Real depression is *not* a "temporary problem." It is a physical disorder that will stalk the afflicted person all his life. Medication and treatment may or may not be successful or helpful. It may even aggravate the condition.
God's wrath called for, rather than God's mercy, for those suicidally afflicted with depression? I can't fathom where you got such a viewpoint.
Huh? I said that I thought that they didn’t understand the stakes and God would spare them. We live in a society where contempt for the gift of life is being urged on us from every side, whether in the form of abortion or that of euthanasia. It’s no wonder that young people don’t really comprehend the value of their lives.
Clinical depression is not generally a life-long condition. A study also revealed that in most cases, it resolves itself in a certain number of years, whether treatment is given or not. That is, unless one has committed suicide first.
This young man was taking medication, probably anti-depressives, and we have all seen what that can do to someone’s judgment, so I think that his response may have had something to do with that, rather than being the son of Skilling. But I think the fact that our society does not value the life one has been given and does not consider the fact that eternity is, well, eternity certainly influences the attitudes of a person who is depressed and gives them nothing to hold onto and no moral and emotional way to fight back.