On Martyrdom, Truth, and Conscience

Martyrdom has several connotations, mainly that of extreme belief. Either you were killed for your Faith because you refused to renounce it, or in the case of a warped and evil perception, you killed others for your faith (and in the process, probably died.) Christian martyrdom, in general, means getting killed and never being killers of others.

However, the idea central to martyrdom is that there is something greater than yourself that makes death an acceptable outcome. Something that you are willing to surrender your temporal existence for.

The very notion is insane to those who hold that there is no absolute Truth, that Truth cannot be known, and that morality is situational and relative to your circumstances.

As Catholics, we believe that there are moral absolutes and that Truth is a known entity (Jesus). This kind of certitude is a comfort, and, in general, should deliver us from major fear and anxiety. Not that we are always blissful and serene, spreading peace, happiness, joy, and love to all we meet on any given day. But if we anchor our lives to the Moral Absolute that is Jesus (“I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life”) then our moral compass ought to help steer us through the vagaries of temporal existence. And perhaps get a sense of your willingness to be a martyr?

I think that if you meditate on this notion, you gain a few steps in wisdom. What are you willing to die for? This assumes that you feel there is something you would trade your life for. This is a major step towards self-identification, i.e. finding your true self. Once you identify your moral absolutes and discern what Truth is, you establish yourself in relation to those. How valuable are they to you? Is your life worthy of them? What are you willing to give up or do for them?

To quote Pontius Pilate, “What is Truth?”

Sometimes the chasm is very far to cross. (Pilate couldn’t unless he managed that later in life as some apocryphal texts suggest.) The instinct for self-preservation overrides your willful belief in Truth and the Absolute. The fear is too great. Faith (i.e. Trust) helps to fill in the chasm, however. A growing and developing Faith is necessary in finding who you really are, and in what exactly would you lay it all on the line for.

We have all probably heard the old question, “If it becomes illegal to be a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict us?” I’m not going to follow up with the rhetorical question, of, “Well, would there?” as if you need to discern your Christian life and how you publicly live it. In these times when extremism from both the political Right and Left threatens our social fabric, ‘They’ may not require much (if any) evidence. So, if  ‘They’ are gonna get you anyway, perhaps we should add to our Examination of Conscience a martyrdom checklist. “If ‘They’ come for me today…?”