In C.S. Lewis's Narnia series, there's a scene in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe where the lion, Aslan, talks about the 'deeper magic'.
It's a very clear Christian allegory (though I didn't realize that until later, since I started reading this as a child)... in which the evil witch has convinced the lion to sacrifice himself, and all seems lost.
The concept of a 'martyr' has been used in a variety of ways over the centuries, some of them problematic... like the tendency to 'martyr oneself' by not speaking up about things that bother us, out of some misguided sense that we should be 'nice' and/or 'loving'. (Honestly, and I think anyone who takes a few moments of silence and is honest with themselves, which would you rather have - a friend or lover who never lets you know when they're upset, who suppresses it and pretends everything is fine when it really isn't? Or one that is honest with you, even if it sometimes hurts, but gives you the chance to address whatever-it-is? Sort of like the age-old question - do you want friends who tell you when you've got something stuck in your teeth, or pretend it isn't there?)
Then there's people who think 'martyrdom' just means suicide on behalf of some grand goal, and are willing to murder and die. Forgetting that a key part of becoming a martyr was being innocent... the very attempt to hurt and attack others prevents you from being a real martyr.
And there's the common notion that a martyr is someone who dies in a cause, but in way that inspires others to fight even harder. That's where the common belief that you 'don't want to make someone a martyr' comes from, where it's not enough to kill an opponent... you have to discredit them in the process. After all, killing the head of a snake doesn't work so well if it's actually a hydra.
So anyways - the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe and the deeper magic.
The magic that comes from willingly facing the worst. Of allowing yourself to be weak. Vulnerable...
And somehow winning, despite it all.
Winning - not by having a deus ex machina come and strike down your opponents, but because something about how you lose inspires others. Converts them. Makes you and yours stronger, even in defeat.
Especially in defeat.
Which is part of why I consider everyone, even those who claim to be 'doing God's will', who have persuaded themselves that they 'have' to do something God's been pretty clear is wrong... have lost faith.
They think that they have to win. That the stakes are so high, that it's okay to lie... as just one example. Because it's in pursuit of a higher purpose.
Or it's okay to ignore the whole notion that "there is no compulsion in religion', as Mohammed says in the Koran, if it creates God's kingdom on earth.
People forget the very basics, because they think they can come back to it once they've got power. That winning is more important.
And yet, over and over again God (if you believe in Him. I'm not trying to persuade those who don't) appears to somehow turn defeat into victory.
If you only have faith, and trust, and continue to follow the right path... even when all seems lost.
Which is why I say, over and over again... that the extreme Muslim terrorists show an absence of faith, as they don't trust they can win without murdering their opponents.
And our current political alliance with conservative evangelicals also shows a lack of faith, as every. single. time. they. lie -
to 'win', to gain power, to make God's will happen... whatever the reason...
Every single time they knowingly do wrong, thinking that the 'ends justifies the means', and that this is what they have to do in order to win against such powerful opponents...
They show that they totally failed to understand what having faith in God means.
How can anything good come from such rotten foundations? They're building their house on sand, and calling it God's will.
It's a very clear Christian allegory (though I didn't realize that until later, since I started reading this as a child)... in which the evil witch has convinced the lion to sacrifice himself, and all seems lost.
The concept of a 'martyr' has been used in a variety of ways over the centuries, some of them problematic... like the tendency to 'martyr oneself' by not speaking up about things that bother us, out of some misguided sense that we should be 'nice' and/or 'loving'. (Honestly, and I think anyone who takes a few moments of silence and is honest with themselves, which would you rather have - a friend or lover who never lets you know when they're upset, who suppresses it and pretends everything is fine when it really isn't? Or one that is honest with you, even if it sometimes hurts, but gives you the chance to address whatever-it-is? Sort of like the age-old question - do you want friends who tell you when you've got something stuck in your teeth, or pretend it isn't there?)
Then there's people who think 'martyrdom' just means suicide on behalf of some grand goal, and are willing to murder and die. Forgetting that a key part of becoming a martyr was being innocent... the very attempt to hurt and attack others prevents you from being a real martyr.
And there's the common notion that a martyr is someone who dies in a cause, but in way that inspires others to fight even harder. That's where the common belief that you 'don't want to make someone a martyr' comes from, where it's not enough to kill an opponent... you have to discredit them in the process. After all, killing the head of a snake doesn't work so well if it's actually a hydra.
So anyways - the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe and the deeper magic.
The magic that comes from willingly facing the worst. Of allowing yourself to be weak. Vulnerable...
And somehow winning, despite it all.
Winning - not by having a deus ex machina come and strike down your opponents, but because something about how you lose inspires others. Converts them. Makes you and yours stronger, even in defeat.
Especially in defeat.
Which is part of why I consider everyone, even those who claim to be 'doing God's will', who have persuaded themselves that they 'have' to do something God's been pretty clear is wrong... have lost faith.
They think that they have to win. That the stakes are so high, that it's okay to lie... as just one example. Because it's in pursuit of a higher purpose.
Or it's okay to ignore the whole notion that "there is no compulsion in religion', as Mohammed says in the Koran, if it creates God's kingdom on earth.
People forget the very basics, because they think they can come back to it once they've got power. That winning is more important.
And yet, over and over again God (if you believe in Him. I'm not trying to persuade those who don't) appears to somehow turn defeat into victory.
If you only have faith, and trust, and continue to follow the right path... even when all seems lost.
Which is why I say, over and over again... that the extreme Muslim terrorists show an absence of faith, as they don't trust they can win without murdering their opponents.
And our current political alliance with conservative evangelicals also shows a lack of faith, as every. single. time. they. lie -
to 'win', to gain power, to make God's will happen... whatever the reason...
Every single time they knowingly do wrong, thinking that the 'ends justifies the means', and that this is what they have to do in order to win against such powerful opponents...
They show that they totally failed to understand what having faith in God means.
How can anything good come from such rotten foundations? They're building their house on sand, and calling it God's will.
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