Catholic League President, Bill Donohue just came out with a new book called, “The Catholic Advantage: Why Health, Happiness, and Heaven Await the Faithful.” In it, he references me by name and of course in typical Donohue form, plays rather loosely with the facts and with reality.
Tag Suicide
While Robin Williams has played many great roles throughout his acting career, I will always remember him most as John Keating, the wise, rebellious educator in The Dead Poets Society. Coincidently enough, that film was all about depression and suicide; two themes now closely associated with Robin Williams.
I’m saddened because I think Matt is dead. I think that everything he was as a person is gone and that he now only lives on in the memories of those who knew him. But Rick Warren doesn’t agree with me on this one. He believes that Matt had a purpose driven life and that the purpose of Matt’s life was Jesus. Rick Warren believes that Matt is not gone forever, but actually went on to a “better place.” In fact, Rick Warren believes he will see his son again when he dies. So why is he grieving?
There are a lot of problems in the world and people get depressed either because of their biochemistry or because the world can be a pretty hard place to live in at times. Atheists often don’t have the support network that religious believers often have and so we can sometimes feel isolated and discouraged. But there is hope.
This is something we don’t like to admit, but it is true. There is a problem within the atheist community of depression and suicide. I know we would all like to believe that atheists are happier people than religious believers and in many ways we are. But we also have to accept the reality that in some very important ways we are not.