The question is, assuming there is a direct causal link between church attendance and suicide rates, which the study’s author was not prepared to declare, at least not yet, is it because the churchgoer has a fear of damnation for self-murder, or because churchgoing implies community support during times of great stress?

I, for one, am neither religious nor spiritual. I’m a Lutheran. And so I am more likely to contemplate throwing myself out a window while encouraging others that there are many good reasons to live.