{{suicide warning}}
'''Suicide''' is the act of killing oneself and – when done purposely – a form of [[murder]].
==Suicide in the Military==
The [[United States Army]], which has about one million soldiers, reported 99 suicides in 2006, which is less than 0.01%. About half were [[soldier]]s/officers under 25. According to Colonel [[Elspeth Ritchie]], [[psychiatry]] consultant to Army Surgeon General Major General [[Gale Pollock]], the primary motivation for these suicides had nothing to do with military service, and instead were due to "failed intimate relationships, failed marriages."<ref>https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/16/AR2007081600266.html?sub=AR</ref>
== Suicide and Liberalism ==
[[Liberal]] teachings, such as accepting [[homosexuality]] and downplaying the [[sanctity of life]], are undeniably one of the major causes of suicide. Countries such as [[France]], [[Denmark]], and [[Canada]] all have much more liberal tendencies than the US as well as higher suicide rates.<ref>http://fathersforlife.org/health/who_suicide_rates.htm</ref>
== Atheism and suicide ==
''See also:'' [[Atheism and suicide]] and [[Atheism and depression]] and [[Atheism and loneliness]]
[[Image:Desperation_man.jpg |thumb|200px|right|Atheists have a higher suicide rate than [[theism|theists]].<ref>[http://www.adherents.com/misc/religion_suicide.html Adherents.com - suicide rates]</ref> ]]
[[Phil Zuckerman]] is a professor of [[sociology]] and secular studies at Pitzer College in Claremont, California (which was the first secular studies university department<ref>[https://berkleycenter.georgetown.edu/people/phil-zuckerman Phil Zuckerman], Berkley Center website</ref>). He specialization is in the sociology of [[secularity]].
The website Adherents.com reported concerning [[atheism and suicide]]:
{{cquote|Pitzer College sociologist Phil Zuckerman compiled country-by-country survey, polling and census numbers relating to atheism, agnosticism, disbelief in God and people who state they are non-religious or have no religious preference. These data were published in the chapter titled "Atheism: Contemporary Rates and Patterns" in The Cambridge Companion to Atheism, ed. by Michael Martin, Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, UK (2005). In examining various indicators of societal health, Zuckerman concludes about suicide:
"Concerning suicide rates, this is the one indicator of societal health in which religious nations fare much better than secular nations. According to the 2003 World Health Organization's report on international male suicides rates (which compared 100 countries), of the top ten nations with the highest male suicide rates, all but one (Sri Lanka) are strongly irreligious nations with high levels of atheism. It is interesting to note, however, that of the top remaining nine nations leading the world in male suicide rates, all are former Soviet/Communist nations, such as Belarus, Ukraine, and Latvia. Of the bottom ten nations with the lowest male suicide rates, all are highly religious nations with statistically insignificant levels of organic atheism."<ref>http://www.adherents.com/misc/religion_suicide.html</ref>}}
Concerning [[atheism and depression]], a University of Michigan study involving 19,775 individuals found that religious people are less likely than atheists to suffer [[depression]] when they are lonely.<ref>[https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-6136603/Lonely-religious-people-depressed-God-friend.html Lonely religious people are less depressed than atheists because they see God as a friend replacement, study finds], ''Daily Mail'', 2018</ref> See also: [[Atheism and loneliness]]
==References==