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Hi @all !

Since the 9/11 is coming close again I found myself wondering HOW people would kill themselves for their country/religion/whatever (let's just call it "the cause" for arguments sake - I don't want to get sidetracked here.)

I, personally, can't imagine any cause important enough to sacrifice my precious life for it (or that of my family - to make that clear once and for all .) .

I hold it with the quote :

I those people who start wars would have to fight them themselves, there would be eternal peace.

I can't remember the correct wording , and I have forgotten WHO said that, but it's definitely something to live by.

What about YOU ?

No worries,

Beldin

EDIT - I voted for "Only if it's REALLY personal". - If anything happened to my wife or children I'd WADE through my own dangling guts to get the guilty one(s).

Dying for ones cause is very seldom a useful thing to do IMO. It would have to be a a rather bizarre set of circumstances in which a supporter of a cause dying would do the cause more good than its supporters living.

Anyway, I don't really have a cause, so I won't vote

Originally posted by frogus
Anyway, I don't really have a cause, so I won't vote

Then let me rephrase that to:"Can you IMAGINE anything important enough to die for ? "

No worries,

Beldin

Depends upon the cause and whether I thought dying was the best way to accomplish/support it. There are some causes worth dying for, I'm sure, but I can't bring any to mind right now.

That one's easy! Umm...

World Peace, relief of 'Third World Debt', a (cheap) cure to cancer, or AIDS, education for all worldwide, Democracy...

All these things are worth dying for, and if I were absolutely certain that my dying would have the instant effect of solving one of these problems completely and properly, I (and I'm sure anyone else) would die without a second though...however, that can never happen (of course). The world is too complicated, and dying very rarely does anyone any good at all. I doubt that a cause could ever occur in this world which I would die for. I don't think dying would help.

A very interesting question, Beldin . I think a lot of people get killed/kill themselves, believing they're fighting for the right cause while they're actually acting under the influence of a charismatic leader, circumstances,...

I voted for maybe, yes, depending on the cause

I can see how - provided I have a family of my own some day - I would kill if anything happened to my wife and/or kids. Even if it's only acting on instinct. I don't think I could conscientuously kill or get myself killed for whatever cause.

There is, however, one exception (though very unlikely these days): I'd like to think that, when placed in a situation where I'm either to deny my belief in God or die, I'd be able to tell whoever puts me in that situation to kill me then. Since it's one of the few things in life I - for myself - know to be true, it's the one thing worth even considering to die for (next to what I stated above). I know it's rich coming from someone who's not particularly a "devoted Christian" , but it's just the way I feel on the subject .

I agree with Eerhardt - there are a number of things I would fight to defend (family, friends, home etc), and hence put my life at risk for.

I don't feel that I could get motivated enough by any political or religious cause to put my life on the line, let alone throw it away wastefully.

There is the great line from Patton (1970) where he says, "Your job isn't to die for your country; it's to make some other poor bastard die for his."

People can often be more productive to society by living than dying, but I think at some point many people are confronted with the prospect of sacrificing their life for something they believe in or something they want to protect. This can be their family, their country, their religion or anything else that they hold near and dear to their heart.

I would like to think that I would be willing to give up my life for some cause that I believed in. If you're a soldier in a volunteer army, your are essentially saying that you are willing to put yourself in harm's way to protect your country's "national interests". If you are a policeman, EMT or firefighter, you face the prospect of being killed every day "to protect and serve". I don't know that I could do the jobs of many of the men and women who face death everyday, but I think that if faced with a situation that could end in my death, but might also result in the world being a better place, I'd step up and do the right thing.

Re: Would you die for "your cause" ?

I would certainly die for my cause, if that were the only alternative to denying it. In my expereince, however, it's much. much more difficult to live for your cause than to die for it. You die once, and it's over, but tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow, creeps in with its petty pace from day to day to the last syllable of recorded time...

Well I might. If someone I cared for was about to get shot then I would do whatever humanly possible to save them, I think. Its really hard to say, as I am a coward and probably would have already run away if there was a gunman.

I wouldn't die for a real cause, no way. The only I would die for, currently, would be to save people, espicially my friends. I'd "jump in front of a bullet for them", as cliche as that sounds.

Re: Re: Would you die for "your cause" ?

*is chuffed at getting a Shakespeare reference*

Originally posted by HighLordDave
There is the great line from Patton (1970) where he says, "Your job isn't to die for your country; it's to make some other poor bastard die for his."

When I first read this topic...this was the first thing to come to my mind.

Why do I see an Israelian guy with dynamite strapped to his body when it comes to "I'll die for my cause!"?

So, no. I wouldn't die.
Dying suckes.

I would be willing to die for certain things. If my country was invaded, and my nations freedom and way of life were jeopardized, then yes, I wuld fight. I would fight for the preservation of freedom and the ability to make my own choices and express myself and my opinionsso that my children and grandchildren on down the line would have the opportunities that I have had.

Note, I said that I would fight, so in the sense that any time you do so carries a risk of dying, then yes, I would be willing to take that risk. I would rather die tryng to preserve my way of life than to sit idely by and have that way of life changed and be stripped of my rights as an individual.

Fight

I currently am succesfully employed, if I wasn't I would be enlisted in the U.S. Airforce. Like BB posted I would definitly fight for my country knowing the risk of life and death.

If the situation warrented it there are three people I would die/kill for. Brian my Brother first, Steve my Best friend and Matt my other best friend both are my brothers as well figuritivly.

Heres a good spin off. What cause would you feel worthy enough to kill for. NO DARK INTENTIONS I mean this only as a way to promote value as in "I would kill if a man raped my sister" or something not " I wanna kill asian people " so please dont mistake my spin off.

love thug

Originally posted by frogus
World Peace, relief of 'Third World Debt', a (cheap) cure to cancer, or AIDS, education for all worldwide, Democracy...

All these things are worth dying for, and if I were absolutely certain that my dying would have the instant effect of solving one of these problems completely and properly, I (and I'm sure anyone else) would die without a second though...however, that can never happen (of course).

I agree with Frogus, but it is of course a hypothetical question. I would not die for any ideology, since I believe this is inefficient and malfunctionate. Better to live, and work in secrecy.

The only cause I have in my life presently is my research. Would I die to find a cure for schizophrenia, Alhzeimers, depression, anxiety disorders, anorexia, obsessvie compulsive disoders etc? Seeing more people die of neuropsychiatric diseases than of cancer or cardiovascular disease, I would say yes if it was like in Frogus example, that it would go away for ever, for all people. However, it is not - so I think it's far better to spend the rest of my life researching it.

I'd die to protect my brother. That's my cause. Sometimes you don't get to choose and the only cause you have is the man next to you.