Suicide

Ernie Rea chairs Radio 4's discussion programme in which guests from different faith and non-faith perspectives debate the challenges of today's world. Each week a panel is assembled to represent a diversity of views and opinions, which often reveal hidden, complex and sometimes contradictory understandings of the world around us. In this programme, Ernie and guests discuss how suicide is understood in Christian, Muslim and Hindu communities. Why do people want to take their own lives? What do the faiths say about suicide? And why does having a faith make you less vulnerable to suicide, as the evidence suggests it does? Joining Ernie to discuss suicide is the Rev Dr Mike Parsons, principal of the West of England Ministerial Training Course and author of "Suicide and the Church"; Raana Bokhari, doctoral student in the Department of Religious Studies at Lancaster University; and Dr Chetna Kang, a consultant psychiatrist and Hindu pastor. The panel hear from the Reverend Alan Smith, an Anglican priest, whose daughter, Sarah, took her own life in January 2007. Producer: Karen Maurice.