When he said don't kill yourself kids I just thought oh man. I didn't watch much conference but Holland was on when I turned it on. I just have to say I'm questioning the sanity of these guys running the church. I really think they are delusional and over their heads. They just don't know what to do.
I listened to some of hollands talk, I suppose when he said troubles don't disappear if you commit suicide has offended people. But that statement seems right, there isn't a day that the family doesn't think about their loved ones who have gone. As far as I can see troubles stick around like a contractable disease such as cancer. It's annoying, hard to live with, full of fatigue, and doesn't want to go away easily.
As for oaks talk I'm convinced he's just a mean guy. He fails to recognize that most people would rather be around nice people rather than prudish righteous and holier than thou people. The mormon celestial world doesn't sound like much fun.
The troubles for your friends and family do not end if you end your life. But yours do. The bullying stops. The self-hate stops. The emotional chaos stops.
I guess Holland was trying to say that those things don't stop either. But he has no frickin' idea. Maybe Jesus will welcome you with nothing but love and understanding, like in all those Jesus paintings at Deseret Book. If Holland has any concrete evidence to the contrary, then he'd better put his money where his mouth is.
I remember once reading a saying by a Buddhist leader. Paraphrased, the leader said, "Your problems don't go away if you commit suicide. You just no longer have a body with which to solve those problems."
The mormon celestial world doesn't sound like much fun.
An ALL mormon world would be pathetic boring and full of life-less people. It is the fact that we humans ARE different that makes this world an awesome place. Mormons want clones. God says otherwise.
Now that the church has acknowledged the high suicide rate in Zion. What will they do about it? What could they do about it? A talk saying "please don't kill yourself, your life matters" alone will not make the suicide rate go down.