely a chemical reaction. Good feelings or bad, it's your brain chemicals that control everything. And there are meds to treat virtually every facet of a chemical imbalance. As hopeless as you feel (hopelessness, too, is nothing more than your brain chemicals acting up), there are medicines and treatments that will change that feeling.

Suicide might seem like a viable option to the sufferer of such chemical imbalances, but remember that, after you kill yourself, you leave behind the heartache of those who love you. It's a horrible loss to deal with - your loved ones will live the rest of their lives contemplating how they could've/should've helped you. I know that pain (as well as the pain of suffering from depression). I also know that there is help for depression, even when it's severe enough to cause one to contemplate suicide.

I survived. So can you. :)

[onebigbadwulf]

18. Who are we to say that suicide is wrong?

If someone wants to maybe they really want to

[BiggJawn]

20. You do NOT ban books.

OK, this is where I show just exactly how liberal I am.
You do not ban books.
I don't care if it's a book about the wickedness of people who vote Democratic and belong to DU or a "Child molesting for Dummies" book, you don't ban books.

We have already started down that slippery slope by jailing young people who have written essays or personal journal entries that school administrators find "disturbing". church-organized parents demanding the removal of books from the public and school libraries, etc.

If a book's subject matter disturbs you, don't read it. if you don't want your kids to read it, tell them not to. Of course, that will make them want to read it more...Oh, I forget, kids today aren't like I was. reading anything other than a video display makes their eyes hurt, so no worries....Better to read it yourself and discuss it.