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Student's apparent suicide linked to webcast of sexual encounter

JustMeSee

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The right to privacy is not in the Constitution. We pretend its there so people can get abortions.
It is an amendment to the Constitution. Have you heard of The Bill of Rights?

It is also New Jersey Law:
A1657

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It is a shame that the young man took his own life. It was a difficult time in his life, but he could have sought support. I remember how difficult it was to problem solve at that age.
 
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Glass*Soul

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I don't understand. Is this tongue-in-cheek? (I'm notoriously dense at recognizing a tongue-in-cheek comment.) If not, would you explain your reply a little more?
 
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Glass*Soul

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No one pushed him. Just saying.

I believe that Paul, in II Corinthians, spoke out against punishing a brother until he is "overwhelmed by excessive sorrow" even though he felt the brother in question was in the wrong in his sexual conduct. If this is true in regard to the solemn business of church discipline, how much more so in something so frivolous as posting a video?

I will post the entire passage. I have often been told that as a non-theist I have no business approaching the scriptures and have no understanding of them when I do, but it seems to me that Paul expressed the sort of compassion here that takes responsibility for the results of one's actions on a brother's state of mind. He seemed to take it seriously enough to term a misstep on this matter as actually playing into Satan's hands.


My disillusionment with Christianity is almost complete. Yet there is still a small place in me that hurts to see Christians being so hardhearted while displaying the symbols of their faith.
 
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PreachersWife2004

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No one pushed him. Just saying.

Maybe they didn't physically push him, but they pushed him nonetheless.

I'm sure there were other issues that contributed to this, but the video seems to have been the final straw.

I grieve with his family and friends.
 
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armyman_83

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I am just making a point.

Its an individuals choice to take their own life. I never said that what those people did was right or wrong.

As a grown up, you have to see past the little things. Use reason, and wisdom. This guy couldn't take it. I am sorry he took his life. But HE took HIS life. No one held a gun to his head. Taking your own life should be held as a cowardly act in most cases. That is just my opinion. Should the other people be punished? If they broke any law that violates privacy rights then yes. But to blame them for his "suicide"--no way.

Suicide:
a : the act or an instance of taking one's own life voluntarily and intentionally especially by a person of years of discretion and of sound mind.
--Webster's
 
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laconicstudent

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Wow.
 
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Glass*Soul

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He was all of 18. No one hands you a pail full of wisdom when you turn 18.
 
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CRAZY_CAT_WOMAN

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Suicide:
a : the act or an instance of taking one's own life voluntarily and intentionally especially by a person of years of discretion and of sound mind.
--Webster's
How can a suicidal person,be a person of sound mind.
 
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EdwinWillers

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Note to self... privacy is becoming less and less possible, and life is becoming less and less private.
 
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EdwinWillers

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He was all of 18. No one hands you a pail full of wisdom when you turn 18.
Perhaps not, but they let you pull a lever and vote at 18 - which is probably why the POTUS is running around the country right now with pails full of his own what-not, reaching out to such kids.

Anyway - it's a tragic situation and the two other empty pails ought to be punished in some fashion.
 
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mylife4his

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Note to self... privacy is becoming less and less possible, and life is becoming less and less private.
There is no privacy, even if you have just two people living in the same house. Thanks to Facebook, there is no privacy. Also to phones that have internet and pictures. Just Hope Your At best performance all the time, if not, people will find out. Hope you didn't care, because the whole world knows!
 
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PreachersWife2004

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You've obviously have not had anyone close to you commit suicide. It's easy to say things like that, and it's easy to believe them, until someone you loved does it.

Yes, people do actively decide to take their own life, but it's rarely some cut and dry issue where they could've decided easily to go the other route. Some don't actively decide...they have mental issues that cause them to kill themselves. I have two quite crazy cousins who would probably kill themselves because the voices told them to, if they were not locked up and under heavy medication.

Point is, you can't know what was in this kid's mind. I don't think it's fair to say that the other kids caused him to kill himself, but I certainly think it's fair to say that the video probably had a hand in helping him along.
 
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Billnew

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My disillusionment with Christianity is almost complete. Yet there is still a small place in me that hurts to see Christians being so hardhearted while displaying the symbols of their faith.
Truly sad that followers of Christ see anything more then sadness in this story.

Maybe they didn't physically push him, but they pushed him nonetheless.

I'm sure there were other issues that contributed to this, but the video seems to have been the final straw.

I grieve with his family and friends.
I believe he tormented himself with what ifs and possibilities, this was just the breaking of the dam, and once loose, the emotions/fears destroyed him.

While legally an adult, 18 is far from being truly mature. When tortured, people can see suicide as the only option. While I do not believe anyone directly tortured him, he might have been torturing himself for so long.
The people that posted this video showed the most intimate private moments of this persons life. I must ask you, if people saw a video of you, and they laughed when you when you walked in the little world of campus, would you act properly?
My first thought was to transfer, but where can a person go that this, (video online) won't have been seen?
 
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Phylogeny

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This kid was obviously depressed prior to the intrusive webcam. I doubt the two perps intended on driving him to suicide. It was poor judgement, rather than malicious intent that they should be punished for.

That said, let's not belittle the victim's 'choice' to kill himself----b/c that's like saying depressed people 'choose' to be sad and only need to 'cheer up' to get better. That's like saying schizophrenic patients just need to stop pretending voices in their head and they'll be better. Today, people can talk about their most intimate illness: cancer, heart disease....many of which have some environmental (i.e 'choice-based) factors, yet when someone says they have congestive heart failure, we don't tell them it's their choice. Mental illness IS like these other diseases. No one chooses to be depressed, no one wants to be driven to kill themselves. This kid, who was probably tormented by his homosexuality, was probably tipped over by this final act of disparagement. Was it the fault of the perps? No. Was it his 'fault' and his 'choice'? No more than it's anyone's fault to have cancer.
 
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armyman_83

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I agree that it would be horrible to have a very embrassing moment caught on camera of me. Would I act properly? I would hope so. I would imagine so. Can I say for sure--of course not.

As to him being 18, well--if he is legally recognized as an adult (of sound mind), and can vote then I think he should be held accountable for any act of suicide.


Sound Mind--
"That state of a man's mind which is adequate to reason and comes to a judgment upon ordinary subjects, like other rational men.

The law presumes that every person who has acquired his full age is of sound mind, and consequently competent to make contracts and perform all his civil duties; and he who asserts to the contrary must prove the affirmation of his position by explicit evidence, and not by conjectural proof."--'Lectric Law Library'
 
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