Breathe
Hostis humani generis
Bit of a broad brush there.
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Would You Die for Your Beliefs?
- Thread starter Kilgore Trout
- Start date
blackout
Violet.
I believe it's generally smart to humor the guy with the gun to your head.
Unless you really just don't care.
What exactly is the guy with the gun telling me i have to profess belief in?
Do i have to do anything to prove it?
or can I just say yeah yeah,
and then go home.
I also believe the guy with the gun is a nutcase,
and should probably be locked up.
(or shot in the head)
I could easily SAY that I prefer green to purple,
with no guilt qualms,
but if i have to re-dye my hair emerald...... :149:
Unless you really just don't care.
What exactly is the guy with the gun telling me i have to profess belief in?
Do i have to do anything to prove it?
or can I just say yeah yeah,
and then go home.
I also believe the guy with the gun is a nutcase,
and should probably be locked up.
(or shot in the head)
I could easily SAY that I prefer green to purple,
with no guilt qualms,
but if i have to re-dye my hair emerald...... :149:
Last edited:
Photonic
Ad astra!
Bit of a broad brush there.
It would be if I wasn't asking a sincere question.
Yes, immediately. I would want to live. Besides it's what i feel inside that matters.
I never really understood why people would force others to swear to a different belief. Technically, if god is all knowing, then he would know you true desires, which means he'd know you're lying.
Plus, if you believe that people who don't worship your god will go to hell then why bother putting yourself through the trouble of converting them? Why not just wait for them to die if you're so sure of your religion.
I think that people who force their view upon others, don't have real faith in it themselves.
CynthiaCypher
Well-Known Member
If it were only a gun toting madman I would lie. But if it were a despotic tyrannical government deranged with power that demanded that I renounce my ideals and belief and accept want they told me to believe and demanded I march goosestep with the rest, I would take the bullet. Because I would rather be dead than be a slave. Give me liberty or give me death
CynthiaCypher
Well-Known Member
Seriously people if your government tried to strip you of your fundamental freedoms and demanded that you obey it without question would you just go along just so you could live another day as slave? Wouldn't you protest? Wouldn't you resist it?
dyanaprajna2011
Dharmapala
This question is an interesting one for Buddhists. I have read that in Buddhism, it's considered silly to die for one's beliefs, especially since Buddhism is a non-dogmatic religion, and accepts the validity of other belief systems. In Buddhism, the most important thing is how one acts.
CynthiaCypher
Well-Known Member
So the martyrdom of Thich Quang Duc is considered silly by Buddhist?
Breathe
Hostis humani generis
dyanaprajna2011
Dharmapala
There's no real general consensus amongst Buddhists about the role martyrdom plays. Different schools have different thoughts. However, as a general rule, martyrdom is better avoided.
lunakilo
Well-Known Member
I think I would if necessary die for what I believe in.
I don't mean my religious belifs (since I don't really have any) but if something was important enough for me I think it is possible that I would value it higher than my own life.
I value my life, and they are only telling me to SAY what they want me to say. Just because I say that xxx doesn't make it true.
I would say that i this case it really depends on the specific circumstanses.
I am still leaning towards renouncing my belifs since people should be smart enough to figure out that I am only doing so because I value my life.
I don't mean my religious belifs (since I don't really have any) but if something was important enough for me I think it is possible that I would value it higher than my own life.
Probably.
I value my life, and they are only telling me to SAY what they want me to say. Just because I say that xxx doesn't make it true.
Now it is not just about me anymore. My decision effects millions of people.
I would say that i this case it really depends on the specific circumstanses.
I am still leaning towards renouncing my belifs since people should be smart enough to figure out that I am only doing so because I value my life.
No. At least not as I understand the meaning of the word.
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Terrywoodenpic
Oldest Heretic
the courage of the martyrs amazes me.
They truly believed that denying their faith would lead them to hell.
However I do not believe that would ever be the case. That you are forced into recanting a belief, does not mean anything, if you still believe in your heart.
There come a time when a whole population of religious group is threatened. Then making a stand can give others strength to overcome the oppressor.
Could I do it? I have no Idea.
They truly believed that denying their faith would lead them to hell.
However I do not believe that would ever be the case. That you are forced into recanting a belief, does not mean anything, if you still believe in your heart.
There come a time when a whole population of religious group is threatened. Then making a stand can give others strength to overcome the oppressor.
Could I do it? I have no Idea.
Erebus
Well-Known Member
Heh, I wouldn't even put my beliefs on a job application form. My altar can be easily disassembled if I'm expecting guests. I have a hidden drawer to keep my occult books and paraphernalia hidden.
Rational self preservation is more appealing than martyrdom to me
tarekabdo12
Active Member
I'd tell him OK, them nothing happens. Islam says that's the matter of the heart not what the tongue says. However, saying yes doesn't mean you deserted your religion, it only means that you are facing a stupid person who doesn't understand what religion is. Be wise and keep your life, you didn't leave your belief at all. After it ends, return as if nothing happened.
Satyamavejayanti
Well-Known Member
I will not renounce my faith, because i believe in dying for truth, not living a lie.
Still wount renounce it.
Ill just be glad to be on TV
yes, to get your view across, and to inspire the next generation.
strikeviperMKII
Well-Known Member
Am I ready to let go of everything? No, I'm not. I haven't died enough yet to face a physical death.
Possibly, I would be less inclined to do exactly as the man says. Twist it a little, yes, but not an outright answer. That would be the ego talking, I think. To impress people watching. Perhaps I'd do it just for the man pointing the gun.
If I cooperated with the intention of surviving, only surviving, then it would mean I still have some dying to do. If I cooperated because I believed that I was helping the man more than myself, then I think I'd be that much closer to letting go completely.
As Jesus said, let the dead bury the dead. Death has value for the one dying, but it can be use as an example for others i.e. the resurrection. Seeing that death, understanding that death does not have any value unless you yourself go through that death. You can understand the how, the what and the why even the when, but never actually get any closer to its value unless you taste and see.
InChrist
Free4ever
I would die rather than renounce Jesus Christ. He is not simply a belief to me, but a Living Person and Savior who gave His life for my eternal life. I prefer not to die by a gun to the head, but hope that I would value Him more than this temporal life and enough that I would not renounce Him if faced with the situation above.
St Giordano Bruno
Well-Known Member
I see absolutely no point in dying for your beliefs for the simple reason you will not remember them after you die anyway. If you describe yourself as an Atheist, Muslim, a Christian or some other very obscure philosophy, that label will die with you. If someone held a gun against my head and said "convert or else" I would just simply lie to that person because it would totally false conversion under such extreme duress, but quietly I would still stick to my own beliefs because if he happens to shoot me I would not remember them at all and what would be the point in that?
Etritonakin
Well-Known Member
I would not renounce my beliefs -but those who do such things are usually more subtle and indirect.
For example... would you lie, kill, steal, etc., if told to do so, and the gun was pointed at someone else?
What if the threat was constant -not a one-time event?
That's where true faith comes in -rather than being ruled by fear.
There are some things which are negligible, but at some point you have to draw the line and realize those who threaten are not ultimately in control of the outcome -and that you are not responsible for what might become of those they threaten if you do not compromise. Even if one has some faith, fear and evil seek to confuse, create uncertainty and move the line back ever so slowly while one doesn't even realize they have been turned from their beliefs.
Daniel and his friends refused the king -and their lives were under threat. If the threat was upon one if the other refused, it is doubtful they would have submitted even then.
Few are willing to "risk it" -but this leads to being slaves of fear.
One should be certain that they are sincerely seeking God and his righteousness before being in such a situation. If you are going to refuse man, you'd better be in good graces with God.
For example... would you lie, kill, steal, etc., if told to do so, and the gun was pointed at someone else?
What if the threat was constant -not a one-time event?
That's where true faith comes in -rather than being ruled by fear.
There are some things which are negligible, but at some point you have to draw the line and realize those who threaten are not ultimately in control of the outcome -and that you are not responsible for what might become of those they threaten if you do not compromise. Even if one has some faith, fear and evil seek to confuse, create uncertainty and move the line back ever so slowly while one doesn't even realize they have been turned from their beliefs.
Daniel and his friends refused the king -and their lives were under threat. If the threat was upon one if the other refused, it is doubtful they would have submitted even then.
Few are willing to "risk it" -but this leads to being slaves of fear.
One should be certain that they are sincerely seeking God and his righteousness before being in such a situation. If you are going to refuse man, you'd better be in good graces with God.