Another View on Robin Williams

It seems to me that a lot of the posts and articles that I’ve read concerning Robin Williams’ tragic death speak to him “being in a better place” and “being free” and “hoping he finds peace”.  Does this trouble anyone as much as it troubles me?  From a spiritual standpoint there is really no evidence that I could find that Robin Williams had ever received Jesus Christ as his Savior; receiving forgiveness of his sin and eternal life.  Yes, he was raised in an Episcopal church but I have yet to find any quotes from him or anyone who could testify to Williams having faith in Jesus Christ.  As such, can we really have much hope that he is in heaven?  I don’t see how that is possible though one can only hope that in his last moments he turned to Jesus.

Second, what bothers me is the lack of balanced discussion of the damage that suicide does to all those who are left behind.  What can we expect those who might be currently contemplating suicide to think when they read of Williams “being free” and “finding peace”?  I will leave others to debate the freedom and peace of suicide, but at least there should be some discussion on the horrible choice that suicide is for all those involved.  Some might say “but now is not the time for that.  That can come later”.  I understand that point but those who might be affected by the lack of frank discussion of suicide will not likely be reading those articles…they are interested now and most likely won’t be later.  I fear this is similar to how the claim of guilt for someone is front page news but when the person is found innocent, it is on page 26.

The follower of Jesus needs to be able to frankly discuss the reality of hell as well as heaven.  Like everyone else, I hope that Robin Williams is in the presence of God in heaven but I can’t find any evidence to indicate this.  I think that for followers of Jesus not to make this reality part of the discussion is negligence on our part.

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