We're going to go with a little stream of conscience today:
We watched the Amistad in class last week. It was a really good movie, rather intense in a few parts.
But there was a line in it that kind of caught my attention. Someone said something like, "Martyrdom is the strongest power for change."
I've also been reading a compilation of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s speeches, with commentary from people who knew him. One person said of him, "He always knew that martyrdom was the potential price of challenging America's version of racial separation."
Another quote from Dr. King himself, "If you haven't found something to die for, you aren't fit to live."
So what IS the purpose of martyrdom? Is it necessary to bring about change? Is death really the worst thing that can happen to you? Is it some sort of requirement for something?
Famous martyrs include Joseph Smith, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Abinadi, Christ.
Based on these examples, I'm pretty sure you don't die until your mission is finished. Each of these examples could have been killed before their time actually came, but they all finished what they came to do.
I think I'll study martyrdom a little bit more. I wonder if there is anything I would die for. I'd like to say, "yes, of course," but I wonder if I'd be too scared or something. I think I would die for my religion, but I would feel terribly unjustified and take it up with Heavenly Father later.
Well, anyway, those are my thoughts for this week.
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