Bill Donahue Talks About Anthony Bourdain’s Suicide
Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2018/06/08
The Friendly Atheist reported on the death of Anthony Bourdain. In particular, the popular response by the Catholic League through the spokesperson named Bill Donahue.
Only a few hours since the death of Anthony Bourdain; Bill Donahue used the “tragedy to promote his own beliefs.” Bourdain did not, as far as we know, adhere to a formal religious faith.
Bourdain grew up in a mixed-faith home with a Jewish mother and a Catholic father. However, Bourdain talked about being “raised without religion.” Bourdain stated that he felt an instinctive hostility to devotions.
That any form of certainty became an enemy with doubt and self-questioning as important to him. He would question the nature of the world regularly. Bourdain was a fan of the also late Christopher Hitchens.
Donahue argued, “If Anthony Bourdain had been a religious man, would he have killed himself? Probably not…” Bourdain committed suicide; he killed himself.
“Bourdain was raised by his Catholic father and Jewish mother, though neither of them saw fit to raise him in any religion,” Donahue continued, “In 2011, he said his views on religion were similar to those expressed by Christopher Hitchens, the British atheist. This is why the atheist organization, Freedom From Religion Foundation, was so proud of him.”
Donahue remarks that the substance abuse of Bourdain was the main driver. However, he plugs the book, The Catholic Advantage: How Health, Happiness, and Heaven Await the Faithful, which is a book by Donahue himself.
He argues, “…there is an inverse relationship between religiosity and suicide: those who are regular churchgoers have a much lower rate of suicide than atheists like Bourdain.”
The Friendly Atheist responded, “Donohue, as you’d expect, doesn’t understand what the data shows. Casting logic aside and believing in God will not cure an addiction or prevent suicide.”
That is, the involvement in things such as a community with a tight social support network for people whom one can call on in times of need become the main preventative of self-harming behaviours and even suicide.
In other words, a church or a religious group, or religion generally, is not the only solution. Friendly Atheist stated, “An atheist group, a sorority, a sports team, a improv group, etc. can all serve those purposes… Let’s not forget that studies have also shown how increased religiosity leads to higher rates of suicide for LGBTQ people, and the same holds true in different parts of the world.”
This seems, by the analysis of the article, like the use of a national idol tragedy via suicide to promote a conservative and religious agenda.
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