Do you have any beliefs, or ideals that you would die for?

I believe in my son’s right to live. I’m not certain I would die for it, but I would certainly kill for it. That being said, I could not knowingly sacrifice myself because my son only has me to look after him and I have no other close family or even close enough friends where I live, so I have to not do anything stupid to get myself killed.

I think the older I get, the more things I find that I could die for. My children or Grand children, even my faith.
I have lived an amazing life. I’ve tried to live it with purpose and meaning. My greatest hope is that when I die I will leave a legacy of purpose and meaning. If my death some day accomplishes that it would make me very happy.
I contemplate this stuff a lot. Maybe I’m morbid?

There are a few things I would risk my life for, Family and Country, foremost. But that’s not the same as strapping on a suicide vest. A lot of things we do entail risk of varying degrees. Few if any require certain death. In the final analysis, I’m not sure I could pull the trigger.

A Correctional officer in a prison recently shot himself. No one can prove it, but the rumor is that his family was threatened unless he did it. He knew something he shouldn’t have. Really sad. I intentionally left out the state and the prison because this is so scary to me.

Just my children and grand children.

Just my child i bought him into the world i would die for him.

I think most of us would lay down our lives for our children or spouse, I would fight to the death to protect Mrs Squeaky.
I was wondering about other beliefs as well.

I’m really not sure. It’s one thing to state that there are things worse than death, and quite another when forced to choose. I can state unequivocally that if there is a list of things that I will die for, that list is disappointingly short.

Not really. While there are some ideals I hold very strongly, I also believe that extremism is a dangerous thing, and nothing is more extreme than valuing a cause more than life itself.

If I’m being served steak, it should always be medium rare.

GA @jerv. It was radical religious beliefs that the 911 bombers were willing to die for.

I would die for my kids, without a moment’s hesitation.
Last night, while driving home, I was dying for a piss, beer goes straight through me.

Except for family I see no other reason to die for anything or anyone else.

As Christ died for me, I would die for Him, He did not renounce me, I WON’T renounce Him. Anyone want to kill me for that, they are doing me a favor, sending me on to glory and an eternity with Him and an escape from this cracker barrel.

Truth, justice, and the American way!

Why would you have to die for someone who’s already dead, @Hypocrisy_Central?

Comfort.

I, too, would willingly risk my life for all your kids/grandkids.

I’ve had over a half century. If pressed, I’d give the rest of my years so a baby, toddler or young life could be saved. I’m threadbare, set up the warp and weft and weave a new fabric.

My loved ones, and fairness.

@Dutchess_III Why would you have to die for someone who’s already dead, @Hypocrisy_Central?
I am not, Christ grave is not occupied, and if so, not by Him. If Christ never rose He would be no different than Mohammed, Confucius, any number of Dali Lamas you can point to, and where their bones are. That would be a tragedy for all mankind would be doomed. That is why we have Resurrection Sunday in a few days, He rose from that grave and went back to His rightful place.

@Hypocrisy_Central why and how would your all powerful god need you to die for him? and Ok… to change the question from @Dutchess III Why would you die for a zombie?

Not really. Better to stay alive and turn off the TV and fight the wrongs of capitalism.

Persecution of early Christians seems to have taught them nothing about persecuting others in their unquenchable quest to spread their dogma. If more had died instead of killed, we’d see a very different map of the world.

@Hypocrisy_Central “As Christ died for me, I would die for Him, He did not renounce me, I WON’T renounce Him. Anyone want to kill me for that, they are doing me a favor, sending me on to glory and an eternity with Him and an escape from this cracker barrel.”

Lip service. The bloody reality and injustice of that statement was seen on 9–11 and is playing out daily in the Mideast. ISIL: Either you’re with us, against all others, or you’re not true to your faith.

Easy to say when you choose not to live in an area where Christian beheadings are not routine and your primary target audience is witnessing to totally anonymous strangers over the internet. If you’re so prepared to stand in for Christ, why are you hiding your identity on-line? Do you believe Christ to be a coward? Afraid to come forth and reveal himself? Or are you afraid He won’t protect you if you come forward?

Honestly, anonymous proselytization is hypocrisy.
“If you could figure out who I was, I could show you the path to everlasting life.”
Ha, ha, ha!
What bosh.

@cazzie @Hypocrisy_Central why and how would your all powerful god need you to die for him? and Ok… to change the question from @Dutchess III Why would you die for a zombie?
He doesn’t need me to die for Him, He needed to die for me, though I was living, I was already dead.

Did you divert from the thread somehow, it is not about zombies, so I can’t entertain as asinine as that further….next….

@ibstubro Lip service. The bloody reality and injustice of that statement was seen on 9–11 and is playing out daily in the Mideast. ISIL: Either you’re with us, against all others, or you’re not true to your faith.
If you confuse my faith with ISIS, I have some land in Florida you can buy dirt cheap, however, you can only get on it twice a day when the tide is low, and you better have a good gator gun.

If you’re so prepared to stand in for Christ, why are you hiding your identity on-line?
Everyone here is using their true birth name? I am not hiding, if everyone wants to use their true name, I say lets go. Don’t try to put a requirement on me you are not going to require of everyone else. As the Joker said to Batman, “I am willing to put away my makeup, let’s see if you are willing to put away yours”.

Honestly, anonymous proselytization is hypocrisy.
Yeah, asking ONE person to not use a moniker while not rebuking the rest…..that sure sound like hypocrisy to me…..

ISIS and Christianity have the same founding father.

It is about a zombie, because zombies come back from the dead, as you say Jesus did. I stand on scientific impossibility on that one, and much of the rest.

I do not confuse your faith with ISIL, @Hypocrisy_Central. I compare the hypocrisy, intolerance, and single-minded devotions that the Christian and Muslim religions share.

I don’t believe that anyone else on Fluther has identified themselves so fervently with an ideology that they are willing to die for it. Are you saying that Christ, were he alive today, would be hosting an anonymous blog instead of hosting a website?

“Honestly, anonymous proselytization is hypocrisy.”
How can I frame this in a Christian way?
Putting the cookies on the lowest shelf, no one else here is proselytizing – or pretending the martyr – for advocating their religious beliefs.
If you want to represent your faith in Jesus, your faith is absolute, and you believe know God is in your corner, reveal yourself. Post contact information. Is your faith in your God weak? He can’t/won’t protect you from internet challenges?

@Dutchess_III It is about a zombie, because zombies come back from the dead, as you say Jesus did.
If the same grain of comparison were used by anyone on this site to convey how they felt about certain lifestyles, people would get their feelings hurt and felt they were insulted and run to the mods to ban that person. But I guess it is OK to insult someone’s faith and blanket indict all of them as brainwashed, crazy zealots, or homicidal fanatic.

@ibstubro Putting the cookies on the lowest shelf, no one else here is proselytizing – or pretending the martyr – for advocating their religious beliefs.
People here proselytize; they just do it for redacted, but do so none the less. I am not preaching anything, if someone insults my faith, my Lord, by Brethren I will say something in defense, everyone here does likewise but for…..let’s say, other things.

If you want to represent your faith in Jesus, your faith is absolute, and you believe know God is in your corner, reveal yourself. Post contact information. Is your faith in your God weak?
My faith is intact; I am willing to die for my faith. What are you willing to die for? And why will you die for it when you will not even know you died for it once you died for it? Satisfying your hypocritical whim (_ I have yet to see you make such a request or requirement of anyone else_), has nothing to do with my faith or lack of it.

this one devolved pretty fast

You weren’t born that way. You admittedly work very hard at being Christian. You choose your belief. Some things you are desperate to compare yourself with aren’t.

What @jerv said. I might die for a person or several people…maybe…but never for a belief or an ideal. That’s just mad.

I guess we’ve come a long ways from our roots.

Patrick Henry said – “Give me Liberty or Give me Death”.

New Hampshire State Motto is – “live Free or Die”

Johm Adams said – “I must study politics and war that my sons may have liberty to study mathematics and philosophy.”

Pancho Villa said – “My sole ambition is to rid Mexico of the class that has oppressed her and given the people a chance to know what real liberty means. And if I could bring that about today by giving up my life, I would do it gladly.”

Barry Goldwater said – “Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice. And moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue.”

And it’s beginning to sound like Benito Mussolini got it right when he said – “The truth is that men are tired of liberty.”

Kinda makes me sad.

@Jaxk If we still live in a world were we must die for one iota of freedom, then those that did die before us died for nothing. It is why America pays all that money in their ‘Defense’ budget and why they have so many lawyers. they have seen fit to bankrupt themselves with their ‘Defense’ and strangle themselves in a legal system that serves noone but the most wealthy. Well done. Lives Well Sacrificed.

Liberty and Freedom are things that must be continuously fought for lest they slip away. that’s what Thomas Jefferson was referring to when he said “The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.” We’ve been in a long struggle to retain the liberties won in founding of this country. “I weep for the liberty of my country when I see at this early day of its successful experiment that corruption has been imputed to many members of the House of Representatives, and the rights of the people have been bartered for promises of office.” – Andrew Jackson.

@cazzie You weren’t born that way. You admittedly work very hard at being Christian. You choose your belief.
No one is born anyway but healthy or unhealthy. I chose to follow the truth, I did not really know the truth until I was willing to find it. When I did that the eyes of my understanding were enlightened.

@Symbeline What @jerv said. I might die for a person or several people…maybe…but never for a belief or an ideal. That’s just mad.
Then there are a lot of mad people in this world, for they fought many wars for such, and died at the hands of government s or oppressors for the same also.

What you’re talking about is a cause. Sure they’re based on beliefs or ideals but it’s still not the same. Die for a life or for your country. If someone came to invade Canada, I’d volunteer for defence, or wtv else I could do to help. Not a fighter or a soldier here, but I would apply whatever I can do that they think would be useful. But I wouldn’t go invade some country if my government told me to. What I’m trying to say is that an action you do or don’t do doesn’t need its motivation to be installed in your mind beforehand, like beliefs are.

Parents would die for their children, and nobody needs to tell them that or teach it to them. And that’s what beliefs are, drilled in the mind beforehand, unlike a cause, at least directly anyway. Although I suppose all this can be viewed differently depending on country and culture.

Interesting…just healthy, eh? So I wasn’t born female. I chose that. My bestie wasn’t born with her brown skin. She chose that. My step son wasn’t born with autism. He chose that.

I’m still not really getting what @Hypocrisy_Central is advocating. It sounds like he is signing up for some sort of battle or war where he would be killed by someone because of his faith. Do all Christians walk around expecting to be killed because of their faith or just the really faithful ones? I’m sure there’s a word for it….. anyone? Anyone? http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2014/08/the-evangelical-persecution-complex/375506/

Hell, the fanatics call someone arguing with them “persecution.”

Very, very interesting article @cazzie.

@cazzie I’m still not really getting what @Hypocrisy_Central is advocating
Until you are open to having the eyes of your understanding enlightened you never will.
1 Corinthians 1:18
18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

It sounds like he is signing up for some sort of battle or war where he would be killed by someone because of his faith.
Once again, big swing…….. and a miss.

@Hypocrisy_Central The main reason (not the only reason) you’re getting so much pushback here is that you’ve said vehemently that you would “die for” Jesus, but no one can imagine a scenario in which that could happen. From what you describe, it sounds like you equate other people not believing in Christ with having your life threatened. This is why people are asking for examples of what you mean.

Personally, I have never made a decision about this, because this is one of those cases where I just don’t believe the hypothetical carries enough weight to determine what my answer would be.

Could I throw myself in front of a bullet or a moving car to save another life? I cannot honestly answer that question. I would need to decide in the moment. I might say that I would never sign up to be a soldier – but then, perhaps there could be circumstances so horrific that that choice could be plausible. All I can answer is that right now, there is nothing I would choose to die for.

^^^^ What she said.

@dappled_leaves The main reason (not the only reason) you’re getting so much pushback here is that you’ve said vehemently that you would “die for” Jesus, but no one can imagine a scenario in which that could happen.
Let me break it down to you. In this nation (being the US) I do not see where I would be faced with the choice of God or death (at least not YET, but that day will come). If I took a vacation overseas, who knows what would happen. Extremist could take over the hotel, put it to all guess to denounce God and blaspheme Christ or have your head lifted from your body, in such a case I WILL DEMAND THEY TAKE MY HEAD. To save this life which is just a vapor, I would never do it. This is nothing compared to eternity. Why would I want to forfeit a glorious eternity for a janky life on this cracker barrel (and dare I say it), the type of inhabitants on it. I don’t feel threatened walking the streets of the US as a Christian, we still try to pretend to be a Godly nation. If I were anywhere in the world and some nutjob tells me I have to denounce Christ to save my soul, I say bump me off, hopefully quick so I don’t suffer, but if I do, they are doing me a favor, I would not be dying I would be transitioning from this life to eternity.

@Hypocrisy_Central If you are planning a vacation this Spring, I hear Kenya is lovely this time of year. I highly recommend it.

@Hypocrisy_Central “Let me break it down to you. In this nation (being the US) I do not see where I would be faced with the choice of God or death (at least not YET, but that day will come). If I took a vacation overseas, who knows what would happen. Extremist could take over the hotel, put it to all guess to denounce God and blaspheme Christ or have your head lifted from your body, in such a case I WILL DEMAND THEY TAKE MY HEAD. ”

Thank you – this is a perfect illustration of your reason for saying “Yes” to the original question. Hopefully, that will make it clearer for other readers.

Huh.

@cazzie If you are planning a vacation this Spring, I hear Kenya is lovely this time of year. I highly recommend it.
Maybe if you are footing the bill. When you want to book it 5 star, all expenses paid, with an American Express Platinum Card at my disposal, just tell me what flight I am on.