(January 11, 2016 at 9:40 pm)Rhythm Wrote: Sure it does. Intentional martyrdom is suicide. Knowingly giving up one's own life for one's beliefs. You think of martyrdom as a virtue, but suicide an escape...so they can't be the same thing....ignoring that they are interchangeable in the most "virtuous" of situations, wherein the martyr fully understands the consequences of their actions.Martyrdom is not suicide - and you're right that they are not the same thing. Martyrdom is giving up your your life for something more important than one's self. True, a person can be martyred for the wrong cause such as muslim "suicide bombers". I'd say that martyrdom for sufficient cause is a virtue, while martyrdom for the wrong cause is not.
I met plenty of people who committed suicide precisely -because- they belonged to god...I met them briefly and violently, generally, at the end of their lives.
I'll agree then, that theism can lead to martyrdom for a bad cause. Although I believe that true christian martyrs are dying for the right reasons. I would think that an atheist in great suffering would be more like likely than a christian, in the same situation to commit suicide because he feels it would relieve him of his suffering. A christian would not want to go against the will of God and would also know that a better life is coming.
