Originally posted by twhitehead
You could say the same about many human rights activists. Some people are willing to die for their beliefs.
But whether or not 'suicide' is the correct word is debatable.
Are all soldiers suicidal because they put their lives at risk? Clearly some are (suicide bombers, Kamikaze) and are often named so.
Once could say 'it would be suicide to rob that b ...[text shortened]... suicide, what difference does that make ie what conclusions do you wish to draw from the label?
Interesting question.
Suicide is, in my understanding, to do an act that leads to ones own death. Putting a bullet in ones head is certainly a suicide. Standing in front of a train is also suicide even if you just avoid going aside when the train comes.
It is suicide if you threat a police with a gun and he shoots you to death, and that is your very plan.
I don't think that a soldier is committing suicide just to expose himself for a risk, because he intend to come home eventually. Same goes for robbing a bank. If you are sure that you will die in there and still decide to give it a shot (sorry) give it a try. If you die it was a fault in your plan, and not a planned suicide.
So if you know you will die and do it anyway, then it is suicide.
How about Jesus, was he suicidal? Let's study the case:
The prophecy said what would going to happen. He could avoid it, but he didn't. He went willingly to his own death. Yes, I would say that this was the elements for a suicide, so suicide it was.
Religiously we could say that he sacrificed his life to mankinds sins and all, and because of that it wasn't a suicide. But for any other person it would be a clear suicide because he could avoid it if he wanted to, but he didn't.