> > Did you know that young Arab men living in Israel's
> >Gaza Strip and the West Bank are guaranteed forty virgin wives and a
> >palace in Heaven if they die as a martyr?
>
> They're fanatics for the most part, so I don't count them. Dying for your
> convictions is one thing, actively seeking to die a martyr (and take others
> with you) is stupid and wasteful. That isn't dying for your convictions,
> that's having no respect for life.
The only difference between a martyr and a fanatic is which side of fight
/you're/ on. One mans fanatic is anothers martyr. *Why* we choose to
call them on or the other tells us more about /our/ agenda than it does
about theirs.
> > Like
> >all underground movements-- the ones that foster martyrdom anyway-- thay
> >invest a lot of energy into the idea that somehow your life will no
> >longer be as miserable as it is. The prerequisite, of course, is a
> >genuinely miserable life. And the conviction to make it better by taking
> >absolute control over it (choosing to end it if it comes down to it).
>
> It's foolish really. The only way your life gets better is if you make it
> better.
Then there can't be *anything* worth dying for, my dear, because dying
seldom improves /your/ life. Where do you stand?
-Prof. Tim