Am I garbage?

Taking care of our words.

While writing about Logan Paul, I searched for a link about his encounter with the body of a suicide victim which he posted on Youtube.

The story included Tweets angry at Paul:

“logan paul exploited a persons suicide and FILMED the body after knowing the person was actually dead. if you stan that, youre disgusting. logan paul is disgusting.”

“It is important to discuss mental illness, suicide awareness, and suicide prevention in a way that can help & educate people. Logan Paul is a disrespectful piece of garbage who further glorified something horrible under the guise of "there's help for you." Take action, @YouTube.”

I see a genuinely sad irony in tweets like this.

How many people who’ve attempted or committed suicide thought of themselves as “disgusting” and a “piece of garbage?” How many have been told that at some point in their life?

What is garbage anyway, but a worthless object, something that literally has no value?

Feelings of worthlessness can be a motivating factor in suicide. As Alex Lickerman, M.D. observes, people with severe Depression allow “ideas like, ‘Everyone would all be better off without me’ to make rational sense.”

Paul’s decision to post the video was immature (he was 22 at the time), narcissistic, tasteless, hurtful to the family of the victim, and painful to others who’ve lost loved ones to suicide.

You could say the video was disgusting. You could say posting it was a garbage move.

But can you really say that Logan Paul is himself a disgusting person? That he’s a piece of garbage?

If so, are you therefore suggesting the world would be better off without Logan Paul? Isn’t that implying that he himself might as well commit suicide?

We’ve all made mistakes that caused emotional pain in others. Those who’ve committed suicide are no exception. In their lifetimes, they made mistakes. Perhaps guilt and shame about past sins was a motivating factor for some of them.

But our sins don’t diminish our humanity. Our sins don’t diminish our value.

Paul’s mistake was his flippant behavior after discovering the body, which diminished the humanity of the victim. Criticism of his mistake shouldn’t include diminishing his own worth, his own humanity.

I suggest we be careful with our words, whether spoken in person or written in social media. If you don’t really believe someone’s garbage, then don’t let your anger give you permission to say it. People are listening. People are reading. They might think it’s therefore okay to view others as garbage. And the cycle of conflict and violence will continue.

We want to be valued despite our mistakes. We must learn to value others, even if we think they’ve made bigger mistakes. We must forgive if we want to be forgiven. That’s why we should be conscious of the words we use when we’re angry.

That might not bring about world peace, but it will bring more peace in your world.

And who knows? Maybe more suicides will be prevented.

James Leroy Wilson writes from Nebraska. Follow him on Facebook and Twitter. If you find value in his articles, subscribe. Your support through Paypal helps keep him going. You may contact him for your writing, editing, and research needs: jamesleroywilson-at-gmail.com. Permission to reprint is granted with attribution.