Beware of Ronitis, The Latest Deadly Disease
You may remember our New Oxford Note, “Oh, to Be a Victim!” (Jan.), in which we noted an announcer on a local CBS radio affiliate telling about the mayor of a near-by city who had died, solemnly intoning that the mayor was a “victim of suicide.” If you recall, we found that expression oxymoronic.
In his syndicated column in the newspaper of the Archdiocese of San Francisco (Dec. 6, 2002), Fr. Ron Rolheiser looks back on the 20 years of his column (now syndicated in 40 papers), and points out that in every one of those years he’s done a column on suicide, which he terms a “painful disease.”
Painful. Yes, that’s probably still true in most cases, but there are painless ways of doing it, and with the spread of doctor-assisted suicide, it will become increasingly painless.
A disease. Hmmm. How does one pick it up? Is it contagious? Is it congenital? Can you pick it up from polluted water or exposure to asbestos dust or from standing in front of the microwave too long? Or is it one of those diseases shrinks love to invent, such as Relational Disorders (see the above New Oxford Note) or Homophobia?
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Scripture and Tradition testify that the order of this world ends in the chaos from which it was formed when the hand of God withdraws its providential order.
Predictive Scripture differs from the odd example of human prescience in that it tells us the eternal significance of events to which it alludes.
Fr. Ron Rolheiser says Jesus provides automatic forgiveness. Commit suicide if you want. Fr. Ron is giving you permission.