Golden Gate Bridge Suicide Net

It has been said that San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge has “hosted about 1,600 suicides” in its history, according to a recent article. This has led to the Board of Directors for the bridge to start a $76 Million project to install a 20-foot wide, steel “safety net” on either side of the bridge to catch anybody trying to jump off the bridge. While suicide is a serious subject, this idea to install a “safety net” is a colossal waste of money and, in my opinion, doesn’t address the real problem. Similarly, in the wake of all the mass shootings, in particular at schools around the country, many local governments have what are called, “Gun Free Zones.” This is designed to prevent any “unauthorized” individual from “knowingly possessing a firearm” at a location designated as a “Gun Free Zone.” Again, this may not save any lives and is not addressing the real problem. The obvious question to ask regarding both the “safety net” issue and the “Gun Free Zone” is “Does a person intending on killing themselves not want to commit suicide because a net is installed?” Also, does an individual planning a mass shooting at a school, or any other place, stop and say, “I want to commit this crime, but the law says I can’t carry a gun on the premises.” Of course they don’t. An individual wanting to take their life or the lives of others will find a way to do so regardless of the presence of a “safety net” or a “Gun Free Zone.” The real problem that needs to be addressed is the issue of the human heart in these cases. Does anybody stop and ask, “Why did 1,600 people commit suicide by jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge?” Does anybody stop and ask, “Why do people walk onto schoolyards and murder innocent men, women and children?” It isn’t because there is a bridge to jump off of or a gun available. 

We live in a world where people have unrealistic expectations about life and have misplaced dependencies on the people, places and things in their lives. They are looking for unconditional love, acceptance, meaning and purpose from these things and when they do not get them or get them and realize their desires are still not satisfied, it can lead to things like suicide and murder. Jesus said, “Are you also still without understanding? Do you not yet understand that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and is eliminated? But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies. These are the things which defile a man... (Matthew 15:16-20).” It is what comes from our heart that defiles us. It is from our heart where evil thoughts like murder and suicide come from. Our hearts were designed to need things like unconditional love, total acceptance, meaning and purpose to life. God gave us these desires, but He, through the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit, the very life of God, is the only one that can meet those desires. Trying to get those needs met from anything other than Him is sin and may lead to terrible decisions that lead to things like suicide and murder. Only when a person becomes born again of the Spirit of God through faith in Jesus Christ can they even begin to have the desires of their heart met. When a person has their heart changed through an encounter with the living God there will not be a need for a “safety net” or a “Gun Free Zone” because when God is loving you the way He created you to be loved, the last thing on your mind will be to take your own life or the life of an innocent person.