Are our choices free?
In many Faiths there is a tension between the concept of free will and an all powerful and all knowledgeable deity. This tension is perhaps most clearly shown with religious Faith’s response to suicide.
Almost all see suicide as a sin, an act against the deity and inherently wrong. Which is a little odd considering the promise of an afterlife they all seem to promise. Why would a deity worry about us arriving in the afterlife we are destined for a few years early?
So what about paganism?
Well there isn’t much explicit within pagan writings, which is part for the course, ofcourse. We need to think it through ourselves., which again is par for the course for pagan thought. So what do we know.
Firstly, like many other traditi ok ns pagans generly believe that this life is just one aspect of existence and death isn’t the end of the things, and most have a concept of past and future lives. So is suicide fine? Just another change, a pathway to the next life? Nothing to get excited about? Well perhaps.
But again in common with many other faith traditions pagans generally believe that there is a reason for their life, not specifically a plan but a reason, something they need to learn, to do or experience.
So where does that leave us? Well suicide mo most certainly isn’t a sin, isn’t something the Goddess is going to punish us for, but she, the universe made sure we we were here, and for a reason. She needs us wants us.
So should we treat suicide as a sin? Something wrong? Something we should look down on?
No
But perhaps we need to try to work with her. I know the pain staying might cause us, onlymtoo well do I know. But perhaps we can try