Think back with me to a time when your life really sucked. Life sucked so bad that you didn't want to be alive (preferably; if your life has never been that bad, or you're just not defeatist enough to be able to reach the point where you wish you weren't alive, just call to mind the worst day of your life and exaggerate that until you think to yourself, "You know, I would rather die than go through that again"). Well, if you're reading this you're obviously still alive and successfully made it through that awful period of your life. However, keeping in mind that awful, awful, painful, grueling, excruciating time in your past, consider amongst yourself the odds of your being with us today if martyrdom had been a feasible option. If you could have liberated yourself from your anguish under the premise that you would be dying for the sake of something bigger than yourself, would you have?
Within pretty much every religion, martyrdom is seen as noble and selfless. Of course, almost everyone outside of religion sees martyrdom as fucking retarded. What few people realize is that martyrdom, aside from being intuitively silly, is quite the opposite of what religion purports it to be. Martyrdom is inherently selfish.
Now, before I continue, let me clarify my definition of "martyr" for this piece. The first definition of "martyr" in Webster's II New College Dictionary, which will be the working definition for this piece, is "one who chooses to die rather than renounce religious principles." There is a key distinction between the martyr whom was murdered and the martyr whom chose to die. I highlight this distinction because nowadays pretty much anyone who dies for a cause, religious or otherwise, seems to be considered a martyr.
Now that we are clear on what constitutes a martyr, let us explore the implications of martyrdom. There are a few things that can be inferred about every martyr. First of all, every martyr was in a religion where denouncing ones faith results in eternal damnation. Secondly, every martyr, at the time of death, was in the custody of someone or some group that did not approve of his faith. Thirdly, every martyr chose death over the renouncing of ones faith. To a naive and/or ignorant few, such a courageous act of faith and defiance may seem admirable, just as religion would like it to seem. However, when we examine the winners and losers of a martyrdom situation, a much different picture is painted.
When a person is made into a martyr -- rather, when a person makes himself into a martyr by choice -- there are a few things of which we can be certain. The first of all is that the martyr is dead, resulting in one less proponent of that person's religion; the enemy of the martyr's religion wins. The second certainty is that because the martyr is dead, he can no longer actively promote his or her religion; the enemy of the martyr's religion wins. Third of all, religious proponents maintain that, while a martyr can no longer actively promote his religion, his willingness to die proves the validity of their faith and works to strengthen the faith of other followers. That's probably correct, but what does that add up to? More people who are willing to die? The enemy of the martyr's religion wins. The fourth certainty is that, while the creation of a martyr may indeed work to strengthen the faith of other followers, it will also deter those same followers to some degree from promoting their religion; the enemy of the martyr's religion wins. Fifth of all, not only does a person become actively useless to his religion when martyred, but he also becomes actively useless to any family, friends, or other loved ones; those whom were close to the martyr lose. Sixth of all, assuming that the religion of the martyr is one that embraces social justice efforts, the martyr is also actively useless to any such effort; those who can't fend for themselves lose. Finally, the martyr is rewarded in the after-life for his unwavering faith; the martyr wins.
After considering the full consequences of martyrdom, it does not seem so admirable after all. As far as can be seen, the only winners of martyrdom are the martyr himself and the person or group that killed him. The losers are the martyr's religion, which no longer has him as a proponent; the martyr's loved ones, who no longer have him to depend on; and the millions of helplessly exploited people around the world, whom he can longer speak for.
Looking at the winners and losers of martyrdom in terms of positives and negatives, it is evident that the only positive consequence of martyrdom is that the martyr himself is rewarded in the after-life. Every other consequence is a negative one. Therefore, by choosing to die rather than renounce religious principles, a person is acting selfishly.
The thing about religion that has always baffled me is the fact martyrdom is widely seen as "the ultimate sacrifice." What exactly is a martyr sacrificing, though? Where, in the transition from a painful and meager existence on earth to an eternal bliss, is there sacrifice? It seems to me that the only real sacrifice is associated with the risk of being wrong, but otherwise it is simply an upgrade, not a sacrifice. With that in mind, if a religious person is so confident in the genuineness of his faith that he is sure of some type of heaven awaiting him after death, why would he waste any time in getting there? If all religious people are awaiting a heavenly after-life, and all religious people have enemies who wish to see them dead, why not create a mutual martyrdom program? Let all the non-religious make martyrs of all the religious; it would make everyone happy. All the religious would be in some form of heaven, and all the non-religious would have the godless earth to themselves. From an individualist point of view, martyrdom is beneficial; there is no sacrifice involved. Commutatively, martyrdom is purely individualistic.
The question remains -- if you could have liberated yourself from your anguish under the premise that you would be dying for the sake of something bigger than yourself, would you have? Martyrdom is the third option. It allows for the acceptable conscious approval of ones own death -- in essence, suicide with a perk.
© 2006 Pflanzenfaser