"Suicide is the act of intentionally causing harm or death to oneself. The Bible is very clear that murder is against to one of the Ten Commandments Although there is a notable increase in the number of mass suicides within the American community, we cannot label them all as evildoers under this law Say No to Plagiarism Get Essay on. measure on "Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned"? Get the original essay One thing we often don't know is in what context the Bible refers to this. Some, like the people of Jonestown, have. been forced to commit suicide or be killed, resulting in death in both cases. It is often easy to say that these people will not be punished when we do not realize that there have been similar situations that. occurred in the Bible, such as one of God's closest followers avoiding Him out of fear for his own life. If he had agreed to admit it, he would have intentionally ended his life. he knew what the consequences were, but instead God punished him for avoiding it. In cases like these, we see that it is not the act of suicide itself that is wrong but the meaning a person has behind it. The Lord declares that those who do not understand His spiritual truth cannot sin because they do not really know what sin is. If a child intentionally did something to harm himself and without God telling him it was wrong, he would not be unjustly judged. Suicide is often a complex issue with many psychological aspects that most people tend to oversimplify. If we look at both the events of Jonestown and Heaven's Gate, we tend to blame each for their stupidity and expect them to deal with their sins on their own. Often these people in the occult sciences are either uneducated or completely manipulated into believing whatever their "pastors" believe. For these people, the saying when a person jumps into a lava lake will take you to a new level where they are ready to give their lives for religion. Rather, God would bless these people according to the fact that they did so in a good spirit, but the leaders and others who were aware of their sins would be treated as sinners. As more and more people found themselves facing suicides. in the name of Christianity, especially people just learning the religion would find it a social norm to interpret the Bible in their own way, just as Jim Jones did by claiming that he was able to communicate directly with God. it may seem like people have been easily manipulated and led astray like sheep, does that really mean they are not responsible for their actions? Jim Jones had a long record of substance abuse and evidence that he was not in a sound state of mind, indicating that, according to the Bible, he cannot be punished. The followers around him remained in a stable spirit and decided to follow the words of a man rather than the Bible. A relevant note to pay attention to is the number of mass suicides for revolutionary causes during this period. Self-immolation is a well-known tactic of Vietnamese monks to peacefully revolt and sepukku was also present, describing both peaceful ways of protesting and honorary ways of dying. Jim Jones, in the case of causing people to die by drinking flavorings, was an honorary way of dying in retaliation for the military supposedly wanting to steal the children of the community..