Would you be willing to die for it?

[Michael]

Is any issue worth being a martyr for?

Would you risk your life to defend a principle? Would you sacrifice your life for that principle?

[partofme]

That's one of those questions nobody can really answer until they are put in the situation they are thinking of. I could say yes but then if I had to make that sort of decision may then chicken out. Then again I may say no and not see the courage in myself but then in such a situation act in a completely different way.

[Americano]

To be a martyr? No.

[The Drunk Guy]

I feel strongly that I would give my life for my right to say and believe in what I choose to. I know for a fact that I would fight for many things, but that doesn't necessarily mean I would lay down my life as a martyr.

[Michael]

I'll break the trend. I most certainly would do it, depending on the issue.

I've certainly made many similar decisions over the years. I certainly will stand on principle even when it hurts.

[dilettante]

I can certainly think of people I'd be willing to die to save or protect. I can imagine scenarios in which I'd select death over doing something I believed to be truly wrong. I suppose that might count as being willing to be "martyred", though I hadn't thought of it that way before.

However, there are quite a few principles I'd be willing to let slide in a gun-to-my-head situation. I've noticed that since getting married I've become considerably more risk-averse when it comes to life-threatening situations since someone else now depends quite a bit on my continued survival. I suppose that's a principle of a sort too.

[Donkey]

I think it might be more of a circumstantial thing.

I don't know if it makes sense, but there are circumstances in which I would be willing to die/sacrifice myself for a cause that I wouldn't otherwise do so for.

[Margot]

Martyrdom and dying for a cause are two different things. A soldier isn't a martyr, is he (or she)?

Yes, I think that there are causes that I would die for and yes, there are some others in which a showy martyrdom would probably help.

[andrewl]

Is any issue worth being a martyr for?

Would you risk your life to defend a principle? Would you sacrifice your life for that principle?

I feel that my life is already being sacrificed for other peoples principles.

Andrew

[Korimyr the Rat]

If I were capable of laying my life down for any reason, I suspect I would have done it years ago for no reason.

But I'll fight for damn near anything, knowing full well that any fight could be last.

[Donkey]

Martyrdom and dying for a cause are two different things. A soldier isn't a martyr, is he (or she)?

Yes, I think that there are causes that I would die for and yes, there are some others in which a showy martyrdom would probably help.
Anybody can die for a cause. Being a martyr requires someone surviving you who is inclined to name you as such. ;)

[Margot]

If I were capable of laying my life down for any reason, I suspect I would have done it years ago for no reason.

But I'll fight for damn near anything, knowing full well that any fight could be last.

I'm confused. How different is anything from any reason?

[Americano]

It makes me happy that some people will lay down their lives for martyrdom as every form of government requires cannon fodder in one form or another. I'll be watching from the sidelines, taking bets on chances of survival and hedging that bet.

[Donkey]

It makes me happy that some people will lay down their lives for martyrdom as every form of government requires cannon fodder in one form or another. I'll be watching from the sidelines, taking bets on chances of survival and hedging that bet.
I can almost categorically guarantee that any cause for which I would be willing to die would not be in the name of any government.

[The Drunk Guy]

I can almost categorically guarantee that any cause for which I would be willing to die would not be in the name of any government.
That is an absolute for me. Should I die fighting for something, it would be against a government, not for it. Fuck that.

[Greendruid]

My religion, as many others including the big three, is storied with the likes of martyrs. I would gladly die for the principle of the freedom of holding my beliefs and for the beliefs themselves.

[Korimyr the Rat]

I'm confused. How different is anything from any reason?

What I'm saying is I'm just too damned bloody-minded to give up my life for anything, but by the same token I'm too damned bloody-minded to not risk having my life taken from me over anything.

It's the difference between throwing yourself on top of a grenade and charging a machine-gun nest. I'm incapable of the former, and equally incapable of resisting the latter.

[Donkey]

What I'm saying is I'm just too damned bloody-minded to give up my life for anything, but by the same token I'm too damned bloody-minded to not risk having my life taken from me over anything.

It's the difference between throwing yourself on top of a grenade and charging a machine-gun nest. I'm incapable of the former, and equally incapable of resisting the latter.
That's interesting... I think I might be more capable of the former. I would certainly view it better in my moral calender.

Though as partofme said, you can never really know until you are there. Maybe I'd be more capable of charging a machine gun nest. (Or something like it, since I have a hard time seeing myself in a combat situation, for various reasons.)

[SMadsen]

Nah. Fighting to survive is all (of course, one can then engage in endless speculations of what it actually means to survive).

[Americano]

What I'm saying is I'm just too damned bloody-minded to give up my life for anything, but by the same token I'm too damned bloody-minded to not risk having my life taken from me over anything.

It's the difference between throwing yourself on top of a grenade and charging a machine-gun nest. I'm incapable of the former, and equally incapable of resisting the latter.

There is the option of not placing one's self in either position.

[Americano]

I can almost categorically guarantee that any cause for which I would be willing to die would not be in the name of any government.

That certainly thins out potential martyr actions, leaving church and personal acts of bravery to benefit another person?

[Margot]

That certainly thins out potential martyr actions, leaving church and personal acts of bravery to benefit another person?

Nah, he could be the next Che!

[Michael]

There is the option of not placing one's self in either position.
Is prudence is the better part of valor?

[Americano]

Is prudence is the better part of valor?

Circumstances would define my opinion and action(s).

[Donkey]

That certainly thins out potential martyr actions, leaving church and personal acts of bravery to benefit another person?
No. There are unlimited theoretical movements that one could sacrifice oneself for.
Nah, he could be the next Che!
Perhaps less violent.

[aaronssongs]

That's one of those questions nobody can really answer until they are put in the situation they are thinking of. I could say yes but then if I had to make that sort of decision may then chicken out. Then again I may say no and not see the courage in myself but then in such a situation act in a completely different way.

Great answer

[Sucre]

Is any issue worth being a martyr for?

Would you risk your life to defend a principle? Would you sacrifice your life for that principle?
Put the question, the other way around.

Would you accept to live the rest of your life with a stigma because you did not give your life for it ?

Obviously the stakes have to be very very very high.
I don't see that there is anything to die for in the USA at present.

[Dominick]

I agree with partofme too. It's easy to claim being able to make a real stand but when it actually happens some that usually are brave will freeze or flee while people generally viewed as complete nerds will rise to the occasion. There's no telling.

[Sucre]

I agree with partofme too. It's easy to claim being able to make a real stand but when it actually happens some that usually are brave will freeze or flee while people generally viewed as complete nerds will rise to the occasion. There's no telling.
I agree with partofme and you that it is easy to claim something before anything happens. However, I do not agree that there is no telling. With a minimum of psychology, you may say with a certain level of certainty how somebody may react to certain occurences.

I read a few years ago a very interesting book on the French resistance, the so called Resistants of the first hour, those who decided on the 18 July 1940 - and not in 1944 :rolleyes: - to listen to the call of De Gaulle (a completely unknown general) rather than the Maréchal Pétain (a highly respected Hero and patriot of WWI). It was a serie of biographies followed by short interviews. I was struck by the differences but also the similarities of these people : they all had different ages (16 to 50), social background and education level (working class to aristocrat), political views (there was a communist and a croix de feu) and sex (there was one woman in the lot), as well as life experience - However, all of them were : 1. adventurous 2. idealistic

Another example is the Scholl family, Hans and Sophie Scholl, Sophie who was beheaded at age 22 for having distributed some flyers against the Hitler regime, full of blood and very idealistic - both of them and all their friends in the Weisse Rose who died on the scaffold.

Let say that, a contrario, if you have a lymphatic and cynical personality, your chances to die for a "cause" are very low.

[Lily]

I hadn't really thought about this, but yes, I would. In fact, I suppose I have been in that position. Without going into too much detail, I was one of a number of whistleblowers in a high-profile corporate fraud case several years ago. There were millions of dollars at stake, and several very unhappy people who faced jail time. One of our number lost his life to suicide, although his wife believes to this day that he was murdered. Another of our number moved to a remote compound protected by an electric fence. We all had threatening calls, odd acts of vandalism. I was attacked and beaten to the point of unconsciouness by a pair of "muggers." They were never apprehended. I still suspect these people were hired by those unhappy with my actions. I lived in my home of several years behind a very elaborate security system.

The principle was this: once I discovered the fraud, I could not in all good conscience allow it to continue. I had to expose it for what it was. Today, even given what I experienced for those years, if a similar circumstance came about, I would take the same action.