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IN GOD'S NAME?: ANOTHER SUICIDE IN ARMENIA RAISES SPECULATION OF SECTARIAN INFLUENCE
By Siranuysh Gevorgyan
ArmeniaNow
28.09.11 | 14:46
Photolure
Priest Babken Hayrapetyan speaks about the number of suicides based
on religious affiliation
In Armenia a number of recent suicides have given rise to speculation
that they might be associated with the activities of what are often
castigated as religious sects.
The most recent such suicide in the country's northwestern town
of Dilijan involving a woman and her 23- and 25-year-old children
(the mother who hanged herself eventually died, but doctors could
save the lives of the young man and woman who had cut their veins)
and the fact that torn images of Jesus Christ were found on the floor
of the family's house only fueled the speculation about the religious
grounds and ritual nature of the attempted collective suicide.
Earlier, religious grounds were sought in two other cases - when a
mother killed her two sons in the central Armenian town of Ararat and
a young man committed patricide killing both his parents in the town
of Sevan.
The Jehovah's Witnesses organization has heard accusations regarding
all mentioned cases, but its representative has denied the people
involved in the suicides and murders were members of this religious
organization.
At a press conference on Wednesday the pastor of the Arabkir community
of Yerevan Babken Hayrapetyan denounced any suicide regardless of
reasons as an anti-Christian act. He said that the Armenian Apostolic
Church considers suicide to be a sin as it believes that the soul is
immortal, but sects that believe a person's soul is dead after the
death of the body prod people into committing suicide. The priest,
however, emphasized that no religious organization [functioning in
Armenia] encourages suicide.
The priest also said that the Church is engaged in active work in
the army (soldiers go to church, chapels are built at military units,
etc.). To ArmeniaNow's question whether he thought the Church should
work more closely with soldiers and officers in preventing murders
and suicides and other abuse in the ranks, priest Babken said: "There
is a shortage of spiritual education in the army. If you raise a hand
against your brother or friend and there is no restraint inside you,
you will become a murderer and a suicide. But it is also obvious that
the Church is doing its work."
By Siranuysh Gevorgyan
ArmeniaNow
28.09.11 | 14:46
Photolure
Priest Babken Hayrapetyan speaks about the number of suicides based
on religious affiliation
In Armenia a number of recent suicides have given rise to speculation
that they might be associated with the activities of what are often
castigated as religious sects.
The most recent such suicide in the country's northwestern town
of Dilijan involving a woman and her 23- and 25-year-old children
(the mother who hanged herself eventually died, but doctors could
save the lives of the young man and woman who had cut their veins)
and the fact that torn images of Jesus Christ were found on the floor
of the family's house only fueled the speculation about the religious
grounds and ritual nature of the attempted collective suicide.
Earlier, religious grounds were sought in two other cases - when a
mother killed her two sons in the central Armenian town of Ararat and
a young man committed patricide killing both his parents in the town
of Sevan.
The Jehovah's Witnesses organization has heard accusations regarding
all mentioned cases, but its representative has denied the people
involved in the suicides and murders were members of this religious
organization.
At a press conference on Wednesday the pastor of the Arabkir community
of Yerevan Babken Hayrapetyan denounced any suicide regardless of
reasons as an anti-Christian act. He said that the Armenian Apostolic
Church considers suicide to be a sin as it believes that the soul is
immortal, but sects that believe a person's soul is dead after the
death of the body prod people into committing suicide. The priest,
however, emphasized that no religious organization [functioning in
Armenia] encourages suicide.
The priest also said that the Church is engaged in active work in
the army (soldiers go to church, chapels are built at military units,
etc.). To ArmeniaNow's question whether he thought the Church should
work more closely with soldiers and officers in preventing murders
and suicides and other abuse in the ranks, priest Babken said: "There
is a shortage of spiritual education in the army. If you raise a hand
against your brother or friend and there is no restraint inside you,
you will become a murderer and a suicide. But it is also obvious that
the Church is doing its work."