Pastor Rick Warren's son committed suicide

[SomewhatFundy]

http://www.npr.org/2013/04/06/176449059 ... hurch-says

I am not very familiar with Rick Warren or his church, they were considered a very "worldly" church in my circle back in the day. But I do know he wrote "The Purpose Driven Life" which is a book many of the fundies we snark on love.

I have no snark to add, but I do feel awful for his family. Especially with the onslaught of criticism from Christians coming. I know many who believe suicide will send you straight to hell.

I wonder if any of the fundies we follow will post about this on their social media or blogs.

[idonthaveajname]

Too bad for the family. :(

[So Says I]

I just saw this as well. It's very sad. I don't know too much about the Warrens, but it does seem that they were supportive of their son and they acknowledged that he'd had depression and needed meds and therapy as opposed to just prayers or faith healing or something. I hope he is at peace and feel for the family.

[SPHASH]

I too feel bad for Rick. I don't always agree with him but at least he knew his son needed therapists and not a preacher to treat his depression. Personally I don't think suicide victims go to hell. Samson killed himself and God did not send him to hell. Only God knows when your time on earth is up, whether you die of old age, sickness, at the hands of others, or yourself.

[jjmennonite]

I do feel bad for the family. I also give them kudos for getting him therapy. My parents tried, in vain, to pray my depression away.

Every time I hear of a evangelically raised male child commiting suicide, I wonde if they are gay. The self loathing would be very painful, if you consider homesexual desires to be a sin. 'love the sinner, hate the sin' is the biggest bullshit churches have ever come up with, around 'the gay agenda'. It promotes hatred - the word is right there in that quote.

[NurseNell]

Perry Coghlan had it on his Facebook page.

I found this quote strange (from his parents):

But only those closest knew that he struggled from birth with mental illness, dark holes of depression, and even suicidal thoughts. In spite of America’s best doctors, meds, counselors, and prayers for healing, the torture of mental illness never subsided.

Struggled from birth? Children do have depression but babies, I just don't know. I wonder what he was like as a baby and preschooler, and at what age did they seek help?

Having a child die, no matter what the cause, is a parent's worse nightmare. My heart goes out to the family.

[lilwriter85]

I'm not fan of Rick Warren, but I have sympathy for him.

[lilwriter85]

http://www.npr.org/2013/04/06/176449059/pastor-rick-warrens-son-commits-suicide-church-says

I am not very familiar with Rick Warren or his church, they were considered a very "worldly" church in my circle back in the day. But I do know he wrote "The Purpose Driven Life" which is a book many of the fundies we snark on love.

I have no snark to add, but I do feel awful for his family. Especially with the onslaught of criticism from Christians coming. I know many who believe suicide will send you straight to hell.

I wonder if any of the fundies we follow will post about this on their social media or blogs.

Rick Warren is fave among fundie lite types. Some hardcore fundies dislike him. I have relatives who live in Orange County and they know people who have go or have gone to a couple of Saddleback churches. Those churches hold rock concerts, they do a lot of youth group activities and some of their associate pastors and worship leaders are tattooed hipster types. Some people have left those churches because of homophobic attitudes and because of Rick's ego. My cousin told me a story about one of the former members he knows. The former member works for my cousin and his daughter is a teenager. They left Saddleback after the popularity of The Purpose Driven Life. They attend a more liberal mainstream church, but they stayed friends with people from Saddleback. The teenage daughter babysat for some of those people and used to donate some of her money to gay causes. My cousin was laughing when he told me that story.

[Koala]

I am so sorry for their family. No parent should ever have to bury their child.

[caito]

That's awful. He was only a few years older than me. I feel bad for his family.

[LeatherCouch]

Perry Coghlan had it on his Facebook page.

I found this quote strange (from his parents):

Struggled from birth? Children do have depression but babies, I just don't know. I wonder what he was like as a baby and preschooler, and at what age did they seek help?

Having a child die, no matter what the cause, is a parent's worse nightmare. My heart goes out to the family.

My son was 7 months old when I looked at his father and said "Something is very, very wrong with this child." He has and always has had bipolar disorder. I know it doesn't always manifest that early and when it does it's often unusually severe, but it does happen, unfortunately.

The Warren family has my sincerest condolences.

[crazyforkate]

I do feel bad for the family. I also give them kudos for getting him therapy. My parents tried, in vain, to pray my depression away.

Every time I hear of a evangelically raised male child commiting suicide, I wonde if they are gay. The self loathing would be very painful, if you consider homesexual desires to be a sin. 'love the sinner, hate the sin' is the biggest bullshit churches have ever come up with, around 'the gay agenda'. It promotes hatred - the word is right there in that quote.

I disagree with basically everything Rick Warren stands for, but he just went through a loss no one should ever suffer, and it sounds like he and the family really did try to do everything for their son. From what it sounds like, he had problems from very early childhood, so I wouldn't immediately connect it to possibly being gay. I know that people can sense the idea of being "other" before they know anything about sexuality, but...I don't know, it just doesn't seem like that from what I've read of him. Peace to the Warren family. What an awful loss.

[NurseNell]

My son was 7 months old when I looked at his father and said "Something is very, very wrong with this child." He has and always has had bipolar disorder. I know it doesn't always manifest that early and when it does it's often unusually severe, but it does happen, unfortunately.

The Warren family has my sincerest condolences.

Interesting. How did he present? How old is he now and how is he doing? That has to be very difficult to see as a parent.

[ADoyle90815]

I don't agree with Rick Warren, but he and his family do get my condolences.

[gravelmonkey]

My son was 7 months old when I looked at his father and said "Something is very, very wrong with this child." He has and always has had bipolar disorder. I know it doesn't always manifest that early and when it does it's often unusually severe, but it does happen, unfortunately.

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[LainieR]

Every suicide is a tragedy. I hope his son is at peace and that the family, eventually finds theirs.

[Dysfundamental]

My sympathies to his family and friends. Also not a fan at all of Rick Warren as a public figure, but my condolences are with him.

I think that some of the issues that have been part of my own experience of depression surfaced in infancy, particularly sleep disruption and loss of appetite. In retrospect, the stories my parents told about those concerns seem of a piece what I went through later in life, so I can imagine a close family friend framing it as a struggle since babyhood.

[RosyDaisy]

My thoughts and prayers are with the family during this difficult time.

[RachelB]

Deep sympathies to his family and friends. And my heart goes out to him, too, that he suffered so much that this seemed like the best option.

[apple1]

A terrible tragedy. I cannot even imagine, as a parent, having to go through this pain. My condolences to this family.

[HeckBound]

No snark here. My sympathy to the family...the pain must be crushing.

[nokidsmom]

That is truly sad. My condolences to the family. I can't imagine how difficult this has to be for them.

[Irishy]

Just an observation on the title of the thread. Here in Ireland, people don't say "commit suicide" because it is no longer a crime. It's considered incorrect like calling a special needs person handicapped or retarded. We say "died by suicide" or "complete suicide". I've seen it a lot around the board. Just wondering if it's a US thing. I must stress that I am not personally offended by the terminology, just an observation is all.

[nokidsmom]

Just an observation on the title of the thread. Here in Ireland, people don't say "commit suicide" because it is no longer a crime. It's considered incorrect like calling a special needs person handicapped or retarded. We say "died by suicide" or "complete suicide". I've seen it a lot around the board. Just wondering if it's a US thing. I must stress that I am not personally offended by the terminology, just an observation is all.

Irishy, that's interesting about the terminology used in Ireland. Didn't know that.

[OnceModestTwiceShy]

Irishy, "commit suicide" is totally acceptable in the States and doesn't have a negative connotation - at least not as far as I am aware. But that is very interesting. Does anyone know if suicide is a crime in any of the States? I wouldn't be surprised - our laws vary widely.