Are Your Beliefs Worth Dying For?

[MrPresident]

Think about one of your most strongest beliefs in life. It could be religious, it could be poltical, it could be personal, it could be about tinned fruit. It doesn't matter. Now you have your belief if it was threatened would you be prepared to sacrifice your life for it? At this point many of you will think about the terrorists etc. This question is kind of about that situation. I was wondering how many people are actually prepared to give up their life for their beliefs. Or are people prepared to give up their strongest belief in exchange for life. If you want an example then, imagine you are a German citizen during Hitler's Third Reich. You discover the Holocaust, are you prepared to speak out with the threat of you yourself being sent to a concentration camp? If you don't need an example then please ignore. So what would you do?

 

[knowltok2]

I voted yes. Not because I am willing to stand up and be killed for a belief, but because I am willing to risk death in combatting something I feel strongly about.

Using your example, I would be willing to hide and aid fugitives from the SS, but I wouldn't just march down to the local office and start attacking them, or even telling them what I thought.

That said, it is very easy to answer this question in terms of what you think you will do, but almost impossible to answer in terms of what you really would do. Until in the situation it is impossible to know for sure.

 

[VoodooAce]

I like to believe so.

Certainly to protect certain freedoms....the true evil of the real axis in ww2, etc...

 

[Mr Spice]

If one can say that I believe in anything it would be "freedom", ie democratic and human rights and stuff. If I had to risk my life to defend it I would probably do so.

 

[Padma]

I spent over 23 years in the U.S. Armed Forces, over 20 yrs active duty. I guess that means there are at least some things I believe in strongly enough to be willing to put my life on the line.

Knowltok was correct when he said there is a difference between risking death and basically painting a target on your forehead.

Of course, no one knows until the situation arises just what he/she will do. We like to think we will do 'the right thing', whatever that may be, but as any combat veteran can tell you, until the bullets start zipping past your ears, you will never know how you will react.

 

[Hitro]

I also voted yes.
But as I have never been in that situation (obviously), I can't be 100% sure what would happen. As knowltok said, it's also very much about the way. I would risk my life for my basic beliefs and principles but I would not do something like for example a suicide bombing. I guess most atheists wouldn't, simply because they don't believe they get rewarded for it, which is what drives most people who do such things.
Anyway, I'm very sure that in extreme situations (like the Third Reich) I would risk or even give my life for my beliefs. The question everyone has to ask himself is: Where does it start and how much can I accept?

 

[ComradeDavo]

Yes, I would most definetly be willing to die for something I strongly believed in.

 

[Pellaken]

I wouldent die in the name of freedom, but I would die for my country.

 

[andycapp]

I have strong beliefs which I think are worth dying for, whether I would when put to the test is a big unknown.

Interestingly, most personal accounts I have read of soldiers at war suggest little interest in dying for nebulous beliefs rather a preparedness to sacrifice themselves for their mates.

 

[BlueMonday]

I don't have beliefs stroung enough in anything tha would make them worth dying for.

If my pastor asked me to die for her, I'd say "F-that!"
If my country asked me to die for it, I'd ask "Why?" and might do it.
If my friends needed it, I'd be there in a heart beat.
If my family or my love asked for it, I'd be there in a heart beat.

*of course, I would do my best not to die and instead make the other bastard die for whatever he wants to die for. But one thing is for sure, if you attack me, my friends, my family, or my special lady your ass had better hope that I don't kill you because I most certainly will try.

 

[andycapp]

Originally posted by BlueMonday
If my friends needed it, I'd be there in a heart beat.
If my family or my love asked for it, I'd be there in a heart beat.

I agree with you Blue, I think it is a more likely and natural human reaction to be prepared to sacrifice yourself for those you love. It is easy to say that you would be prepared to die for a belief - doing, I suspect is a different matter.

 

[Hitro]

Originally posted by BlueMonday
I don't have beliefs stroung enough in anything tha would make them worth dying for.

If my friends needed it, I'd be there in a heart beat.
If my family or my love asked for it, I'd be there in a heart beat.

Isn't your love or friendship for your loved ones or friends in a way a belief? A very strong one indeed? I mean, a true egoist for example wouldn't think so nor act like that.

I wouldn't die for religious beliefs (as I have none) nor for "my" country, nevertheless there are things I would die for, and I consider (some of) them beliefs.

 

[CurtSibling]

Being a Scot, I am deadly serious when I say I would fight to defend my freedom...

To speak when I want and to say whatever I want,
To dress whatever way I wish, as a rocker for instance,
To have any opinion I wish, the one I give right now...
To protect my family and allies,
To defend my music and way of life.

Yes, if some religious or totalitarian freak tried to lay the law on
me about the way I should live,
I would invoke the ancient Scottish battlecry;
"Gerritupye!"

I would honestly never submit to
conformo-christian brain-wash programming...

Live free, die free!

 

[Ohwell]

I would die to protect my freedom. In fact I am willing to die for many things, one of which is not the country I live in. Dying for a country is just another crazy nationalistic wish.

My beliefs are changeable, but I would fight to defend the more inportant values.

 

[amadeus]

I wouldn't die for my beliefs...

I'd make the other sorry son of a ***** die for his.

 

[Apollo]

Originally posted by rmsharpe
I wouldn't die for my beliefs...

I'd make the other sorry son of a ***** die for his.

So you're saying that your beliefs aren't worth dying for, but they are worth killing for? That's the other side of this coin.

 

[Pellaken]

Originally posted by rmsharpe
I wouldn't die for my beliefs...

I'd make the other sorry son of a ***** die for his.

never thought I'd say these 3 words in the same sentance, but: rmsharpe, I agree!

 

[scorch]

i would.

if the sacrifice of my body was to stop world famine, or save all the little chinese boys from being exploited by nike or whatever i would.

 

[Sparrowhawk]

I voted yes. I probably wouldn't risk my life for my country per say, unless by fighting for my country I was in fact fighting for something else I believed in. I personally find the concept of risking my life for religious beliefs absurd, but that's just me.

It's hard to draw a line, really. As Padma and knowl2k mentioned earlier, there is a difference between risking one's life and sacrificing it knowingly.

There are a whole lot of things I'd risk my life for. There are also some things I would sacrifice myself willingly for. I'd die for my close friends, I'd die to save a species. Let's hope it doesn't come to that.

 

[Hamlet]

Originally posted by rmsharpe
I wouldn't die for my beliefs...

OMG IT'S GENERAL PATTON REINCARNATED!!!!!!!

I would die for my beliefs, yes.