STEPHEN FRY

Here is a topic which interests me. In Tibet at the moment Monks are setting themselves on fire in demonstration against Chinese Human Rights Abuses. Emmeline Pankhurst killed herself for the Suffrage of Women. The question is are these people suicidal or sacrificial? To me it was always a simple answer. If someone kills themselves to draw attention to a social injustice it is a Sacrifice, it is not a Suicide. Simply because if the social injustice was rectified they would not end their life. Others, I have discovered do not come to the same conclusion and refuse to accept that someone who takes their own life to end social injustice is not mentally ill.

An interesting aspect is the same people who infer mental illness in all cases of Self-Sacrifice when talking about British Soliders who have died in the Wars use the description, "They Sacrificed their lives for their Country!" Yet, if they believe that to willingly put your life in peril or to kill yourself for a cause is mental illness why don't they call those soldiers, "Suicidal Soldiers who through mental illness put themselves in a potentially lethal situation!"

Also, terrorists are called things like "Suicidal Bombers!" yet a British RAF fighter is called a "Sacrifice!" if they die in battle. So why don't we call terrorist "Sacrificial Bombers!" ?

To me someone is a suicide if they are doing it for personal reasons, they can no longer cope with life. Also, a lot of the time it is because of Mental Health issues, but not always. It can be down to the Stress of everyday life. Being stressed out is not Mental Illness in itself even though it can lead to it. But if someone has identified a social injustice and the only way to enforce change, like Emmeline Pankhurst is to take their own life in a very public way that individual is a Sacrifice, not a Suicide.

And there lies another distinction between sacrifice and suicide. Suicide is nearly always done in solitude with no campaigning for change before hand. Sacrifice is carried out in a Public domain and is usually done by some one who has campaigned for change and discovered it will take more than debate to force the desired change.

Any views on this?