Straight to the answer: It is not in violation of the Terms of Service(TOS)
One particular article on this blog is, to say the least, controversial.
Twice this blog has been deleted now. People are able to report the blog for violation of the terms of service. The automatic response to this is to delete the entire blog and send me an e-mail about it.
I have been very careful not to violate any of the TOS but I am even in doubt about parts of it.
After the automated removal of my blog I am given the opportunity to appeal to this, which means that a Google representative of the blogger team has to have a look at the blog and decide if it is really in violation of the terms of service like the automaton has decided. It seems that it is not actually in violation because the blog has been reviewed and restored twice now.
I think it is odd that in the time that this blog has been up, only two people took the time to report it especially with one post being so popular that it has about 1500 views a day. I really thought I would piss off more people then that.
"So why did you write it?", everybody keeps asking.
I think I have explained it in the article and in the comments a few times, but people still think it is satire, so let's go again...
I am pro-choice. It is your life, you should decide what you do with it. But religion and governments based on religion have made it illegal for you to take your own life. My intended original audience is not the depressed,"my life sucks", "please kill me now" kind of people.
But if you do decide to kill yourself, you should really, really think about it. Think about the consequences, the people around your, the people who have to clean up your mess, and most importantly, the success rate of a suicide attempt.
I am just trying to make people really think about what they are thinking of doing. After that, it is still always your choice.
And then there are the people who, like my late friend, are really better off dead, but nobody will help them or let them die peacefully.
Another reason for me to write "It's my life" and "The best way to kill yourself" is the unfortunate and torturous demise of a good friend of mine. Struck with one of the most painful and incurable diseases this existence has to offer, he had nothing to live for nor any hope left. The only thing in his future was a painful death or a quick death, if only there was one person able and willing to help him.
He found none, not even me. So yes, I have thought about ways to kill him and have been searching the web for a way to do it quickly, painlessly and without any trace back to me.
Many hours have I spent. but my conclusion at the time was that I would have to train to be an MD and start my own practice before I would be able to help him.
Most religions say you will go to hell if you kill yourself, or anybody else.
But what if you already are in hell on earth?
Helping people in such a position is controversial and a crime and it is my opinion that it shouldn't be.
So, that's my honest answer, now you can stop asking.
So it's not satire..huh. The thing is, not everyone reading this, like your friend (sorry to hear btw) has a disease like that. A number of people will have read this and actually killed themselves, following your 'advice'. A number of these people may have gone on to find that their lives improved, had they decided to stick it out. I'm also pro-choice, but the article in question…idk, it's like someone is about to commit suicide with a kitchen knife, and you've then stopped them, told them to think about what they're doing, told them they're not doing it properly, given them a bigger, sharper knife, told them precisely where to stab themself and with what force they need to do it with in order to ensure they do it properly etc. Again…it's not 'wrong', just kinda twisted. I'm guessing the reason you don't see many other articles like this from other pro-choice advocates is because telling people how to properly go about killing themselves…might actually lead people to kill themselves, instead of deal with their problems. I realise this is not always possible (as may be with your friend's case) but as I said, not everyone reading this will have your friend's disease. Many could go on to lead very happy, very fulfilling lives. Here's a biased example: if 14yo kid decided he was gonna kill himself because his girlfriend of 4 months broke up with him, and his mum shouted at him the other day, you wouldn't give him pointers on how to do it, you'd tell him that even though it sucked rn, it won't always be like that.
ReplyDeleteBottom line: Even though you say your target audience isn't 'the depressed,"my life sucks", "please kill me now" kind of people', many of said people will read this anyway. Some of whom might kill themself. Does that not concern you? I'd hesitate to say that you would be responsible…but you certainly wouldn't be helping, right?
sheesh.. .. let they do what they want with their life. stop being annoying
DeleteHi Anthony, and thanks for taking the time to reply.
DeleteI can't say for sure that I am not twisted, perhaps I am.
I can't filter the readers by their mental state, nor can I stop people from killing themselves. There will always be people trying to commit suicide. There will always be people searching the internet for ways to do that and they have already read through all the ways that people are trying to "help" them in the usual unsuccessful ways instead of actually giving them an answer.
So yes, perhaps I told this hypothetical 14yo to use a bigger knife, but I also mentioned how much it is going to hurt an hopefully made him think about it a little more.
Besides have you tried telling a 14yo that he/she can't do something?
Yes it concerns me, it bugs me immensely that depressed people might read this and commit the stupidest mistake they could ever make. Lets say that they tried one of these methods and it worked.
DeleteLets also say that if I hadn't put up this post, they would have tried several other things and failed. Lets say that these people are now seriously scarred by all their attempts both mentally and physically and they are still alive and on a shit load of medications and probably dependent on other people. I think I read a story in the comments where this was the general idea.
In those cases I believe I did help.
But heck, it is just my opinion that depressed people shouldn't kill themselves. Who is to say if I am right or wrong? I have been depressed, but maybe it wasn't as bad for me as it is for them.
Going back to the analogy of the 14yo kid. Let's say he's thinking about committing suicide but he doesn't know how. He doesn't have the slightest clue how to go about it. Suicide, however compelled he may be towards it, is just a remote possibility, a blurry, hazy idea without any substance. You tell him how to do it properly with this article, and change this remote possibility into a very real actuality, pushing this distant idea much closer into view. Is the decision still as much of a 'choice' as it was before you told him how to make this idea real? I believe that to be truly 'pro-choice' you should not be saying anything that would influence their decision in the slightest- this article imo. It should be completely coming from their own, uninfluenced decision. Let's face it. It's not as if everyone reading this article has already decided irrevocably to kill themselves. They are still deciding. Their suicide attempt was not a foregone conclusion like you're making it out to be, it was a possibility before reading this article, for many people. You've just pushed the option a whole lot closer in view and nudged them towards it, but said 'Hey it's your choice.' Whether this is pro-choice or not is moot.
DeleteBy that reasoning, to be truly "pro-choice", it is best not to write or publish anything at all since no matter what you write you might influence the readers initial choice and intrude on his or her freedom to choose.
DeleteThis is why talking to a true pro-choicer is excruciatingly boring and why publishing an article such as this makes an interesting topic of conversation.
There is almost always a point and a conclusion to an article and it might try to convince you of something, otherwise the article would not have been written. Any side effects of any article can not be avoided other then to not write or publish said article.
Of course they are still deciding. There is a reason why this article was not a simple how-to or a collection of facts(also, that's boring). I'd like people to really think about what they are about to do to themselves and others, and to make not just any choice, but an "informed choice".
And what about the the ever increasing Poisonous Environment of our society?I feel this is merely a symptom of a much larger Problem.We are physically,socially,mentally,emotionally,spiritually at a rate of decline that is accelerated by IGNORANCE,DENIAL and worst of all MISINFORMATION .I have experienced hostility from everyone i have pointed this out to which leads me to believe "WE" as a whole simply just DO NOT care anymore,Or al least about the things that should matter.Surely Enlightenment is the reason we have been placed here."Humankind" is becoming the one thing we fear most....(NUMB)
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